The joint military exercise between Russia and Venezuela at sea is intended to be a warning rather than a provocation.
On November 25th, after a two-month voyage, the Russian Northern Fleet, consisting of the nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser Peter the Great and the large anti-submarine ship Admiral Chabanenko, arrived in Venezuela. Subsequently, the Russian and Venezuelan navies conducted joint military exercises in the Caribbean from December 1 to 3 as planned. According to senior naval officials, the Russian-Russian joint exercise aims at technical and communication exchanges around joint search and rescue, patrol, drug control, anti-terrorism and anti-air operations. This is the first time since the end of the Cold War that Russian troops have "approached" the United States so closely.
The Russian fleet entered the "backyard" of the United States for the first time after the Cold War. Although the location of the military exercise was sensitive, the course setting was very low-key
For some time, the relationship between Russia and the United States has been tense around the deployment of anti-missile systems in Eastern Europe and the conflict in South Ossetia. The biggest attraction of this exercise is that this is the first time that the Russian navy has shown its strength near the US coast after the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Although both Russia and Venezuela have stated in advance that the exercise is "not aimed at a third country, is not aggressive and has no political significance", due to the sensitivity of the military exercise location and the fact that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev personally "supervised the array", it naturally attracted widespread attention including western countries.
The Caribbean has always been the "bridgehead" for the United States to control Latin America economically and militarily, and it is also the "soft rib" for the United States in its global military deployment. Although the "base camp" of the US Fourth Fleet is in the Caribbean, the US fleet is also unimpeded in the Caribbean without any threatening opponents. However, if the Russian navy takes Venezuela as its supply base and often patrols or holds military exercises in this area, the absolute superiority of the US navy in the Caribbean will be greatly weakened, and its military deterrence against Latin America will also be greatly reduced.
Although the location of the military exercise is sensitive, it is relatively low-key from the perspective of the courses set up by the Russian and Russian military exercises. It is mainly routine and low-intensity combat courses such as air defense exercises, fuel supply, ship tracking, coordinated operations with helicopters and fighters, and anti-terrorism and drug trafficking. There are no hard projects such as attacking the formation of maritime aircraft carriers, amphibious landing, and anti-landing.
According to the Venezuelan navy, through the exercise, we can learn the knowledge of communication system and weapon operation and use from the experienced Russian navy, and enhance the defense capability of the Venezuelan navy. In the words of Russian defense experts, this is first and foremost a declarative action by the Russian navy. In other words, Russia wants to tell the United States: "If you enter our territory, we will also enter your territory."
Of course, for the United States and Russia, no one can bear the serious consequences caused by the breakdown of bilateral relations. Therefore, the two countries must try to keep the relationship basically stable while launching a contest.
The nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser "Peter the Great" starred. Although it did not mean to "provoke" the United States, it was a reminder.
Judging from the participating forces, the Russian side dispatched the flagship of the Northern Fleet, the heavy nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser "Peter the Great", the large anti-submarine ship "Admiral Chabanenko" and two support ships, with a total of about 1,600 people. The Venezuelan side sent three frigates, an amphibious transport ship, four patrol boats, four coast guard boats, a naval aviation unit and a Su -30MK2 fighter brigade, with a total number of about 700 people. In the military exercise on the 1st, the two sides took the "Peter the Great" as the flagship and launched a "common defense" coordination exercise within the range of 28 km to 370 km.
In fact, the Russian-Russian joint performance plan has long been intentional. However, after the conflict between Russia and Georgia, this plan has been greatly changed. Originally, Russia only planned to send four surface boats of the Pacific Fleet to visit, but now it has added heavyweight strategic forces including the flagship cruiser "Peter the Great" of the Northern Fleet, and the meaning is self-evident.
As the flagship of the Northern Fleet, the "Peter the Great" with a displacement of 26,000 tons has a variety of weapons, including 20 "Granite" cruise missiles capable of assembling nuclear warheads, 12 "Reef" air defense missiles and 16 "Blade" near-defense missiles. It is said that all the missiles it carries add up to 520. Because of the nuclear power plant, theoretically, the ship has almost unlimited endurance, so its combat radius can also reach any distance, and it can carry out ocean-going operations without replenishment from overseas bases. The cruiser "Peter the Great" is the only nuclear-powered cruiser currently in service in the Russian Navy and the only one left in the world. Its "superb martial arts" is not only the "patron saint" of the aircraft carrier "Kuznetsov", but also bears the historical mission of revitalizing the Russian Navy.
