Navy Deploys Destroyers To Black Sea To “Desensitize” Russia To US Presence
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Wed, 02/21/2018
With US relations with Russia once again deteriorating by the day, the Navy has deployed the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney to the Black Sea, where it will join the destroyer USS Ross, in a move that military officials told CNN is intended to “desensitize Russia” to the presence of US military forces in the Black Sea, Russia’s geographic equivalent of the Gulf of Mexico.
Officials told CNN that given the heightened tensions and increased military activity in the region “it is important to increase the frequency of US activity in the area and desensitize Russia to the presence of US military forces there”, helping to establish rules for how the two countries should safely operate in proximity to each other, as they did in the Cold War.
“In the Cold War we had a dance we did and everybody knew their roles in the dance: You fly your bomber here, I’ll fly my bomber there. You put a ship here, I’ll put a ship there,” another US defense official in Europe told CNN.
“I don’t think we’ve got to that level yet, and so we’re still trying to figure out what that dance looks like in the year 2018 versus what it was back in the Cold War, and I think there are some growing pains, obviously,” the official added.
The deployment of the USS Carney marks the first time in four years that two American destroyers have operated in the Black Sea outside of scheduled exercises, according to the Military Times which adds that “the last time the U.S. sent a multi-destroyer security patrol to the Black Sea was during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, shortly before the Crimea annexation.” Since then, multiple U.S. warships have been on location in the Black Sea but always in the context of a naval drill, including a recent trip for the annual Sea Breeze exercise.
The naval deployment comes as NATO ground forces pile up in central and eastern Europe, allegedly in response for Russia’s continued militarization of Crimea. Nevertheless, U.S. and NATO officials have insisted that they are not playing tit-for-tat with the Russians.
“Our decision to have two ships simultaneously operate in the Black Sea is proactive, not reactive,” said Vice Adm. Christopher Grady, commander of 6th Fleet, which oversees U.S. naval operations in the region. “The continued presence of the U.S. Navy in the Black Sea demonstrates our enduring commitment to regional stability, maritime security of our Black Sea partners, and the collective defense of our NATO allies,” he added.
On Sunday Russia announced its own naval deployments to the area, with the Russian Ministry of Defense issuing a statement saying that a Russian frigate, the Admiral Essen, and two patrol ships had entered the Black Sea for a series of exercises.
A US defense official based in Europe told CNN that the Russians “are very sensitive to our precision strike capability” as well as US ballistic missile defense assets such as the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System, which is deployed on both the Ross and Carney.
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