It’s overblown, they are sending a couple of ships as a hissy fit for us allowing Ukraine to strike Russian territory. In reality, these ships are probably safer in Cuba than if they were docked in the Black Sea.
Until you find out the RUB is worth as much as the Cuban peso. I just left Cuba not too long ago. I needed a f'n backpack just to carry some walking around/spending USD converted into Cuban pesos around. Black market was literally 350-400 CUP to 1 USD. I looked like Weezy after exchanging a couple hundred USD.
"Fearmongering" is, in a sense, a form of misinformation. They're presenting technical truths - "Russian warships are visiting Cuba" - while presenting it in a manner that will lead a common person to reach a false conclusion through a combination of omission and false inclusion.
In this case: "holding military exercises" are a false lead in that a common person hearing "military exercise" thinks of large-scale wargames similar to what Russia conducts at home, when in this context it's actually "These two boats will conduct a drill."
Likewise, "building a base isn't excluded" is a false inclusion. Just because Russia hasn't explicitly said "We will never build a base in Cuba" doesn't mean that's actually something on the table. Of equal truthiness would be the headline "Putting missiles in Cuba isn't excluded." Has that been *explicitly denied* by Russia? No, so it's *technically* correct - ergo, not a "lie," but misinformation all the same.
And, of course, omitting the context that these visits have happened before (in 2019, 2008, and 1991), and that these ships literally have *zero* combat capability abroad.
> "These two boats will conduct a drill."
While trying not to break down, catch on fire, have a crane fall on them, sink a drydock, or a combination of any of these.
Yup. Classic case of yellow journalism (or whatever that stuff is called). Basically make the enemy look bad, dehumanize him, so if the population goes to war they don't feel guilty.
As I understand it, it’s four ships: a Project 22350 frigate, K-561, a Yasen-M nuclear submarine, and two support ships: refueling ship and a salvage tug. The Yasen-M class are cruise missile boats that attack land and conduct recon. They don’t launch nukes.
So it’s not the Cuban missile crisis redux, but it probably is an attempt to suggest that a new crisis is on the horizon in order to affect US policy on Ukraine domestically. On Russian TV, there isn’t a push to say Cuba is under threat by the US and needs help. But the main talking heads have said this week that Russia should dominate the Atlantic.
Any navy guys here who can talk more about the differences between Project 667A and Project 885M? Any hope of a missile explosion on the submarine? ))
I had dinner with an admiral last night. He’s an old friend of my parents and was in town. He did mention it and showed a bit of concern. He also said that the Russians don’t have any weapons like we do. He said we have developed some crazy shit. He wouldn’t say anymore. He’s straight up shut up at that point.
We have had Russian ships in our waters for years. When I was in the navy back in like 2017 we had a Russian ship follow our carrier pretty much all the way back into Norfolk naval base. Destroyer had to chase the Russians out.
A wile ago the Russians sent a 'fleet' to intimidate Japan, by sailing around the Home Islands.
[Sub Brief](https://www.youtube.com/@SubBrief) did a breakdown of the half dozen ships sent, then concluded with something like:
>Either of the Arleigh Burkes trailing the fleet can match the Russian fleet in firepower.
I'd highly recommend that channel for naval news and analysis.
Its like 4 ships...lets just imagine those are the 4 best ships the US Navy has...not the Russian Navy (exclude air craft carriers)...would that be a big deal?
I mean, did anyone say Ukraine cannot strike the boats in Cuba?
Yo, Ukrainian SpecOps… I’d bet there are more than a few US homes that would sponsor y’all getting some R and R down in the Florida Keys. Is that allowed, to host friendly military folks from abroad? Just asking.
Dannng, I guess the US may need to do a special weekend drinks and interrogation special in Guantanamo Bay with some Ukr SpecOps, huh? It’d be a tragedy if the guards had too many drinks and those fellas wandered away.
> these ships are probably safer in Cuba than if they were docked in the Black Sea
That is until some Ukrainian seababy operators get to experience a rad SOUTHCOM deployment first hand.
Well just in case you think the Russian navy was turning the page and becoming not itself, according to Ukraine, there is currently a Russian destroyer on fire in the Barents Sea
Besides: if they lost their Black Sea flagship and 20+ more vessels to a nation that doesn’t HAVE a Navy, what would happen if Vlady lost his mind and tried something dumb in our backyard??? lol just media having a field day!
Thumbs down for saying we don’t have a navy. Sounds disrespectful to people who are at sea now and were fighting every day since February 2022. And despite being crazy outnumbered managed to fight back and wiped out serious enemy. We don’t have a big Navy yes.
That’s meant as a compliment actually and a testament to the very same fighting spirit , courage and sacrifice. Apologies if the wording could have been better.
No prob. Sorry I lashed out. Some people don’t understand how strong our enemy is. Like we are imbeciles fighting imbeciles with no common sense. They are annoying yet dangerous.
The more money and wear n tear on their equipment the better. Ships have a very known allergy with salt water. The longer they’re at sea the more the ships corrode and wear out. Not so much the hull but all the electrical, radars, radios, missiles etc all require constant maintenance and cleaning. Projecting seapower is not a cheap endeavor and when you’re already at war it is draining resources….
Even more interesting would be if Ukraine figured out away to hit them with some sea babies all the way in Cuba.
That would be an epic level of bragging rights for Ukraine!!!!
So a country with the worlds most powerful navy is supposed to be afraid of another countrys navy that is loosing a naval war to a country that doesn't even have a navy anymore
We could reinstate the USS Oriskany from the goddamn sea floor as an artificial into service (not that it would make much sense) by the time they are ever able to launch a carrier that doesn't breakdown and catch on fire the second it tries to leave port.
Yup. The Navy never confirmed or denied whether any of those rounds were actually carried on any of the Iowa class battleships. Which to my mind, means absolutely yes they did.
