A bit far off for the iphone camera, but it’s just passing Dover.

It’s ok Brexiters, 2/3rds of the UKs navy are shadowing it.

They are doing it especially for the Daily Mail

Notice that a tug went through first? There’s a reason for that…..

Like that they parked 2 jets up front though, just in their normal storage postion and not showing off at all 😉

Admiral Kuznetsov?
Is it being towed by a tug?

BBC News

They’re in International Waters, but it’s another bit of Sabre Rattling by Putin.

Can anyone remember why we’ve got ‘beef’ with the Russians? It pre-dates Syria doesn’t it, but post Iron Curtain? They’ve been flying bombers near our borders for years.

aP – Member
Is it being towed by a tug?

It seems more smokey than it was yesterday….. so I assume it will be shortly

I don’t see the problem. We’re doing as much sabre rattling as they are by making an issue of it. We could have welcomed them and made a virtue of the inevitable. Trying to look hard with two tiny ships just makes us look like ****.

It’s not that great, though, is it?

Under Pres. Vladimir Putin’s regime, the Kremlin has laid plans to rebuild the fleet. But that’s easier said than done when the vessels most badly in need of replacement are also the most difficult to build—heavy cruisers, powerful destroyers and Admiral Kuznetsov, Russia’s sole aircraft carrier, which is barely seaworthy after nearly three decades in service.

From here.

They’re in International Waters, but it’s another bit of Sabre Rattling by Putin.

Absolutely – it’s easier to take a carrier group round the other way then thread it through the channel. It’s not that much farther either.

Could go a bit pear shaped if somebody accidentally paints them with a targeting radar, but that won’t happen.

Trying to look hard with two tiny ships just makes us look like ****.

They might be smaller than an aircraft carrier, but they are more than a match.

I agree with outofbreath. The UK is like a silly little yappy dog against a Pitbull. It can yap all it wants, but the Pitbull can snap it’s neck in an instant.

Empire is over. Britain no longer rules the waves. Bulldog spirit? It’s nothing more than a posturing poodle now.

I say “Sabre Rattling” a quick glimpse of a map and it’s seems it’s just ‘the way’.

but it’s another bit of Sabre Rattling by Putin

what sailing a warship to where they are “at war”

Its just sensible

Can anyone remember why we’ve got ‘beef’ with the Russians?

Proud empire used to own half the world – ok Europe- reduced to bit part player as we encroach [ NATO/EU] to its borders

It wants to be something it no longer is,just like us, a superpower

You missed out the part about having a configuration that means the jets must be extremely light to get airborne, meaning they can hardly carry anything and the durations are measured in minutes rather than hours

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLSaA3pO6Bc[/video]

https://warisboring.com/russias-creaky-old-aircraft-carrier-is-up-to-something-strange-d05d5d9a927c#.a0lb7xxko

a quick glimpse of a map and it’s seems it’s just ‘the way’.

..or if they wanted to get some nicer holiday snaps they should have gone around the West Coast of Scotland as would be normal.

They might be smaller than an aircraft carrier, but they are more than a match.

If two ships can beat a Aircraft Carrier & escorting fleet, why have fleets with Aircraft Carriers?

20 years ago, the Russians would have avoided using the north Sea/channel, and gone round the top of Scotland. Just to avoid diplomatic awkwardness. Now, Putin is deliberately sending that ship down the Channel as a way of telling the UK he can do what he wants. And the UK is more or less powerless to stop him. 20 years ago, the USA would have sent some ships to block the Channel. Shows how much less power they’ve got now, and for all the support the UK has given the US military, just how much they wouldn’t piss on us if we were on fire.

Russia’s sole aircraft carrier, which is barely seaworthy after nearly three decades in service

We should do them a favour and pop a torpedo through the side of it. I’m sure they’d thank us for it.

Makes you pine for the good old days when we used to send out a cobbled together and badly maintained taskforce for a show of strength in some far-flung shithole.

Perhaps we should send out one of our aircraft carriers for a bit of sabre rattling? Oh wait….

P-Jay well invading Crimea, Eastern Ukraine and then shooting down a passanger plane would do it (what did Russia do ?)

It’s not really “the way” the western route isn’t that much longer and would normally be used as military don’t want to be “observed” up close

🙂 at tug towing that ancient aircraft carrier – it does seem likely it’s there in case the carrier breaks down !

smokey ol’ **** ain’t it!

Are they giving out any free calendars?

@clod of course we are powerless to stop a ship sailing in International Waters in peacetime

Russia’s economy has shrunk to the size of Australia’s. The sanctions and oil price are hurting them badly.

smokey ol’ **** ain’t it!

