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Russian Warships to Get NATO Communications Equipment
Topic: Sea piracy in the modern world
Russian Warships to Get NATO Communications Equipment
© RIA Novosti. Viktor Krupenin20:45 25/04/2012
BRUSSELS, April 25 (RIA Novosti)
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Russia to Send New Anti-Piracy Force to Gulf of AdenRussian warships will be equipped with NATO navigation and communications systems to improve coordination in anti-piracy missions around the world, Chief of the Russian General Staff Nikolai Makarov said on Wednesday.
The issue has been discussed during a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council in Brussels.
“We decided to install standard NATO navigation and communications systems on our warships,” Makarov said.
NATO warships have been patrolling the pirate-infested waters off the Somali coast since 2008, as part of Operation Ocean Shield. NATO has recently extended its mission in the Gulf of Aden and adjacent areas until 2014.
Russia joined the international anti-piracy mission in the region in 2008. Russian warships have successfully escorted more than 130 commercial vessels from various countries since then.
Task forces from the Russian Navy, usually led by Udaloy class destroyers, operate in the area on a rotating basis.
A task force from Russia’s Northern Fleet, led by the Udaloy class destroyer Vice Admiral Kulakov, will arrive in the Gulf of Aden in the beginning of May to join the anti-piracy mission.
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- bielecWhatever it is...04:30, 26/04/2012... it is not "to coordinate anti-piracy missions around the world". Just like the "war on terrorism", the piracy acts happen to take place exclusively in strategic locations, for example, at the entrance to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.
Just like Al-Qaeda and other terrorists and rebels, this is most likely a politically motivated activity, a pretext for military presence and engagement in these areas.
This is a strange news. If NATO considered Russia an enemy, they would not share their communications and navigation systems with Russian Navy. Something is wrong here. But what?- jgSomalia is what's going on11:53, 26/04/2012Somalia hasn't had a viable government for about two decades and, as part of the resultant anarchy, some Somalis have taken to piracy. They are exploiting Somalia's position near a choke point for shipping: the entrance to the Red Sea. Pirates in Indonesia exploit the Malacca Straits in the same way. Following the "success" of the Somali pirates, criminals from nearby countries have followed their example.
Many NATO members have been somewhat ineffective in their anti-piracy efforts, due to worries about human rights, international law and the possibility that some pirates might claim asylum once captured. The anti-piracy measures of the Russian military seem to have been more decisive, more forceful and above all, more effective. Handing NATO communications equipment to the Russian forces is a sensible move and recognition of their effectiveness in these mutually beneficial activities. - bielecTo ig:20:16, 26/04/2012I hope that you are right. You are quoting the official version of this issue, which we know well from the official, corporate media.
Logically, it may be so. But practically, I don't see how the lowlessness and lack of viable government in Somalia would survive two decades, if some powerful countries were not interested in continuing and protecting the current status quo.
For example, if the U.S. or Russia wanted to establish a strong government in Somalia, it would be done, as it was demonstrated in other countries around the world. There would be financial offers, economic sanctions, blockades, color revolutions, covered operations, assassinations, and eventually, a staged military intervention, direct or through proxies.
Now, if somebody is interested in continuing the present situation, there must be a reason behind it. The piracy acts may be as valuable to the U.S. (or another country) as Al-Qaeda was in 2001 and afterwards in staging the "wars on terror" - (in fact the oil wars). However, this time it may be for a different reason.
I feel that this is one of the strategic hotspots and powerful countries want to have a good pretext for their military presence in the area. It is important to note that this area, aside from being located on a major shipping route, is very close to the recent and future war theaters in the Middle East. The same goes for the Malacca Straits and the shipping routes to the Far East.
In conclusion, it looks that the big brothers let the situation drag, because it is convenient and useful at the moment.
