So, a Royal Navy destroyer with a BBC film crew on board sails nearly 4 000 nautical miles to test the international waters next to the Russian coastline in the Black Sea.
The BBC report just has a wee local map but, as always, no context like this one below:
A week-long journey, using who knows how much fuel to poke the Russian bear?
Don’t we have better priorities for that expenditure?
Don’t viewers need to see just how feckin far they went?
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
This is ”Global Britain ” in action . How the World will gasp at the reach of the mighty UK !
In the words of Capt. Kirk ” To boldly go where …”
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Excuse me, James, but that’s Mighty UK to the likes of us…
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Beam me up Scotty?
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Some simple basic facts
HMS Defender entered Russian sovereign waters at 11.52 ,3km deep
Approaching Crimean cape Fiolent
A Russian border patrol ship fired warning shots at 12.06 & 12.08
At 12.09 a Russian air force Su-24 M aircraft dropped 4 no.OFAB-250 bombs
along the course HMS Defender was sailing
At 12.23 after altering course HMS Defender left Russian sovereign waters
Here is a summation of Russian military assets of Its Black Sea fleet and supporting forces
7 Submarines
43 surface warships and numerous surface support vessels
25,000 Marines
Since 2014 Russia has considerably modernised its Black sea fleet
And now considered by NATO as the dominant naval power in these waters
So much so that US tactics to counter are
No longer of a Naval basis but one of stand off deployment of Long range Bombers with air launch Cruise Missiles
In response Russia considerably increased its Land based Air defence
By deployment of surface to surface and surface to air missile battery systems
Fully modern and all excellently part of a formidable command control system
With its S- 400 ,Bastion and BAL missile systems
Along with strong electronic warfare capabilities
Russia has effectively made the Black Sea
A no go military zone for any Naval or Air
Force
Modernisation in all areas continue at pace with supply of latest submarines ,destroyers and corvette,s currently under construction
The Su- 24 M That dropped the bombs into the path of HMS Defender
Is currently being replaced by the Latest
Su- 24 B for the entire air defence of the Black Sea Fleet
So in conclusion the ABC ( BBC ) referral to the presence of a UK carrier support group in the Mediterranean as some sort
Of implication that we could easily have struck back hard and fast is complete and utter nonsense
Particularly so as Russia now has Chinese radar that renders UK carrier F35 stealth bombers literally useless given that Russia can locate identify Them now and launch a hypersonic surface to air missile
Under a very sophisticated electronic command and control systems within seconds
Leave you all to make up your own minds
As to The might of our precioussssss Union
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Mighty Blighty waves the rules,
Jolly Jack’s led by mules,
Sent by Boris’s Ship of Fools.
Poor bugger Matelots.
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The Daily Mail, certainly the English edition, had a front page splash; with a report from their “man on board”.
I don’t know who is swallowing this guff, but if the BBC & the Mail have a presence aboard a warship, in the Black Sea; why?
The obvious answer, to me at any rate, is it’s a fully choreographed propaganda exercise. What are they up to elsewhere?
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Did the navy delibratly put civilians in harms way?
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How many rodents do they have on these things?
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This is a BIG THING between legs syndrome
And English warships are not equipped to go up against Russian Might
Wat are they TRYING prove or start!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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been there, done that, in 1970 the frigate I was on crept round North Cape with all comms and radar switched off, then 30 mls off Murmansk
switched everything on, 30 mins later we had 6 Russian warships for company. The Minerva was on fishery protection patrol, although that escapade had little to do with protecting fishermen.
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The BBC was just waving Johnson’s willie.
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Well thank you very much for that Alasdair. An image my mind cannot unsee…! ;(
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Seems as if this Strong Britain, Strong Nation also acts – and its media is outraged – when Russian warships sail close to the UK, even when they are transiting through undisputed international shipping lanes.
This is from The Sun online, 22 July 2020:
‘RED SEA: Russian submarine found PROWLING English Channel as Royal Navy warships launched to intercept’. (my emphasis)
This ‘prowling’ submarine however is reported in the same article as sailing in the company of its ‘ocean-going tug Sergey Balk’. Kind of significant to have a tug present when ‘prowling’?
We learn: “It is the third time this year that Royal Navy warships have had to shadow Russian vessels PROBING British waters, …”
‘In March the Navy scrambled four frigates and five patrol vessels to shadow seven Russian ships which were “ACTING SUSPICIOUSLY” acting suspiciously.’
And for good measure: ‘British ships headed out 31 times in 2018 to track Moscow’s vessels but just 11 times in 2014 to combat “bully” Putin’s “SABRE-RATTLING’”.’
So ‘prowling’, ‘probing’, ‘acting suspiciously’, ‘sabre-rattling’ – descriptors that of course could never be applied to a vessel of the Royal Navy far from home in the Black Sea just off Crimea for the purpose of …!
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