Russia’s visit to Cuba is normal - without the Ukraine war it would hardly hit the news
In short it is normal activity for Russia. It's done things like this before the Ukraine war and it would get little attention without the Ukraine war.
This BBC article explains that US officials say it is no threat.
"We of course take it seriously, but these exercises don't pose a threat to the United States," the Pentagon said.
The Russian moves were consistent with "routine naval visits that we've seen under different administrations," press secretary Sabrina Singh added.
Russia's defence ministry says the Admiral Gorshkov frigate and the Kazan submarine are both carriers of advanced weapons, including hypersonic missiles Zircon. They earlier conducted missile drills in the Atlantic.
But Cuba's foreign ministry says none of the vessels has nuclear arms on board, and their five-day visit does not pose a threat to the region.
US officials say they are closely monitoring the visit. The US Navy also used sea drones to shadow the Russian vessels as they got close to Cuba, BBC's US partner CBS reports.
Similalry as quoted by CBS news:
QUOTE STARTS
We have seen this kind of thing before and we expect to see this kind of thing again," Sullivan said. The U.S. intelligence community has assessed that the submarine is nuclear powered but it isn't carrying nuclear weapons, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reported. White House national security spokesman John Kirby told CBS News senior White House and political correspondent Ed O'Keefe last week that there was no indication nuclear weapons would be "at play" during the vessels' time in the http://Caribbean.https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-cuba-ships-military-exercises-caribbean-what-to-expect/
It is normal activity for Russia. It would hardly feature in the news if it weren't for the Ukraine war. Their most cent visit to Cuba was in 2023.
. Russia Navy's Smolny class ship Perekop visits Cuba
Before they were caught up in the Ukraine war they did a larger visit in 2019
. What’s an advanced Russian warship doing in Havana harbor?
QUOTE STARTS
Three Russian naval vessels and a nuclear-powered submarine are expected to arrive in Havana this week to conduct joint sea and air exercises with Cuba and Venezuela.* The last time Russia took part in such exercises in the Caribbean, in 2019, its navy had more ships and a better reputation. It had yet to face global sanctions and airspace restrictions due to its invasion of Ukraine. It had also not yet lost a third of its Black Sea fleet to Kyiv’s imaginative and capable asymmetric attacks, which have allowed Ukraine to disable and sink numerous Russian vessels despite possessing limited naval capabilities.
Prior to the war in Ukraine, the current visit would have gotten a small amount of media attention, some of it hyperbolic, but would still have been largely seen as no big deal. Russia made visits to the Caribbean an almost annual ritual in the 2010s, with at least six similar exercises and several smaller trips throughout that decade. In 2015, 2017 and 2019, the Viktor Leonov spy ship, capable of intercepting radio communications, lingered in international waters off the U.S. coast and also visited Cuba. In 2019, the U.S. military warned the ship that it was operating in an unsafe manner that could affect nearby vessels. Several times, including in 2019, the Admiral Gorshkov visited Cuba and other ports of call in the Caribbean.
. Russia’s Naval Drills in the Caribbean Are a Nuisance, not a Threat
NUCLEAR POWERED SHIP BUT NOT CARRYING NUKES - JUST POWERD BY A NUCLAR REACTOR, BETTER FOR A SUB THAT STAYS UNDER WATER FOR A LONG TIME AND FASTER THAN DEISEL
In more detail, the group this time includes a nuclear powered sub, the Kazan, but that's just the nuclear reactor and all the fastest modern subs of NATO or Russia or China are nuclear powered and Australia is getting some too - it's just because a deisel powered sub is slower when it is underwater, can't sustain a top speed for long, needs to refuel frequently in long journeys and has to surface every few days while a nuclear sub never needs to show its periscope if it doesn't want to surface.
Diesel subs cost much less and are getting quieter and longer range than they were though nowhere near nuclear sub capabilities.
ONLY 11 OF RUSSIA’S 37 NUCLEAR POWERED SUBS CARRY NUKES
Anyway, only a few of the nuclear powered subs actually carry nukes and this one doesn't.
If you want to cross the Atlantic or the Pacific underwater it's far far easier if you can do it in a nuclear sub.
In total Russia has:
Ballistic Missile Submarines (SSBNs): 11
Nuclear-Powered attack submarines (SSNs): 17
Nuclear-powered cruise missile submarines (SSGNs): 9
Diesel-electric attack submarines (SSKs): 21
This is the Kazan, one of the 9 nuclear powered cruise missile subs so it doesn't carry nukes Russian submarine Kazan (K-561) - Wikipedia
It's now docked in Cuba after the exercises. Russian ships arrive in Cuba after military drills
SIMILARLY MANY SHIPS / PLANES ETC CAN FIRE SMALL TACTICAL NUKES, EVEN THE F-16 CAN - THE MAIN THING IS THEY ARE NOT CARRYING NUKES
Then one of the ships, the Admiral Gorshkov frigate, is capable of firing the Zircon hypersonic missiles which Russia has already used on Ukraine many times and so can the Kazan.
And yes they can adapt a Zircon missile so it is loaded with a small tactical nuke. But that means little. Yes, both the frigate and the sub can fire tactical nukes but so can many modern ships and fighter jets including the ancient F-16, the fighter jet that NATO is going to send to Ukraine. It also is able to fire tactical nukes. But won't of course.
