US deploys warships as Russian fleet passes near Florida on approach to Cuba

The U.S. Navy sent warships and aircraft to track a Russian naval flotilla after the Russian vessels sailed less than 30 miles off the coast of South Florida on Tuesday, U.S. officials told McClatchy and the Miami Herald.

Last week, Moscow sent three ships and a nuclear-powered submarine to the Caribbean for what U.S. officials say will be a series of extensive air and naval military exercises — the first of their kind in at least five years.

The exercises began on Tuesday in the Atlantic, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement, with its hypersonic-capable frigate and nuclear-capable submarine simulating an attack on a group of enemy ships. It is unclear whether the frigate is armed with hypersonic missiles, but the US intelligence community has assessed that none of the Russian vessels carry nuclear weapons.

While the Biden administration has said it is not concerned about Russian activity, it has nevertheless authorized the deployment of three powerful destroyers and an underwater reconnaissance plane to the region, a U.S. Northern Command official told McClatchy and the Herald on Tuesday. Tuesday.

“In accordance with standard procedures, we have been actively monitoring Russian ships as they transit the Atlantic Ocean in international waters,” the NORTHCOM official said. “Air and maritime assets under U.S. Northern Command conducted operations to ensure the defense of the United States and Canada. Russia’s deployments are part of routine naval activities that pose no direct threat or concern to the United States.”

The U.S. deployment includes three guided-missile destroyers — the USS Truxtun, the USS Donald Cook and the USS Delbert D. Black — as well as a Coast Guard cutter, the Stone, and a Boeing P-8 maritime patrol aircraft.

Last week, confirming Russia’s deployment plansA senior administration official said the U.S. Navy would adopt “any posture necessary to track and monitor” its activity as the exercises unfold.

An additional call by Russian ships is possible in Venezuela, several officials said. The Biden administration anticipates the exercises will culminate in Russia’s worldwide naval exercises, which will include deployments from the Caribbean to the South Pacific.

The Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces said last week that the Russian missile frigate Admiral Gorshkov, nuclear submarine Kazan, oil tanker Pashin and salvage tug Nikolai Chiker will arrive on June 12 and remain for a week.

Users of the website marinetraffic.com have been tracking the position of US and Russian ships in recent days. According to the website, the Russian sea rescue tug Nikolay Chiker was positioned 26 nautical miles from Key Largo on Tuesday morning.

U.S. officials acknowledged the danger from the Russian ships while emphasizing that they remained in international waters.

“We have been closely monitoring the trajectory of the ships,” a US official said on Tuesday. “At no time did the ships or submarines pose a direct threat to the United States.”

Global deployments

The Port of Havana will be particularly crowded this week.

In addition to the Russian warships and the nuclear submarine scheduled to arrive on Wednesday, the HMCS Margaret Brooke, a Royal Canadian Navy patrol ship, will arrive on Friday and remain until the 17th, when the Russian ships are scheduled to depart.

The Communist Party’s Granma newspaper said the ship’s visit highlights the “50th anniversary of cooperative ties” with Canada and “bilateral collaboration to maintain peace in our region.” It did not mention the simultaneous presence of Russian naval assets in the port.

A Venezuelan training ship, the AB Simón Bolívar, will also visit Santiago de Cuba, the island’s second largest city, between June 15th and 19th.