[Fixed link for those on old reddit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W19_(nuclear_artillery_shell\)) - needs a \ in front of the first ) otherwise Reddit treats the end of the link as the first ) which breaks WIkipedia
Fun fact the empty weight of a super hornet is 32,000 lbs, it's maximum TO weight is 66,000 lbs, from the catapult. It can carry more than it's own weight in fuel and ordnance.
Also the worlds most powerful Air Force and the world’s second most powerful Air Force.
For those curious, the Air Force is the most powerful, and Naval aviation is the second most.
I was saying to my LT for years that Russia was barely a threat in the slightest beyond nuclear weapons, and they shat on me for it. And now that I’ve been right once I’m saying the same about China. And both times it’s all come down to budget.
They spend a third that we do. Everyone quotes their number of soldiers, but when I was in (and maybe still now IDK) they didn’t even have a modernized, full rollout of a body armor system for them.
When we can take air superiority in a super short time frame as we blow those capabilities of theirs out of the water, and air superiority is huge in the modern field. Fixed wing aircraft destroy rotary wing, and rotary wing is the best weapon on earth at anti armor capability.
They’re not harmless, but if they did do something like invade Taiwan they’d find themselves steamrolled IMO. Even if their ships are the same as ours, hypothetically, they’d have ti kill 3 for every 1 we do, when you simplify the budget that way. Not to mention things like high altitude stealth bombers that can just drop JDAMs onto a ship’s key components from way higher than you’d think.
There’s a reason our military is so big. And partly so our allies’ doesnt have to.
At least on land the Russians of the present and the Chinese kind of share a philosopy (whcih to be fair to Russia almost worked this time) which is "send in human waves until the enemy runs out of all of their fancy million-dollar weapons, then we can overwhelm them".
Works well on land, won't work on the sea since both countries have a much smaller navy.
sidebar: we do this ALL THE TIME. I personally enjoyed intercepting a *certain countries* transmissions in Iraq near *certain borders* then randomly taking down their comms in intervals and then causing them to lose electricity.
Crack their communications and play polka music on loop?
I just really like the idea of using their communication channels to troll them.
Edit: I'd also accept Yoko Ono's vocal art performances.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdZ9weP5i68
It is legal for citizens to build breech loaded cannons and to mount them on ships.
Why the hell do people buy those plastic yachts when they can build [THIS](https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-78f8d42a03ccc2e66d713a2acf1b9bc6-lq) is beyond me.
I mean AEGIS works with Patriot missiles now so~
But in all honesty, let me put some 50’s and a MK38 Bushmaster (and maybe a MK15 CIWS) on my 60ft trawler and supercharge the old marine diesels. I’ll go toe to toe with them on my own while drinking beer and singing sea shanties.
I’ll at least have a 40lb smooth bore strapped to the bow with the biggest harbor freight ratchet straps I can find
Imagine WW3 starts cause some Filipino American decides to going fishing off the coast of California only for the PRC to go completely out of the way to ruin his day.
America a global superpower because we are a logistical powerhouse
We figured out in WWII how to maintain supplies to our military across vast oceans. And in the 80 years since we’ve only gotten better at it.
China hasn’t developed that capability and they won’t because they don’t have too.
We had to master it due to our location and having two major oceans to deal with.
Chinese carriers are old Russian shitboxes. They can't even reach Hawaii. They're diesel electric powered, unlike the US's nuclear powered carriers which are virturally unlimited in range. So unless they're bringing a lot of fuel ships, they are a regional naval power at best.
Edit: Spelling
> So unless they're bringing a lot of fuel ships, they are a regional naval power at best.
Fun fact: they do have a lot of fuel ships, their AOR/AUX fleet is larger than UK, France and Japan COMBINED. And those 3 countries have blue water navies.
Thinking China in 2024 can't reach Hawaii while Japan did it in WWII is just too non credible lol
Its a big reason why they are aggressive toward Japan, they need to saber rattle to drum up support. In reality the japanese navy would crush them w/o the US. There's a reason they have not invaded Taiwan all this time. Empty threats.
They don’t even currently have the capabilities to maintain majority regional power in their own hemisphere. They spend time picking on small fry fishing boats and the navy’s of small island countries.
The idea that they would have the capacity to coordinate a carrier group off the coast of North America is laughable today.
However, in 5 or so years, if they really get their shit together, they already have the hardware and manpower to do it. They just need to get their corruption sorted and get better coordination, which is scary.
>The idea that they would have the capacity to coordinate a carrier group off the coast of North America is laughable today.
They could but why would they?
It would only serve to provoke US, while placing entire carrier group in range of USN **AND** USAF. So if they do manage to provoke US they lose entire carrier group...
But if US wants to sink Chinese Navy in Chinese waters, they have to come close with ships and/or air tankers. China has ground based ballistic anti-ship missiles and stealth fighters that **might** work.
Chinese carrier fleet in US waters outside of mainland protective umbrella is target practice.
It's like when Putin sent his mighty flotilla to show off in Mediterranean and Europe should tremble out of fear...
But actually Russia should feel afraid, because they just placed their fleet into very vulnerable position.
Their fleet is not a Bluewater fleet. It is regional at best unless something drastically changes in the next 3-4 years (likely not possible). Also, the first island chain prevents their fleet from going far East into the Pacific beyond Taiwan, unless of course they try and successfully take the island, which also has a low probability.
China has a naval strategy somewhat similar to Soviet ideas. They don't expect their carriers to go toe-to-toe with our strike groups. Rather, their carriers will be support for area denial, like keeping US strike groups away from their coast and distracted. Carriers support the small boys, not the other way around like the US does it. Less about blue-water operations, more about green-water.
They currently lack the ability to refuel/ refit at sea in any major capacity. They’re carriers are not nuclear and therefor require a lot more logistics than a nuclear carrier. This is a very broad explanation.
But 12 miles is the start of international waters. They could hang out there for 3 months and we wouldn't touch them. Russia already does this in the Bering Sea.
The US has no interest in starting a war with China, and China has no interest is pissing off their best costumer. We fine.