What matters is if it is equipped with nukes and it isn't. So it is not in any way any kind of a nuclear threat and is nothing like the Cuban missile crisis.
MEANWHILE NATO HAS 22 BALLISTIC MISSILE CARRYING SUBS TO 11 FOR RUSSIA, TWICE AS MANY - PART OF THE NUCLEAR DETERRENT - LIKE A BODYGUARD, TO PREVENT FIGHTS
Meanwhile some of those 11 ballistic missile subs are always out at sea, and the whole point is nobody is supposed ot know where they are, similarly also for the NATO subs, similar number indeed NATO has more of them. It has always been like that and they are a deterrent never to be used.
NATO has 22 of them, 14 belonging to the US and 4 each belonging to France and UK
Ballistic missile submarine - Wikipedia
As with the Russian subs, they could be anywhere in any of the large deep oceans. Except not in the Black Sea, the strait of Bosporus is far too narrow for a sub to get in undetected. They may be able to sneak into the med masked by the noise of other ships, but they normally wouldn't try so we know if they are in the med or the Baltic sea but anywhere else then nobody knows not even the crew know where they sailed on secret missions.
This is part of the nuclear deterrent and it's always been like that and it's like a bodyguard to keep us safe. Because neither side knows where the other side's subs are then they ahe a deterrent that they can guarantee to be safe from attack which adds to their confidence that they have no risk of being attacked.
BLOG: How nuclear deterrents work - like a bodyguard - their job is to prevent fights
WHY NUCLEAR POWERED SUBS ARE FAR BETTER THAN DEISEL THOUGH MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE AND HOW DIESEL IS CATCHING UP IN SOME AREAS
And about the advantages of a nuclear rsub:
QUOTE STARTS
There are two reasons to make a ship nuclear-powered: mission and cost. First, the mission capabilities that the Navy asks of its submarine force are demanding. Because the United States has oceans on either border, having a strong submarine force is important not only in coastal defense, but also for protecting major sea lanes by controlling the open ocean. Nuclear attack submarines exercise sea control to support surface strike groups, shadow ballistic-missile submarines, and deny enemy ships access to areas of interest.1 In this sense, the submarine force is a “blue water” force, operating throughout the world. Nuclear power enables a submarine to meet this requirement, as it allows for nearly unlimited endurance, with the nuclear reactor never needing to be refueled in a 25-year lifespan.2 This means that a U.S. submarine’s limitations are only consumables, such as food.
A submarine’s main capability is stealth: A clandestine weapon, it carries few defensive measures on board, instead relying on concealment for safety. Because of this, a submarine is most vulnerable when snorkeling. Diesel-electric submarines snorkel frequently, to clear the exhaust from running their diesel generators to charge their batteries. They must slow down when snorkeling, because of the fragile nature of their masts and to prevent exposing themselves. Because nuclear propulsion is independent of air, nuclear submarines have no need to snorkel; when operating on station, they can maintain maximum stealth by staying completely submerged.
The nuclear reactor on board a submarine allows it to operate at high speed for long periods of time with unlimited range. In comparison, diesel submarines operate using electric batteries and can only remain submerged for a few days at slow speed, or a few hours at top speed. Speed is a significant tactical factor, as it determines maneuverability and the ability to quickly change depth with flow over the hydroplanes. Nuclear power provides attack submarines with a sustained submerged speed of more than 30 knots, considerably greater than any contemporary diesel submarine.3 Superior speed, range, stealth, and endurance make the nuclear submarine a very effective offensive weapon, capable of projecting power and taking the fight to the enemy. Still, on several accounts, the nuclear advantage is eroding.
...
While nuclear-powered submarines are able to maintain operational excellence and meet mission requirements, diesel technology is catching up. The diesel submarines of today are not those of the days of the USS Nautilus. They operate much more quietly on new-generation diesel engines with advanced batteries. AIP technology has improved significantly the stealth performance of a new generation of submarines at a fraction of the cost of a nuclear-powered boat. When operating on batteries, AIP-equipped submarines are almost silent, with the only noise coming from the shaft bearings, propeller, and flow around the hull.10 Nuclear submarines require large reduction gears and a robust cooling system to maintain safe operation of the reactor. Noisy pumps circulate cooling water around the reactor core at all times, then pump the same cooling water back into the ocean, leaving nuclear submarines with a much larger infrared heat signature.
In addition, improvements in battery technology have extended the range of AIP diesel submarines. With electro-catalytic fuel cells and the high energy density of Lithium-ion batteries, AIP submarines can operate at a patrol-quiet state or rest on the seabed for several weeks without surfacing. German Type 212 submarines can stay underwater without snorkeling for up to three weeks, traveling 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) or more. Furthermore, over the past two decades, the industrial sector has achieved substantial increases in diesel engine efficiency, which could be applied to AIP submarines to further increase range and endurance. The ability of AIP was demonstrated in 2005, when HMS
Gotland, a Swedish AIP submarine, “sank” many U.S. nuclear fast-attack subs, destroyers, frigates, cruisers, and even the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) aircraft carrier in joint exercises.
COMMENTS NOT DISABLED
Will keep an eye on this but it also seems a straightforward fact check that is easily seen to be harmless and not likely to lead to scary uninformed comments.
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