Again, I wish that you were right. - arsanlupinThe real answer is obvious ...21:07, 26/04/2012... to almost everyone else on the planet: NATO does NOT think of Russia as an enemy! There was never any armed conflict between NATO and the Soviet Union or the Warsaw Pact – never. The strong efforts of NATO to improve relations with members both of the former Warsaw Pact and the former Soviet Union over the past 20 years confirms this. However the Somali pirates attacked 151 ships in 2011 alone. Thousands of ships have been attacked in the last 20 years. Those waters are important to world shipping – the Red Sea is access to Suez and the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf is the source of 35% of seaborne oil supplies.
As for ‘nation-building’ Somalia into a productive – and safe – place free of pirates, that not so easy. The US tried it 20 years ago – and suffered a humiliating defeat. They didn’t do any better in Viet Nam, and their efforts in Afghanistan are very much in doubt. Why? Simple – the factions in all of these places don’t want to cooperate in forming a government; they much rather rape and loot and kill each other and anyone else they can reach. Without the local populace interested in a strong government, it simply won’t happen.
Then there are the allegations that foreign fishing trawlers are fishing in Somali waters, and foreign companies’ ships have been dumping waste off Somalia. True, the situation was probably exploited by the warlords and turned into a commercial operation, but what started it?
I know so many of you are so very fond of conspiracy theories – any conspiracy theory – but isn’t it possible that the maritime countries simply got sick of having their ships attacked and hijacked, and decided to fight back? Conspiracies are incredibly difficult, expensive, and time-consuming, and are almost never worth the trouble. Sometimes people prefer the simple approach. And what’s wrong with Russia and countries of The West having common concerns – and deciding to share a common solution? Who knows – they might learn to see each other a little more as equals, worthy of closer partnerships.
Anyone who doesn’t want closer cooperation, full partnerships, and mutual respect (in both directions) is a genocidal fool. - bielecI don't understand ...00:58, 27/04/2012... why it is so difficult to accept the fact that both NATO and Russia continue military presence in and around the Gulf of Aden for strategic and military reasons, and not for the purpose of "cooperation". Such cooperation does not show in other areas, i.e.: the U.S. missile shield in Eastern Europe.
I think the military strategiests would not be doing their job, if they did not secure military presence in strategic hotspots. Such presence must be camuflaged under "other reasons" to avoid the impression of confrontational motivations. - aRussia enemy no more, or...?00:05, 28/04/2012"If NATO considered Russia an enemy, they would not share their communications and navigation systems with Russian Navy"
I'll try to answer your question, even though I'm not expert of any kind.
NATO "communications and navigation systems" are already availabile (and even more than that) to Russia through commission of 4 Mistrals.
French(SENIT 9)and other aspects of command and control communication system is the latest of what NATO is using at the moment.
By having Russia to induce NATO systems (standards), West is making Russia closer to the West and hopefully more DEPENDENT on Western tech.
That is VERY important now when U.S. & West know that they will not be able to dominate Central Asia(Afghanistan, Caspian oil&gas etc.) yet they about to adventure themselves to "contain China" in the near future... To do that they DESPERATELY NEED Russia.
- SirkoSimple Placations and No Big Deal...23:25, 26/04/2012Hello...!!! What military secrets are there in sharing communication and navigation systems? There is nothing in that which compromises NATO's plan at world hegemony.
"... to almost everyone else on the planet: NATO does NOT think of Russia as an enemy!"
Now that is apropos statement considering tha the very purpose and creation of NATO was to counter Russia- arsanlupinInaccurate as always ...01:01, 27/04/2012As usual, your "facts" are twisted, distorted, or simply made up out of thin air in a feeble attempt to justify your delusions.
NATO was initially formed as a political association. It wasn't until North Korea invaded on South Korea that NATO decided to build an integrated military alliance in response to the unprovoked surprise attack. The Cold War evolved into a rivalry between NATO and the Warsaw Pact in the late 1950’s. In 1991 both the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union legislated themselves out of existence - disintegrated under the weight of their gross inefficiencies and flagrant abuses of their citizenry. The Cold War ended with the disintegration of the USSR – and with it any rivalry between members of the former groups.
NATO has no desire, interest, nor reason to try to dominate anyone – including its own member states. Perhaps that is why so many members of both the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union have so eagerly sought membership.