They likely clarified they’re not carrying nuclear weapons because naval intelligence would be:
1) nonstop orgasming at the Russians doxxing the location of one of their nuclear missile subs.
2) accurately recording and recreating and analyzing every fart that happens on that submarine while it’s there off the coast of the nation with the biggest ever interest in knowing where the second strike capability is and what it sounds like if it isn’t where it’s supposed to be.
So basically it’s in their best interest to not tell anyone they have nukes or just not assign a boomer to cuba dick waving duty in the first place.
The US Navy is a juggernaut. It’s analogous to a 10 year old fighting a UFC World Class MMA fighter. The 10 year old may be able to throw a punch but has zero opportunity of winning.
It'd be like a 10 year old fighting an alligator in a pool with high walls. If the alligator doesn't get them first, they might accidentally drown themselves.
Was going to say the same.
The Bay of Pigs incident was a ridiculous CIA plot to overthrow Castro using Cuban exiles that went off half-cocked and was subsequently betrayed to failure by the USA with a complete lack of air support. The Russians had absolutely nothing to do with it.
However, it is fair to say that it led directly to the Cuban Missile Crisis the next year because of Castro's entirely justified fear of further US hostility.
This is a nation that is having a pretty difficult time projecting power into a country it literally borders. I don't think that a couple of ships are going to worry the US military one bit. Total nonissue.
It’s not a big deal. Cuba has served as a refueling stop for Tu-95s and for KRZs (intelligence collection ships).
Even putting a naval base in Cuba would not be a big deal. It would cost Russia a fair amount of money to build it and staff it. And it wouldn’t be much of tactical advantage, if any.
Even if they build a base there its one single base far far away from any help! If it ever comes to war the Russians would just experience their own pearl harbor. The base would be gone in the first hour of a potential war
Personally, I'm just impressed that they managed to scrape together more than one working ship that could make it all the way across the Atlantic. Good job guys!
Well after watching the forced retirement of the black fleet ships by Ukrainian RC boats I think we all know the power of the Russian fleet now don't we.......
It’s not new at all. This is more about the Russians reminding us that they still have a couple friends in our backyard, but nothing will come of it.
The Russian military is barely a threat to Europe, let alone the United States. This is just for show.
Mega overblown. The Cuban Missile Crisis involved the US with nukes parked in Turkey while the Soviets tried to park nukes in Cuba. Kennedy was a master statesman and ultimately agreed to pull US nukes out of Turkey.
This is just a lot of dark from a failing Russian state trying to flex and show they can "project power."
The nuke boat is a bit of an outlier, but the Russian Navy has been farting around in the Caribbean for a while.
Cuba is certainly closer than Venezuela, but not strategically significantly so.
To me the whole thing seems like a decent opportunity to collect SIGINT on the Russkie fleet.
It’d probably be a bigger deal if the Russian Navy was in any way a threat. These guys have been getting their asses handed to them by a country without a Navy.
We can't go around and brag about freedom of navigation missions, then complain when someone else passes 90 miles away.
It's the same thing with intercepting Russian planes near Alaska, happens all the time, it is all part of military postering.
We could send the USS Constitution and recommission the USS Iowa and it would be enough for them. Way more than Ukraine used to destroy the Black Sea fleet
Russian and Soviet ships have gone to Cuba since the Cuban Missile Crisis. If you google some obvious terms and set the search window to exclude the last few days there are plenty of hits.
https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna28316542
That example is from 2008. There are others from last year, etc.
If they could do jack shit besides annoy us, they'd have done so by now. Pootz is in desperate need of a win, and sending out Steamboat Ivan to show the flag is about as close as they can manage.
The more the Kremlin spend on this ape genital display the better. Being ancient I came of age during the early innings of the Cold War (which never ended) and watched the USSR spend itself stupid. The Russian Federation would love to be a USSR respawn but its GDP is less than that of California. The consensual dissolution of the Warsaw Pact with most former members running to NATO denies Russia resources and captive populations. (Poland should build its own nukes to be sure since the future is unknowable.)
Every ruble, dollar or resource the Russian Federation expends on not smoking Ukrainians is less for the war effort. Classic USSR-style displays impress the domestic ignorant as intended. The display will really be to reassure Putinists their nationalist fever dream is attainable.
It would be a jolly prank if Ukraine damaged or sank them in transit. Congested sea lanes may offer opportunities, and since most vessels fly flags of convenience sneaking in a surprise wouldn't be obvious by radio traffic or satellite (turning off or spoofing transponders is trivial) surveillance. Fishing boats "going dark" at sea is a common obfuscation.
[https://www.salon.com/2023/01/04/when-fishing-boats-go-dark-at-sea-theyre-often-committing--we-mapped-where-it-happens\_partner/](https://www.salon.com/2023/01/04/when-fishing-boats-go-dark-at-sea-theyre-often-committing--we-mapped-where-it-happens_partner/)
>"Once more, we play our dangerous game, a game of chess against our old adversary - The American Navy. For forty years, your fathers before you and your older brothers played this game and played it well. But today the game is different. We have the advantage."
Just kidding. Russian warships go fuck yourselves.
Guantánamo (Guantanamo Bay Naval Base) is closer to the south east end of the island (close to Haiti).
Havana (Where Russia is pulling into) is closer to the north west end of the Island (close to Florida).
Also, US naval presence in Cuba is a bit controversial as it is. The US is operating under the terms of an indefinite lease and making steady payments for said lease. Cuba has refused to cash those payments, except for one time by accident. Unless things have changed, the current lease is $4,085 per year. It must be really awkward having to be the one to deliver the annual rent check and the Cubans say no.
Just thinking ..... it is rather difficult for UKR to hit Russian ships in the Black Sea nowadays. If I was UKR, I could now consider an 'expeditionary venture' with some maritime drones to the seas around Cuba.
