The Russian Navy appears to have deployed marine mammals in Syria during the civil war two years ago. H I Sutton has the story.

The Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet can now deploy its submarines to the Mediterranean. This is despite an international treaty which many thought would prevent it. The Montreux Convention, agreed in 1936, prohibits submarines from passing through the Bosporus Strait, which connects the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. There are exceptions in the treaty for special cases for Black Sea nations

Russia's controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is enjoying a naval escort. The undersea pipeline will be built in the Baltic between Russia and Germany. Two offshore supply vessels involved in the project are currently being escorted. They are accompanied by a Project 1155 Udaloy-I Class destroyer and a Project 22160 patrol ship. At the time of writing the ships are currently 40 nautical miles southwest of Brest, France.

Iran built a large-scale dummy US Navy aircraft carrier in 2013-14. And then dramatically destroyed it in war games in February 2015. Recently it has been repaired and may be destined for another explosive demonstration soon. H I Sutton looks in details at Iran's fake aircraft carrier and explains why it makes no realistic sense.

When the Marine Nationale's latest submarine, Suffren (Q284) conducted its first test dives it grabbed headlines. What went largely unnoticed by the world was that a Russian ship had been loitering in the area.

Russian defense industry sources confirm that the Russian Navy's Pr.1164 Atlant (NATO: SLAVA Class) will get a new lease of life.

Against a backdrop of the uneasy deal between Turkey and Russia in Syria, and growing national emergencies due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Russian warships continue to pass south through the Bosphorus.

2020 continues to see explosive boats being launched against tanker traffic in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea area. They also pose a threat to warships, particularly of the Saudi-led coalition. This represents a persistent threat to International SLOCs (Sea Lines of Communication) in the Southern Red Sea, Bab-el-Mandeb strait, Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea. The threat can exist over 100 nautical miles off the coast.

The Laika class submarine follows on from the Pr.885/885M Severodvinsk Class cruise missile submarines. But it is not a straightforward successor. It was first revealed in the background of a media report on a Russian defense exhibition in December. Although it has not been officially confirmed the new design is likely to be the next generation Russian attack submarine project known as Husky.