Posted on 06/21/21
| News Source: Washington Examiner
In the dimly lit war room of the Romanian frigate Regina Maria, glowing radar screens illuminate a cheat sheet for identifying Russian vessels.
The ship’s commander points to the newest warships, Grigorovich and Sviyazhsk, that have appeared on the horizon since Russia seized Crimea in 2014 and began to expand its Black Sea fleet. Romanian Cmdr. Alexandru Gobjila then points to older vessels, armed with the latest technology and weaponry, including supersonic Kalibr cruise missiles capable of reaching 1,600 miles into Europe.
The Russian Black Sea navy now numbers over 200 large ships, all in a body of water twice the size of the Great Lakes.
Vladimir Putin’s power projection in the region is designed to secure unfettered warm water access through a war of intimidation waged on the high seas, and President Joe Biden’s detente with Putin may mean American deterrence will be left to NATO’s newest member countries.