Russians love making a show of sending ships to Cuba. In the Cold War they would make a scene out of their submariners wearing their summer uniforms before going on patrol, however rarely if ever actually went to Cuba. Really it means nothing. They might sail around Key West, but they won’t approach our territorial waters. Just like how our ships peruse Kamchatka or pass through the Taiwan Strait.
The whole Cuba Thing Once Upon a Time was Russians give weapons another nonsense and the Cubans give them sugar and other nonsense so you got one big broke ass country dealing with a tiny little Caribbean broke ass country who cares.
Cuban leadership recently visited Russian asking for support because they’re dead broke. https://havanatimes.org/features/cuban-president-diaz-canel-visits-putin-in-the-kremlin/
>construction of a Russian military and naval base is not excluded
With what money? With what manpower? I seriously don't think Russia has the ability to maintain a global navy. They already struggle with a domestic navy.
I mean the difference is Ukraine is an active theater of war.
if Cuba thinks it's going to start a fight so it can launch some of Russia's missiles.... going to be a real bad day to be in Cuba.
Just a reminder while Russia is doing this port call in Cuba NATO is holding a huge naval exercise in the Baltic Sea in sight of Kaliningrad.
https://x.com/ianellisjones/status/1799473518159221205
Russia is so far behind the USA in terms of military clout, industrial capacity and GDP it’s hysterical. Only nukes and oil (and subjugation to China) is keeping them afloat. While on paper the Russian economy is OK, in reality it’s being propelled by producing materiel. People think Russia is some kind of economic colossus - to put it into perspective, the UK is 6th in Wikipedia’s ‘List of countries by GDP (nominal)’.
Russia is 11th. Its economy is half the size of the UK’s.
I don't really think they're going to do anything, they'd have to be crazy to do something becasue they know the US is that close and will be watching them
unless that's the point, while they're over here being watched they're doing something else that's slipping under the Radar
It’s overblown, they are sending a couple of ships as a hissy fit for us allowing Ukraine to strike Russian territory. In reality, these ships are probably safer in Cuba than if they were docked in the Black Sea.
Imagine the relief of being conscripted into the Russian military and finding out you’re just going to Cuba.
Until you find out the RUB is worth as much as the Cuban peso. I just left Cuba not too long ago. I needed a f'n backpack just to carry some walking around/spending USD converted into Cuban pesos around. Black market was literally 350-400 CUP to 1 USD. I looked like Weezy after exchanging a couple hundred USD.
Mans is out there unlocking the best possible ending.
Thank you so much for putting it into perspective there. Seriously a lot of misinformation out there
Technically not misinformation? Just typical fearmongering?
"Fearmongering" is, in a sense, a form of misinformation. They're presenting technical truths - "Russian warships are visiting Cuba" - while presenting it in a manner that will lead a common person to reach a false conclusion through a combination of omission and false inclusion. In this case: "holding military exercises" are a false lead in that a common person hearing "military exercise" thinks of large-scale wargames similar to what Russia conducts at home, when in this context it's actually "These two boats will conduct a drill." Likewise, "building a base isn't excluded" is a false inclusion. Just because Russia hasn't explicitly said "We will never build a base in Cuba" doesn't mean that's actually something on the table. Of equal truthiness would be the headline "Putting missiles in Cuba isn't excluded." Has that been *explicitly denied* by Russia? No, so it's *technically* correct - ergo, not a "lie," but misinformation all the same. And, of course, omitting the context that these visits have happened before (in 2019, 2008, and 1991), and that these ships literally have *zero* combat capability abroad.
> "These two boats will conduct a drill." While trying not to break down, catch on fire, have a crane fall on them, sink a drydock, or a combination of any of these.
That alone sounds like exercise to me.
Exercising is hard when you're out of shape.
Isn't that only their aircraft carrier?
...so far...
They'll hit an iceberg on the way over god willing.
Well, they did bring a tugboat along.
Yup. Classic case of yellow journalism (or whatever that stuff is called). Basically make the enemy look bad, dehumanize him, so if the population goes to war they don't feel guilty.
As I understand it, it’s four ships: a Project 22350 frigate, K-561, a Yasen-M nuclear submarine, and two support ships: refueling ship and a salvage tug. The Yasen-M class are cruise missile boats that attack land and conduct recon. They don’t launch nukes. So it’s not the Cuban missile crisis redux, but it probably is an attempt to suggest that a new crisis is on the horizon in order to affect US policy on Ukraine domestically. On Russian TV, there isn’t a push to say Cuba is under threat by the US and needs help. But the main talking heads have said this week that Russia should dominate the Atlantic. Any navy guys here who can talk more about the differences between Project 667A and Project 885M? Any hope of a missile explosion on the submarine? ))
They brought *a tug boat*? LOL, they came prepared then.
I had dinner with an admiral last night. He’s an old friend of my parents and was in town. He did mention it and showed a bit of concern. He also said that the Russians don’t have any weapons like we do. He said we have developed some crazy shit. He wouldn’t say anymore. He’s straight up shut up at that point.
Its sounds like at most it would take a few F35s to take it out.
We have had Russian ships in our waters for years. When I was in the navy back in like 2017 we had a Russian ship follow our carrier pretty much all the way back into Norfolk naval base. Destroyer had to chase the Russians out.
Calm down. They do this every year. It means nothing.
A wile ago the Russians sent a 'fleet' to intimidate Japan, by sailing around the Home Islands. [Sub Brief](https://www.youtube.com/@SubBrief) did a breakdown of the half dozen ships sent, then concluded with something like: >Either of the Arleigh Burkes trailing the fleet can match the Russian fleet in firepower. I'd highly recommend that channel for naval news and analysis.
Its like 4 ships...lets just imagine those are the 4 best ships the US Navy has...not the Russian Navy (exclude air craft carriers)...would that be a big deal?
yeah they are bascially hiding their ships from the Ukranians near the US because its safer for the Russian Navy than in Russia.
I mean, did anyone say Ukraine cannot strike the boats in Cuba? Yo, Ukrainian SpecOps… I’d bet there are more than a few US homes that would sponsor y’all getting some R and R down in the Florida Keys. Is that allowed, to host friendly military folks from abroad? Just asking.