As for the navigational and communications equipment, if you think there can be nothing “secret” about either, than you are even more ignorant of current military technology than you are of politics. Communications and navigational instruments constitute the bulk of the electronics on board a modern warship. Didn’t you recently accuse Minister Rogozin for telling Russian state secrets to the media when he admitted that Russian electronics industry is more than a decade behind the rest of the world? What “secrets”?
The comment of “NATO Hegemony” is nothing more than mindless hatred at something that you personally don’t like. Another expression of frustration and rage by a dying dinosaur as it sinks into the tarpits of ancient history. - bielecIndirect reply to arsenlupin:02:58, 27/04/2012Your political knowledge is entirely one-sided and based on Western official propaganda. I have read similar statements in Western corporate media for years.
So, you believe in NATO's innocent and peaceful intentions towards Russia and towards other contries. You believe that obvious interpretations of facts (such as 9/11, Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, as well as recent warmongering regarding Syria and Iran) are "conspiracy theories". You must believe that the U.S. missile shield, the NATO expansion towards Russia's borders, and the placing of U.S. military bases around Russia show that NATO loves Russia.
Let me tell you - you are watching CNN and Fox News too much. Or, you are an agent (CIA?, MI6?, Mossad?) whose job and assignment is to neutralize and ridicule anti-NATO comments in RIA Novosti. I don't see any other reason for your ignorance and intolerance of other opinions.
By the way, both the Korean war and the Vietnam war resulted from the U.S. desire to control the oil shipping routes to China, Japan, and Pacific ports of the Soviet Union, and therefore to control these countries politically. Other reasons included boosting the U.S. military budget and the military build-up of NATO. Nothing new, nothing unexpected.
Have you heard about the Gulf of Tonkin incident involving the USS Maddox (August 2, 1964) and a similar incident involving the USS Liberty (June 8, 1967)? The staements of eye-witnesses (the crew members and servicemen of the USS Maddox and the USS Liberty) were documented facts and not conspiracy theories. This, just to show you that dirty tricks are not new in NATO's tactics.
- SirkoP.S.....Still Laughing as Always...!!!07:18, 27/04/2012Tell us again how NATO was created when North Korea attacked South Korea which occurred in 1950, when every history book I have read and my teachers taught us that it was after the blockade of Berlin in 1949. O' all knowing guru and legend in your own mind....
Here it is from the horses mouth Mr. accurate in your own mind and Wikipedia educated guru. "NATO is a military organization founded on April 4th 1949 to combat the spread of Communism. Duh...!!!- bielecAlmost right10:15, 27/04/2012The Korean war was not caused by the North Korean attack on South Korea. Yes, this was an official Western version of events, but there was much more to it. Check your facts.
Google "How did the Korean War start" and find other, very different interpretations of political and military events that led to the Korean War.
- SirkoMoles and Propagandists Rule16:39, 27/04/2012"Let me tell you - you are watching CNN and Fox News too much. Or, you are an agent (CIA?, MI6?, Mossad?) whose job and assignment is to neutralize and ridicule anti-NATO comments in RIA Novosti. I don't see any other reason for your ignorance and intolerance of other opinions.
- Beryev(no title)22:13, 27/04/2012Most of the above comments are amusing, considering the fact that the matter of the day is not if "NATO is Evil" or "NATO is an enemy of Russia", but that Russia is actively cooperating with NATO. But of course it won't stop those who are stuck in the Cold War from being unnecessarily loud about it all, considering the fact that the Russian authorities will still cooperate with NATO despite the mindless rambling in the comments section of a RIA Novosti article.
- arsanlupinGood point18:06, 29/04/2012The only problem with it is that it refers to facts - something that all these Cold War dinosaurs react to like sodium and water - a hypergolic mixture.
I'm not sure, but I think it is because the dissolution of the Soviet Union so traumatized them that they are in denial. They refuse to admit that the Soviet Union in particular, and Marxist-Leninist-Stalinist “solutions” were in fact utter and complete failures, and they are all ancient history now because of their own failures. No one and nothing did them in – they did it to themselves. They cannot admit that the entire fundamental ideology that they grew up in was a complete failure, so they bellow their rage louder and louder, in the futile hope that it will return if only they roar their support of it loudly enough.