The Russian "Admiral Chabanenko" large anti-submarine destroyer is the only achievement of the fearless class II destroyer. Admiral of the fleet, commander-in-chief of the Russian navy, called this ship and the heavy nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser "Peter the Great" Russia’s main battle ship in the 21st century, which shows its fighting capacity.
It should be said that these two ships are the essence of Russian surface naval forces, and their maritime combat capability is also at the top level in the world. Sending these two ships across the ocean for a long voyage, and visiting more than 20 countries on the way to Venezuela in the Caribbean for a joint maritime military exercise, Russia is actually reminding the United States and the world that although it is still in the stage of military recovery, the Russian navy is still a maritime force that cannot be ignored.
On the surface, the US military is "dismissive", but in fact, it is like a throat, monitoring the whole process.
The reaction of the United States to Russia’s military exercise in its backyard is unusually calm. Pentagon officials said that they are not concerned about this military exercise because the United States holds similar exercises with many countries around the world every year. US State Department spokesman McCormack even expressed doubts about the Russian navy’s ability to sail, and joked that "the Russian army should take several tugboats on its voyage."
However, the superficial indifference of the United States is more like pretending to be calm. Since the departure of the Russian fleet, the seemingly "dismissive" US side has paid close attention to it. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has sent reconnaissance planes to "accompany" the fleet many times along the way. With the increasingly anti-American tendency in Latin America in recent years, the United States has paid more and more attention to this region. The rebuilding of the 4th Fleet in the United States is to facilitate rapid response to various events in the backyard.
The intensification of military confrontation between Russia and the United States has caused some media to worry about the "new cold war." However, under the current circumstances, the difference between Russian naval forces and the United States is still very wide, and it is difficult to pose a real threat to them. The Russian-Russian joint military exercise will not necessarily become the fuse of the all-round arms race and the new "cold war", and the tense confrontation will not last long. In this sense, the US side’s "flat response" may be to avoid aggravation of tensions. The Russian side has repeatedly stated that the exercise is an established plan and is not aimed at anyone.
Perhaps because of this, Russia’s return to Latin America with great fanfare is actually "more empty than real". Although its move makes the United States feel like a sore throat, how the two sides wrestle in Latin America in the future depends on the warm and cold relations between the two countries. If the relationship between Russia and western countries cannot be substantially improved, it does not rule out that the wrestling between the two sides in Latin America will further heat up.
Russia, Venezuela and the United States are all "calm", but the western media are "enthusiastic", adding fuel to the flames.
If Russia’s arms sales to Venezuela are considered as ordinary cooperation, then the joint military exercise between the Russian Committee and the navy is tantamount to a blatant challenge to the United States in the eyes of many western media. Different from the low-key of the three parties, the attention of the western media to the exercise can be described as "enthusiastic", which is inevitably suspected of adding fuel to the fire. For a series of actions carried out by Russia "openly under the eyes of Washington", AFP and other western media believe that this is undoubtedly a "provocation" against the United States.
The British "Times" reported that the Russian naval exercise held in the backyard of the United States was intended to challenge Obama when he took office as president of the United States. The BBC pointed out that the joint military exercise between Venezuela and Russia will arouse great concern in the United States and may lead to further tension between the United States and Russia. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun said that Russia quickly approached Latin American countries and expanded its territory in the backyard of the United States.
In fact, bilateral or multilateral military exercises are an important way to enhance mutual understanding and trust among countries, which are often held in the world at present. It is nothing new. In the past, some participating countries often made relevant introductions and publicity, but due to the inherent particularity of military exercises, people always have a lingering mystery about joint military exercises.
Functionally, joint military exercises are an important way to show the country’s political stance and enhance bilateral and multilateral mutual trust and cooperation. In international politics, countries not only need to publicize their political opinions through diplomatic channels, but also need to show their political determination and policy orientation through other means, including military channels.
In addition, joint military exercise is an important measure to strengthen the combat readiness of the army and enhance the cooperative combat capability of the joint army. It is very difficult for foreign armies to cooperate closely and act in concert. Exercise is the highest form of military training and an important means to improve the level of combat readiness. Through joint military exercises, it is helpful to find and reduce the disharmony between armies, strengthen the level of combat readiness, and enhance the ability of joint forces to cooperate closely and cooperate with each other.
Therefore, it is an effective means to cool down the world’s "hot spots" by looking at the problems rationally and analyzing them responsibly. In this sense, abandoning the cold war mentality is not just a matter between countries. At present, the trend of multipolarization in the world is irreversible. In this process, the balance of power will change, but it is more important to gradually form a new international code of conduct and handle international affairs with the new code. As a pole in the emerging multipolar world, Russia will inevitably strengthen its influence in various ways and defend its dignity as a great power with new norms.
Editor: Wang Xu