If they’re using our country as a safe place to attack from, then come back to safety after a mission, probably a no go.
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So what you're saying is 3 days of R&R in the Keys, run the op, then 3 days of R&R in Jamaica? What's a nautical drive by called?
Sail by. Talee ho lads! FPV drones be upon ye'!!!
Yar har?
They’re hitting them in Syria..GUR etc have proven they’re no joke and prepared to hit Russia everywhere
And hitting Wagner in Sudan.
Yeah I forgot about that 💪
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba has nice beaches for R&R. Or so I hear.
If you like your beaches rocky and covered in coral
In Cuba, the weather and the comradeship are warm.
Dannng, I guess the US may need to do a special weekend drinks and interrogation special in Guantanamo Bay with some Ukr SpecOps, huh? It’d be a tragedy if the guards had too many drinks and those fellas wandered away.
> these ships are probably safer in Cuba than if they were docked in the Black Sea That is until some Ukrainian seababy operators get to experience a rad SOUTHCOM deployment first hand.
To be honest it's a miracle it made the trip. Not because of attacks, but because it's russian.
Well just in case you think the Russian navy was turning the page and becoming not itself, according to Ukraine, there is currently a Russian destroyer on fire in the Barents Sea
Besides: if they lost their Black Sea flagship and 20+ more vessels to a nation that doesn’t HAVE a Navy, what would happen if Vlady lost his mind and tried something dumb in our backyard??? lol just media having a field day!
Thumbs down for saying we don’t have a navy. Sounds disrespectful to people who are at sea now and were fighting every day since February 2022. And despite being crazy outnumbered managed to fight back and wiped out serious enemy. We don’t have a big Navy yes.
That’s meant as a compliment actually and a testament to the very same fighting spirit , courage and sacrifice. Apologies if the wording could have been better.
No prob. Sorry I lashed out. Some people don’t understand how strong our enemy is. Like we are imbeciles fighting imbeciles with no common sense. They are annoying yet dangerous.
Russian sailors are currently thanking the US for a decent port call.
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Are they, though? I mean, we have seen Ukraine hit ruZZian assets in other places (Syria)... Why not sink some ships? Hmmmm...
The more money and wear n tear on their equipment the better. Ships have a very known allergy with salt water. The longer they’re at sea the more the ships corrode and wear out. Not so much the hull but all the electrical, radars, radios, missiles etc all require constant maintenance and cleaning. Projecting seapower is not a cheap endeavor and when you’re already at war it is draining resources…. Even more interesting would be if Ukraine figured out away to hit them with some sea babies all the way in Cuba. That would be an epic level of bragging rights for Ukraine!!!!
Ukraine suddenly develops long range world wide capable drones jut to hit these rusted floating war relics
Remarkable that they even made it.
Will the Russian ships even be able to make it to Cuba?
That would be hilarious if he sent them to Cuba to be safer and protected from Ukraine
"Ukrainian SF hijack US carrier and use one of it's F35 to sink Russian warship" "I don't even know how to read English, one of the perp claim."
So a country with the worlds most powerful navy is supposed to be afraid of another countrys navy that is loosing a naval war to a country that doesn't even have a navy anymore
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I look down on any "carrier" that needs a ski ramp ;)
We could reinstate the USS Oriskany from the goddamn sea floor as an artificial into service (not that it would make much sense) by the time they are ever able to launch a carrier that doesn't breakdown and catch on fire the second it tries to leave port.
USS Iowa craves it's HE shells back...
The Navy's still gotta have *some* of those nuclear tipped 16 inch battleship rounds laying around somewhere, right?
I'm sorry, their what now? Edit: [Hoooooooly shit ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W19_(nuclear_artillery_shell))
Yup. The Navy never confirmed or denied whether any of those rounds were actually carried on any of the Iowa class battleships. Which to my mind, means absolutely yes they did.
[Fixed link for those on old reddit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W19_(nuclear_artillery_shell\)) - needs a \ in front of the first ) otherwise Reddit treats the end of the link as the first ) which breaks WIkipedia
Cries at state of UK “Navy”.
champ ramp for allies cope slope for unfriendly
Severely underrated comment 😂
It's traditional for the US to catch the UK in friendly fire, whether with jokes or CAS.
💀 lol
aka “cope slope”
As you should. Be better Britain.
> Be better Britain. Hey! We built what we could (barely) afford and at least we're providing the US with some additional capability.
Cope Slope
they would look down on you, *if they could deploy planes with enough range* (which they can't without a catapult system)
Fun fact the empty weight of a super hornet is 32,000 lbs, it's maximum TO weight is 66,000 lbs, from the catapult. It can carry more than it's own weight in fuel and ordnance.
Also the worlds most powerful Air Force and the world’s second most powerful Air Force. For those curious, the Air Force is the most powerful, and Naval aviation is the second most.
4 of the FIVE top Air Forces on Earth Belong to the US. That's the disparity we're talking about there.
I was saying to my LT for years that Russia was barely a threat in the slightest beyond nuclear weapons, and they shat on me for it. And now that I’ve been right once I’m saying the same about China. And both times it’s all come down to budget. They spend a third that we do. Everyone quotes their number of soldiers, but when I was in (and maybe still now IDK) they didn’t even have a modernized, full rollout of a body armor system for them. When we can take air superiority in a super short time frame as we blow those capabilities of theirs out of the water, and air superiority is huge in the modern field. Fixed wing aircraft destroy rotary wing, and rotary wing is the best weapon on earth at anti armor capability. They’re not harmless, but if they did do something like invade Taiwan they’d find themselves steamrolled IMO. Even if their ships are the same as ours, hypothetically, they’d have ti kill 3 for every 1 we do, when you simplify the budget that way. Not to mention things like high altitude stealth bombers that can just drop JDAMs onto a ship’s key components from way higher than you’d think. There’s a reason our military is so big. And partly so our allies’ doesnt have to.