When I asked my Russian expat friends (almost all women) why this was, they explained that it had to do with dysfunctional families. Most families in Russia are run by single mothers, because the father either ran off with some teenaged bimbo or drank himself into oblivion. To run such a household the woman must be strong-willed, which in turn causes the boys to grow up with huge psychological insecurities and feelings of inferiority. They need to compensate for these feelings by pounding their chests and roaring like a bull gorilla in one way or another. This of course leads to all kinds of ultra-macho self-destructive behavior, which causes them to die off at a median age of about 58 years, which causes the single-mother households that perpetuate the cycle.
This in turn is why so many Russian women emigrate to the West – they can’t find any real men back home. A recent poll run by a Russian news service with women of marriageable age all across Russia found more than 8% would marry ONLY a foreigner; another 12% would seriously consider marrying a foreigner. The other 80% sigh in resignation and say “they are coarse, but they are ours …” “Better the devil we know …” Can you imagine what THAT fact does to the psyche of Russian men? No wonder they are bellowing like an enraged brontosaurus!
- SirkoPrincipality of Evil....!!!03:43, 28/04/2012"Most of the above comments are amusing, considering the fact that the matter of the day is not if "NATO is Evil" or "NA Russian authorities will still cooperate with NATO despite the mindless rambling in the comments section of a RIA Novosti article."
You are correct about amusing, but very wrong and uninformed about "..mindless ramblings". The only mindless and uninformed ramblings here are found in your post and and in the propaganda and misinformation of Arsanlupin. I wonder if he is part 'feline' (arsan) and part 'canine' (lupin)?
You obviously know little about Russian history, for this mentality has been a timeless problem in Russia. Whether it was the Teutonic hordes of the Pope in in the middle ages, the Mongol, the Tatar, the Ottoman Turk, Charles I of Sweden, Fredrick the Great, Napoleon, Germany and the Austro-Magyars in WW I, and lastly the Nazis and fascists of WW II the Russians have a sense of naivety blended with an inferiority complex and always try to co-operate with the enemy. However, being a great people culturally they have managed to wake up at the nick of time at great cost. Hence, it would appear that the modern scenario with the NATO fascists is simply following the Russian pension for suffering and then great sacrifice.
There is no "...if NATO is Evil.."...!!! NO...!!! NO...!!! It is evil. For how does one honestly justify invading sovereign states, destroying countries, destabilizing regions and creating mayhem, for the personal gain of the regimes which support NATO. The Soviet Union is gone. Communism is once again a dream of the proletariat and the Warsaw Pact is dead. So just how does a sentient, knowledgeable, moral being justify the existence of a dinosaur such as NATO....One reason and one reason alone, that is greed and world hegemony and vice versa. There cannot be any other interpretation of the alliances actions in Jugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and now Syria and tomorrow Iran and of course the everlasting incisive, and relentless pressure and threat against North Korea. The hypocrisy of the alliance can do nothing but shock decent human beings. For, history has taught us many lessons but the following should be paramount. Good people do not struggle against any specific people or nation. The struggle against principalities of evil such as NATO...an American Wart upon the face of humanity...- arsanlupinCalm down, Sirko!17:37, 29/04/2012Your shrieks of enraged fury are reaching such an apoplectic level that your spittle is spraying everyone around you! Quick – check your blood pressure!
I'm really flattered at all the attention from the forum's Bolsheviks; I never knew how a few facts could so enrage such dinosaurs. Thank you - thank you all for your applause! Hear ye, hear ye! “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free!” (John 8:32)
Saying something negative about a person (or a political entity) doesn't necessarily make it a fact. Calling someone pejoratives merely reduces others' perception of you to that of a toddler's temper tantrum. Both were characteristic of the CPSU's official outlet, Pravda - whose name remains at the top of the list of sick jokes that was the Soviet Union.
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