Military Infrastructure News

A Ukrainian sea drone full of explosives struck a Russian fuel tanker near a bridge linking Russia to annexed Crimea, the second such attack in 24 hours, both sides said on Saturday.No one was hurt, but the Crimean Bridge and ferry transport were suspended for several hours, according to Russian-installed officials in Crimea, which Moscow seized from Ukraine in 2014.A Ukrainian intelligence source told Reuters that the drone with 450 kg of explosives hit the SIG vessel as it transported fuel for the Russian military in Ukrainian territorial waters."The tanker was well loaded with fuel, so the 'fireworks' were seen from afar," the source said…

Deck cadet Burak Kinayer, 19, is waiting to hear when he will set sail home to Turkey after five months of being stranded by the war in the Ukraine now a grain export deal has been signed.As clashes between Russian and Ukrainian forces echoed off the coast of Odesa last weekend, he became concerned, but Kinayer said his nervousness gave way to excitement as the Kaptan Cevdet gets ready to leave, potentially in the coming days."The way back does not scare me," the trainee navigational deck officer told Reuters via videolink from aboard the ship."We can say that our excitement and hopes have been through the roof in the recent days," he said.Kinayer's ship is one of dozens preparing to depart from three Black Sea ports blockaded by Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.

Six Russian warships are heading to the Black Sea from the Mediterranean for naval drills, the Interfax news agency cited Russia's Defence Ministry as saying on Tuesday, in what it said was a pre-planned movement of military resources.Russia announced last month its navy would stage a sweeping set of exercises involving all its fleets in January and February, from the Pacific to the Atlantic, in the latest show of strength in a surge of military activity during a standoff with…

A ship carrying two refitted former U.S. Coast Guard patrol boats designed to beef up the Ukrainian Navy transited the Dardanelles strait on Saturday days after Ukraine said it feared Russia might be preparing an attack on it.The ship carrying the two Island-class patrol boats departed Baltimore for the Ukrainian port of Odessa on November 8. Ukrainian sailors have already undergone extensive training on the vessels in the United States. Ukraine got two similar vessels in 2019.The two new boats are part of a security package to Ukraine worth over $2.5 billion since 2014…

U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rick Scott (R-FL) introduced the American Shores Protection Act to codify the moratorium on oil and gas drilling off the coasts of Florida that was put in place by September 8, 2020, Executive Order by then-President Trump. Under the legislation, the moratorium would be in place for the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic until 2032.Congressman Michael Waltz (R-FL) introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The United States is planning to build additional military infrastructure in Australia once Congress gives approval to the U.S. Navy for $211.5 million, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said on Tuesday.The plans for a bigger U.S. footprint in Australia come at a time when the Western allies have become increasingly concerned by China's efforts to expand its influence in the Pacific."The development of facilities will support the Force Posture Initiatives," Payne told Sky News…

China appears to have largely completed major construction of military infrastructure on artificial islands it has built in the South China Sea and can now deploy combat planes and other military hardware there at any time, a U.S. think tank said on Monday. The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI), part of Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the work on Fiery Cross, Subi and Mischief Reefs in the Spratly Islands included naval, air, radar and defensive facilities. The think tank cited satellite images taken this month, which its director, Greg Poling, said showed new radar antennae on Fiery Cross and Subi. "So look for deployments in the near future," he said. China has denied U.S. China's Defense Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

The nuclear icebreaker Lenin, the pride and joy of the Soviet Union's Arctic great game, lies at perpetual anchor in the frigid water here. A relic of the Cold War, it is now a museum. But nearly three decades after the Lenin was taken out of service to be turned into a visitor attraction, Russia is again on the march in the Arctic and building new nuclear icebreakers. It is part of a push to firm Moscow's hand in the High North as it vies for dominance with traditional rivals Canada, the United States, and Norway as well as newcomer China.

On October 30, 2015, at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, the heads of eight agencies fulfilling the functions of Coast Guard of Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation, Sweden, and the United States signed a Joint Statement formally establishing the Arctic Coast Guard Forum (ACGF). The ACGF is an independent, informal, operationally-driven organization. It is not bound by treaty, but will work in cooperation with the Arctic Council to foster safe, secure, and environmentally responsible maritime activity in the Arctic region.

Russia has built a giant military base in the far northern Arctic where 150 soldiers can live autonomously for up to 18 months, AFP quotes the Defence Ministry as saying. The building erected on the large island of Alexandra Land, which is part of the Franz Josef Land archipelago, is 97 percent complete. The "Arctic Trefoil" compound, located on 80th parallel north has been built using the latest technologies to prevent energy loss. The construction teams have paved the roads on the remote island and the main building is 97 percent complete, according to the officials. The soldiers can move around the base from one building to another without going outside to face winter temperatures which can reach minus 47 degrees Celsius (-57 degrees Fahrenheit). Fuel can be pumped in from tankers.

The sailors of the Northern Fleet will conduct anti-terrorism exercises at Novaya Zemlya. During the exercise, the coast will be a landing. The landing will take place on the west coast of the South Island in the Gulf of Rogachev, the press service of the Northern Fleet. The operation will bring together large landing ship "George" and "Kondopoga". "In the near future in the Gulf of Rogachev will be made reconnaissance and refined areas of unloading equipment and personnel from amphibious assault ships on the coast of Novaya Zemlya," - said in a statement. Amphibious assault will be a way to stop, ie landing ships will approach close to the coastline and military equipment to personnel come directly to the coast.

The Russian Northern Fleet will deploy military infrastructure in most of the archipelagos and islands of the Arctic Ocean on the borders of Russia, according to official news agency Arctic-Info, citing the Northern Fleet command spokesman Andrey Korablev. "We plan to create a military infrastructure on virtually all of the archipelagos and islands of the Arctic Ocean in order to create a unified system of monitoring above-water and underwater environments," said Korablev at the "Provision of national interests of Russia in the Arctic" round table in St. Petersburg. In addition, it is planned to continue work this year on the development of new or neglected areas in the Arctic.

Many of fleet's ships are old, destined for scrap; Fleet is due to get new submarines, ships, aircraft. Ships used in Ukraine crisis, against Georgia, off Syria. Gently bobbing up and down in the sheltered waters of the Bay of Sevastopol in Crimea, Russia's storied Black Sea Fleet has an air of decay about it. Paint peels from low-slung dockside buildings, a solitary submarine sits dolefully alongside a pontoon, and the fleet's boxy grey ships date back to the Soviet-era with many soon destined for the scrap heap. But appearances can be deceptive. The fleet, its base, and the sprawling military infrastructure that go with it, are vital to Russian President Vladimir Putin's military and geopolitical ambitions and one of the main reasons the Kremlin is now eyeing complete control of Crimea.

Gently bobbing up and down in the sheltered waters of the Bay of Sevastopol in Crimea, Russia's storied Black Sea Fleet has an air of decay about it. Paint peels from low-slung dockside buildings, a solitary submarine sits dolefully alongside a pontoon, and the fleet's boxy grey ships date back to the Soviet-era with many soon destined for the scrap heap. But appearances can be deceptive. The fleet, its base, and the sprawling military infrastructure that go with it, are vital…

The U.S. House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed the Water Resources Reform and Development Act, which lays out the way the United States improves and maintains vital ports and waterways. The bill authorizes construction of the proposed Sabine-Neches Waterway channel improvement project. (The waterway is a set of interlocking river channels and canals extending from the Gulf of Mexico to Port Arthur, Beaumont, and Orange, Texas). The proposed project would deepen the…