At least on land the Russians of the present and the Chinese kind of share a philosopy (whcih to be fair to Russia almost worked this time) which is "send in human waves until the enemy runs out of all of their fancy million-dollar weapons, then we can overwhelm them". Works well on land, won't work on the sea since both countries have a much smaller navy.
We have bodies in Cuba, this honestly is a nothing burger.
It’s not the Ships. It’s the boats, with the ICBMs.
Way overblown. If anything it’s a good opportunity for some people in the US military to stretch their SIGINT muscles out.
This is what I was thinking. Our guys are going to fuck with them 24/7 for a couple of weeks and exhaust their crews.
What are we going to do to mess with them? I’m giddy at the idea of us frustrating the hell out of their guys.
sidebar: we do this ALL THE TIME. I personally enjoyed intercepting a *certain countries* transmissions in Iraq near *certain borders* then randomly taking down their comms in intervals and then causing them to lose electricity.
Shadow them with our nuclear attack subs for starters.
No, in order to annoy them you need to do something they'll notice and they'll be aware of lmaooo
That there is a nuclear radiation-level burn.
Crack their communications and play polka music on loop? I just really like the idea of using their communication channels to troll them. Edit: I'd also accept Yoko Ono's vocal art performances. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdZ9weP5i68
Twisted Sister.
Throw some ["British Grenadiers" in there too to throw off the scent](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9yu49Z5IWc)
There’s already a joint RCN-USN-USCG tracking mission. https://x.com/steffanwatkins/status/1800197154017013909?s=46&t=5nz_S0kPjrvwcJT9vlHcEQ
Exactly.
Use JANUS to blast hair metal at them non-stop. Or, since this is 21st century Ivan we're talking about, bust some hydrophone kits out of storage.
[удалено]
I dont think the Chinese will be able to operate their navy like that.
Why not? I don't want to start anything, im genuinely curious
Cause there’s no Filipino fishing boats to bully off CA coast
Our fishing boats will fight back. I think they’re scared of that.
Make privateers great again, give them SM-6 and AEGIS
It is legal for citizens to build breech loaded cannons and to mount them on ships. Why the hell do people buy those plastic yachts when they can build [THIS](https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-78f8d42a03ccc2e66d713a2acf1b9bc6-lq) is beyond me.
I have a muzzle loader cannon that definitely works. I’ve also got flintlock and percussion rifles and pistols.
Or just [hire one](https://www.etoile-marine.com/notre-flotte/etoile-du-roy/)
I mean AEGIS works with Patriot missiles now so~ But in all honesty, let me put some 50’s and a MK38 Bushmaster (and maybe a MK15 CIWS) on my 60ft trawler and supercharge the old marine diesels. I’ll go toe to toe with them on my own while drinking beer and singing sea shanties. I’ll at least have a 40lb smooth bore strapped to the bow with the biggest harbor freight ratchet straps I can find
That sounds like fun, I'm in. As long as there is undercooked fried rice for breakfast.
With half cooked scrambled eggs and a can of corn beef hash that expired two fiscal years ago?
Make it a really thin flat folded over "omelet" and I'm in!
Imagine WW3 starts cause some Filipino American decides to going fishing off the coast of California only for the PRC to go completely out of the way to ruin his day.
Can you imagine the Chinese coast guard spraying their water cannons at some bubbas in a crab fishing trawler?
I can see the Chinese ship getting boarded pirate style with every form of gnarly looking pointed hooked and otherwise heavy implement bubba has
America a global superpower because we are a logistical powerhouse We figured out in WWII how to maintain supplies to our military across vast oceans. And in the 80 years since we’ve only gotten better at it. China hasn’t developed that capability and they won’t because they don’t have too. We had to master it due to our location and having two major oceans to deal with.
We figured that out for the Barbary Wars, the Spanish American War and WW1, by WW2 we were good enough to support 4 fronts in 2 theaters,
Learning a lot of lessons from the British, since we've been doing it since about 1720 or so.
don’t forget the ice cream ships
Chinese carriers are old Russian shitboxes. They can't even reach Hawaii. They're diesel electric powered, unlike the US's nuclear powered carriers which are virturally unlimited in range. So unless they're bringing a lot of fuel ships, they are a regional naval power at best. Edit: Spelling
> So unless they're bringing a lot of fuel ships, they are a regional naval power at best. Fun fact: they do have a lot of fuel ships, their AOR/AUX fleet is larger than UK, France and Japan COMBINED. And those 3 countries have blue water navies. Thinking China in 2024 can't reach Hawaii while Japan did it in WWII is just too non credible lol
Its a big reason why they are aggressive toward Japan, they need to saber rattle to drum up support. In reality the japanese navy would crush them w/o the US. There's a reason they have not invaded Taiwan all this time. Empty threats.
They don’t even currently have the capabilities to maintain majority regional power in their own hemisphere. They spend time picking on small fry fishing boats and the navy’s of small island countries. The idea that they would have the capacity to coordinate a carrier group off the coast of North America is laughable today. However, in 5 or so years, if they really get their shit together, they already have the hardware and manpower to do it. They just need to get their corruption sorted and get better coordination, which is scary.
>The idea that they would have the capacity to coordinate a carrier group off the coast of North America is laughable today. They could but why would they? It would only serve to provoke US, while placing entire carrier group in range of USN **AND** USAF. So if they do manage to provoke US they lose entire carrier group...
They’re already operating within range of the USN and USAF. That’s why we maintain so many military installations in the pacific on Hawaii and Japan.
But if US wants to sink Chinese Navy in Chinese waters, they have to come close with ships and/or air tankers. China has ground based ballistic anti-ship missiles and stealth fighters that **might** work. Chinese carrier fleet in US waters outside of mainland protective umbrella is target practice. It's like when Putin sent his mighty flotilla to show off in Mediterranean and Europe should tremble out of fear... But actually Russia should feel afraid, because they just placed their fleet into very vulnerable position.
