WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy should dedicate forces to push back against Russian activity across the European theater in the coming weeks, two lawmakers said, even as the world’s attention is on Ukraine’s land borders with Russia and Belarus.
Senator Richard Blumenthal and Representative Joe Courtney agreed that a strong Navy show of force, particularly in the submarine domain, where Russia has focused its modernization efforts, could help deter Russia from its overall effort to assert itself in the region or to prevent a small conflict from escalating into something larger.
The two Connecticut Democrats spoke Jan. 24 at a virtual event hosted by submarine builder General Dynamics Electric Boat.
Russian President Vladimir Putin “will test us everywhere he can. He is doing it right now in Ukraine: he wants to restore hegemony over countries that used to be part of the Soviet Union; bring Mother Russia back to the Ukraine; conduct a hybrid war of military action, cyber attack and disinformation. And part of their overall strategy is to reinforce submarine warfare and therefore push the United States, try to divide allies and create instability,” Blumenthal said in response to a question about how naval forces could help Putin back in Ukraine.
“Submarine warfare, because we are talking about the Mediterranean, the Black Sea as potential areas of tension and conflict, is very much at stake even though it is not directly involved in the confrontation in the area of eastern Ukraine or Crimea or on the borders. from northern Ukraine, who pose perhaps the greatest immediate threat in Belarus, where Putin is building up forces right now,” he added.
The senator said he agreed with President Joe Biden’s statement that US troops should not be sent to Ukraine to fight, but said it would be important to strengthen and bolster NATO’s capabilities in the region, as well as find other ways to show strength “all over the world”. in other areas where we come face to face with the Russians.”
He added that the US should also focus on economic sanctions against Russia, including export controls on semiconductors and other technologies that Russia needs to keep its economy going; disconnect Russia from the international financial system; supply more weapons to Ukraine so the country can defend itself; and getting NATO allies, especially Germany, to join in their efforts to respond to Russia.
Although world attention has focused on Ukraine’s border with Russia to the east and Belarus to the north, Russia announced last week that it would hold a series of large naval exercises across its geographically dispersed fleets, upping the ante in its standoff against the West. .
“The drills are intended to practice actions of the navy and air force to protect Russian national interests in the world’s oceans and counter military threats to the Russian Federation,” the Defense Ministry said, adding that they will start this month and they will last until February in the Mediterranean, North Atlantic and Pacific.
Just the day before that announcement, the US Navy announced that its guided-missile submarine Georgia was in Cyprus for a port call, an unusual move, announcing the location of this large submarine loaded to the gills with conventional missiles, which in recent history has only been done to send a message to Russia or North Korea.
Courtney, responding to the same question at the event, said the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group exercising with NATO forces in the Mediterranean represented “the most visible sign of presence the Navy is exercising there.” But, he said, the submarine fleet would have an important, if less visible, role in checking Russian aggression.
Saying that Russia’s series of exercises would “flood the area” with submarines in the North Atlantic, where Russia’s Northern Fleet, which is packed with submarines, operates, Courtney said: “There is no doubt that our submarine fleet will be very busy at this very tense time. And it will definitely play a big role in terms of making sure that any potential conflict that might come up doesn’t escalate into something more serious.”
Megan Eckstein is the naval warfare reporter at Defense News. He has covered military news since 2009, with a focus on U.S. Navy and Marine Corps operations, acquisition programs and budgets. He has reported from four geographic fleets and is happiest reporting stories from a ship. . Megan is a student at the University of Maryland.
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