Blimey yes ! Powered by a VW diesel ?

clodhopper – Member
I agree with outofbreath. The UK is like a silly little yappy dog against a Pitbull. It can yap all it wants, but the Pitbull can snap it’s neck in an instant.

Empire is over. Britain no longer rules the waves. Bulldog spirit? It’s nothing more than a posturing poodle now.

Throughout history our military have fared well against stronger opponents. But this isn’t just posturing, it’s necessary. Imaging how we’d all be moaning if a Russian attack happened on the UK from those boats and we’d sent absolutely nothing.

One, it’s a useful training exercise for our Navy. Two, it’s helpful to get a intel on Russian Vessels, we’ll have plenty of eyes on their fleet as they pass by. Three, it’s one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes and vitally important to our Isles, we need to protect and keep open. Why on earth would we let that go un-monitored?

If two ships can beat a Aircraft Carrier & escorting fleet, why have fleets with Aircraft Carriers?

The Admiral Kuznetsov isn’t really an aircraft carrier, its a “heavy aircraft-carrying missile cruiser”.

If two ships can beat a Aircraft Carrier & escorting fleet, why have fleets with Aircraft Carriers?

Normally, you put your aircraft carriers out of range of any other ships – not really possible in the channel.

And the UK is more or less powerless to stop him.

… And the UK is more than happy to get a good look at an aircraft carrier that would normally be kept well out of reach.

There’s so much smoke it looks like it’s on fire already.

And the UK is more or less powerless to stop him. 20 years ago, the USA would have sent some ships to block the Channel.

They are powerless. The Russians are entitled free and peaceful passage, as are the millions of other Foreign vessels who go that way every year.

Besides there will be 2 or 3 NATO subs sniffing around, my money would be on the subs in the completely unlikely event of anything actually happening.

🙂 at tug towing that ancient aircraft carrier

At least it has aircraft, unlike the RN white elephants carriers.

🙂

So, basically, if you sink the tug, the whole battle group is screwed?

… And the UK is more than happy to get a good look at an aircraft carrier that would normally be kept well out of reach.

They can really get more by peering at it through binoculars than by doing a Google image search?

@gobuchal agreed our navy and armed forces aren’t properly funded. Spending should be increased significantly

As recently as 1982 the United Kingdom could quickly muster no fewer than 115 ships?—?including two aircraft carriers carrying jet fighters plus 23 destroyers and frigates?—?to retake the Falkland Islands from Argentina while also undertaking other missions.
Today the Royal Navy doesn’t even have jet fighters or carriers capable of supporting them, having mothballed the last Harriers in 2010 and the final flattop in 2014. On a good day, the Royal Navy can call on just 17 destroyers and frigates for all of its operations everywhere.

[/url]

ALthough having steamed past Hull, Lowestoft, Dover and Southampton the russian sialors will go back with terrifying tales of the UK as a land inhabited by septuagenarian mutant zombies chasing eastern europeans into the sea on mobility scooters. So a propaganda win for us I think.

I did shake a stick at it. 😉

@matt thanks for that link interesting. Russia’s largest ship ! I remember going out to see that huge US carrier off Portsmouth after the Gulf War. This Russian ship is a joke in comparison

As has already been pointed out, the Kuznetsov isn’t in the very best of mechanical health and is very expensive to maintain. Sections of the ship are missing heating, hence the Russian Navy’s deployments to warmer climes.

The aircraft themselves are adapted from land based designs, with no catapult to hurl them off the deck, they’re reliant upon engine thrust and a ‘ski-jump’ to get them airborne, which hurts range and weapon load.

However, the Russians have exactly one more aircraft carriers than we do (unless we include our Naval alliance with France whereby we share access to the Charles De Gaulle[/i]). Clever Dave scrapped the Ark Royal in 2010, the Kuznetsov-sized Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales are at least four and eight years away from their in service dates and have exactly zero planes to fly from their decks. Our new carriers will also have no catapults and rely on ‘ski-jump’ ramps to get their hideously expensive and controversial jets airborne.

Probably best to just let the Russian Navy show off for a while and before waving them farewell once they clear the Channel.

If we’re playing warship top trumps then it is fair to say that the T45 ships are a quantum leap forward from anything the Russians are currently running.
Yes, the T45s are plagued with propulsion issues but when it is all working, they are probably the most capable AAW Destroyers anywhere in the world.
They have provided support to several US Naval battle groups in the middle east, as the Sampson + S1850M Radar suite is the most advanced ever fitted to a surface combat vessel.

The Russian Destroyers are well tooled up, but much of the technology is old, obsolete and poorly maintained.
I visited one last year, which had been built in Kaliningrad for the Indian Navy (INS Trikand) it was surprisingly old school considering it was only a couple of years old.

All this is just posturing from Putin, nothing will come of it other than news headlines.