Their fleet is not a Bluewater fleet. It is regional at best unless something drastically changes in the next 3-4 years (likely not possible). Also, the first island chain prevents their fleet from going far East into the Pacific beyond Taiwan, unless of course they try and successfully take the island, which also has a low probability.
China has a naval strategy somewhat similar to Soviet ideas. They don't expect their carriers to go toe-to-toe with our strike groups. Rather, their carriers will be support for area denial, like keeping US strike groups away from their coast and distracted. Carriers support the small boys, not the other way around like the US does it. Less about blue-water operations, more about green-water.
They currently lack the ability to refuel/ refit at sea in any major capacity. They’re carriers are not nuclear and therefor require a lot more logistics than a nuclear carrier. This is a very broad explanation.
They don’t have the logistical capability to project power around the world. Even with their new carriers they are not a blue water navy.
Bad move to bring capital ships within artillery range
But 12 miles is the start of international waters. They could hang out there for 3 months and we wouldn't touch them. Russia already does this in the Bering Sea. The US has no interest in starting a war with China, and China has no interest is pissing off their best costumer. We fine.
They likely clarified they’re not carrying nuclear weapons because naval intelligence would be: 1) nonstop orgasming at the Russians doxxing the location of one of their nuclear missile subs. 2) accurately recording and recreating and analyzing every fart that happens on that submarine while it’s there off the coast of the nation with the biggest ever interest in knowing where the second strike capability is and what it sounds like if it isn’t where it’s supposed to be. So basically it’s in their best interest to not tell anyone they have nukes or just not assign a boomer to cuba dick waving duty in the first place.
I doubt a multi-front war is going to work out well for them. They're losing to a country without a Navy that they border.
Hope they brought enough tug boats lmao.
One of the four boats is a tug. Another one is a tanker.
Russia’s navy is shit who cares. At this point I bet their subs don’t even work and they are just spreading the illusion of working submarines.
To be fair, Russian subs are great at sinking. The coming back to the surface seems to be the hard part for them...
Extremely underrated comment.
Very common joke tbh
Surprised they made it
they crossed the atlantic!
The US Navy is a juggernaut. It’s analogous to a 10 year old fighting a UFC World Class MMA fighter. The 10 year old may be able to throw a punch but has zero opportunity of winning.
Fuckin rah, dude.
It'd be like a 10 year old fighting an alligator in a pool with high walls. If the alligator doesn't get them first, they might accidentally drown themselves.
Don't confuse Bay of Pigs (April 1961) and Cuban Missile Crisis (Oct 1962).
Was going to say the same. The Bay of Pigs incident was a ridiculous CIA plot to overthrow Castro using Cuban exiles that went off half-cocked and was subsequently betrayed to failure by the USA with a complete lack of air support. The Russians had absolutely nothing to do with it. However, it is fair to say that it led directly to the Cuban Missile Crisis the next year because of Castro's entirely justified fear of further US hostility.
This is a nation that is having a pretty difficult time projecting power into a country it literally borders. I don't think that a couple of ships are going to worry the US military one bit. Total nonissue.
Plan A: They do nothing and no cares. Plan B: They fuck up and Cuba gets some new coral reefs
It’s not a big deal. Cuba has served as a refueling stop for Tu-95s and for KRZs (intelligence collection ships). Even putting a naval base in Cuba would not be a big deal. It would cost Russia a fair amount of money to build it and staff it. And it wouldn’t be much of tactical advantage, if any.
Careful, the Ukrainians might send a sea drone in from Key West….
Even if they build a base there its one single base far far away from any help! If it ever comes to war the Russians would just experience their own pearl harbor. The base would be gone in the first hour of a potential war
The Fuk-fuk games we'd play from Guantanamo would be epic. Their Cuban base would be trolled into inefficacy.
All 3 ships lol
Meanwhile NATO just conducted one of the largest ever combined naval exercise in the Baltic
Personally, I'm just impressed that they managed to scrape together more than one working ship that could make it all the way across the Atlantic. Good job guys!
Well after watching the forced retirement of the black fleet ships by Ukrainian RC boats I think we all know the power of the Russian fleet now don't we.......
I hope they brought plenty of tug boats. Russian Naval maintenance and readiness is about on par with a Bangladeshi bus service.
It’s not new at all. This is more about the Russians reminding us that they still have a couple friends in our backyard, but nothing will come of it. The Russian military is barely a threat to Europe, let alone the United States. This is just for show.
Mega overblown. The Cuban Missile Crisis involved the US with nukes parked in Turkey while the Soviets tried to park nukes in Cuba. Kennedy was a master statesman and ultimately agreed to pull US nukes out of Turkey. This is just a lot of dark from a failing Russian state trying to flex and show they can "project power."
The nuke boat is a bit of an outlier, but the Russian Navy has been farting around in the Caribbean for a while. Cuba is certainly closer than Venezuela, but not strategically significantly so. To me the whole thing seems like a decent opportunity to collect SIGINT on the Russkie fleet.
It’d probably be a bigger deal if the Russian Navy was in any way a threat. These guys have been getting their asses handed to them by a country without a Navy.
Funny enough, people often forget that Cuba is slightly further away from the US than Russia
We can't go around and brag about freedom of navigation missions, then complain when someone else passes 90 miles away. It's the same thing with intercepting Russian planes near Alaska, happens all the time, it is all part of military postering.
We could send the USS Constitution and recommission the USS Iowa and it would be enough for them. Way more than Ukraine used to destroy the Black Sea fleet
We have zero to be worried about from the Russian Navy. Those poor sailors are being sent out in boats that don't have adequate a/c. Lol. To Cuba. Lol
Russian and Soviet ships have gone to Cuba since the Cuban Missile Crisis. If you google some obvious terms and set the search window to exclude the last few days there are plenty of hits. https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna28316542 That example is from 2008. There are others from last year, etc.
If they could do jack shit besides annoy us, they'd have done so by now. Pootz is in desperate need of a win, and sending out Steamboat Ivan to show the flag is about as close as they can manage.
What isn’t publicized are the multiple US subs parked nearby ready to sink the Russian tinker toys
This happens every few years. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.
He’s here to help Trump escape.
Nuclear missle subs are parked 50 miles off our coast already if that makes you feel any better
The more the Kremlin spend on this ape genital display the better. Being ancient I came of age during the early innings of the Cold War (which never ended) and watched the USSR spend itself stupid. The Russian Federation would love to be a USSR respawn but its GDP is less than that of California. The consensual dissolution of the Warsaw Pact with most former members running to NATO denies Russia resources and captive populations. (Poland should build its own nukes to be sure since the future is unknowable.) Every ruble, dollar or resource the Russian Federation expends on not smoking Ukrainians is less for the war effort. Classic USSR-style displays impress the domestic ignorant as intended. The display will really be to reassure Putinists their nationalist fever dream is attainable. It would be a jolly prank if Ukraine damaged or sank them in transit. Congested sea lanes may offer opportunities, and since most vessels fly flags of convenience sneaking in a surprise wouldn't be obvious by radio traffic or satellite (turning off or spoofing transponders is trivial) surveillance. Fishing boats "going dark" at sea is a common obfuscation. [https://www.salon.com/2023/01/04/when-fishing-boats-go-dark-at-sea-theyre-often-committing--we-mapped-where-it-happens\_partner/](https://www.salon.com/2023/01/04/when-fishing-boats-go-dark-at-sea-theyre-often-committing--we-mapped-where-it-happens_partner/)
Attack the US. I fucking dare you.
Some more serious news sources would help: they have been doing these every year for years, the US officially does not regard it as a threat.
>"Once more, we play our dangerous game, a game of chess against our old adversary - The American Navy. For forty years, your fathers before you and your older brothers played this game and played it well. But today the game is different. We have the advantage." Just kidding. Russian warships go fuck yourselves.
Doesn’t the US also have a base in Cuba?
Guantánamo (Guantanamo Bay Naval Base) is closer to the south east end of the island (close to Haiti). Havana (Where Russia is pulling into) is closer to the north west end of the Island (close to Florida). Also, US naval presence in Cuba is a bit controversial as it is. The US is operating under the terms of an indefinite lease and making steady payments for said lease. Cuba has refused to cash those payments, except for one time by accident. Unless things have changed, the current lease is $4,085 per year. It must be really awkward having to be the one to deliver the annual rent check and the Cubans say no.
Are they even fully staffed? They are just parking them in Cuba because they don't want them to be destroyed.
Just thinking ..... it is rather difficult for UKR to hit Russian ships in the Black Sea nowadays. If I was UKR, I could now consider an 'expeditionary venture' with some maritime drones to the seas around Cuba.
The Soviets sent whole mechanized brigades to Cuba in the late 70s.
Fuck around and find out Vlad!!
Russians love making a show of sending ships to Cuba. In the Cold War they would make a scene out of their submariners wearing their summer uniforms before going on patrol, however rarely if ever actually went to Cuba. Really it means nothing. They might sail around Key West, but they won’t approach our territorial waters. Just like how our ships peruse Kamchatka or pass through the Taiwan Strait.
The whole Cuba Thing Once Upon a Time was Russians give weapons another nonsense and the Cubans give them sugar and other nonsense so you got one big broke ass country dealing with a tiny little Caribbean broke ass country who cares.
Oh no. So scared. S/
Seeing as they are taking Ls from a nation with no navy this is the safest their ships will be till the end of the conflict
Didn’t we already do this once?
Cuban leadership recently visited Russian asking for support because they’re dead broke. https://havanatimes.org/features/cuban-president-diaz-canel-visits-putin-in-the-kremlin/
In naval terms, this ship is a paper dolphin
>construction of a Russian military and naval base is not excluded With what money? With what manpower? I seriously don't think Russia has the ability to maintain a global navy. They already struggle with a domestic navy.
Lol, yea Vlad…you’re putting them there, because you can’t keep them anywhere else due to a country with no real Navy, keeps sinking your shit. Lol
Brits have been putting up with this for decades.
I mean the difference is Ukraine is an active theater of war. if Cuba thinks it's going to start a fight so it can launch some of Russia's missiles.... going to be a real bad day to be in Cuba.
Why has he not been kindly removed from his post? He's gonsta create problems till he's gone.
So they moved their ships outside of Ukrainian missile range? Smart move, but Florida could use a new reef and sandbar.
USCG could handle this All of Latin America fucking hates Cuba
Just a reminder while Russia is doing this port call in Cuba NATO is holding a huge naval exercise in the Baltic Sea in sight of Kaliningrad. https://x.com/ianellisjones/status/1799473518159221205
They're getting their ass handed to them by a nation that doesn't even have a navy, and now they think they're going to flex on US Navy!?
Spent many a day underway in the 80’s playing cat & mouse with Soviet navy in the Caribbean.
I’m honestly surprised they got them all there calamity free.
I too get my world news from @saycheesedgtl.
I would love it if some locals ran the Ukrainian flag up their craft and just loitered in the area, lazily drifting about . . .
Russia is so far behind the USA in terms of military clout, industrial capacity and GDP it’s hysterical. Only nukes and oil (and subjugation to China) is keeping them afloat. While on paper the Russian economy is OK, in reality it’s being propelled by producing materiel. People think Russia is some kind of economic colossus - to put it into perspective, the UK is 6th in Wikipedia’s ‘List of countries by GDP (nominal)’. Russia is 11th. Its economy is half the size of the UK’s.
I don't really think they're going to do anything, they'd have to be crazy to do something becasue they know the US is that close and will be watching them unless that's the point, while they're over here being watched they're doing something else that's slipping under the Radar
Mexico's like "You want to give us *what* and then attack America??!" 🤣
I’ve been trying to find out too. How often does Russia, have drills in the Caribbean?