Russia to expand foreign naval bases: Medvedev

[Parthy]

President Dmitry Medvedev Thursday said that Russia intended to expand the number of its foreign naval bases as it tries to catch up with the military capabilities of the West.

Medvedev conceded at a meeting with Russia's top brass that the country was losing some of its Soviet-era allies and now more than ever need to negotiate a series of new foreign base agreements with new partner states.

"Unfortunately, the reality is that a number of our previous opportunities have disappeared," Medvedev said in televised remarks.

Medvedev said that he now had "certain ideas" about how these could be replaced.

"But for obvious reasons, I will not say them out loud," he added.

Russia has in the past decade lost several of its most important Soviet-era bases, including in Cuba and Vietnam.

These and other losses have left Russia unable to support major naval exercises, leaving the once-mighty force largely confined to the European seas and Russia's Pacific coast.

Medvedev admitted that this has left Russia at tremendous disadvantage to Western powers, which have supported and built new bases since the Soviet Union's collapse.

"In this sense, our current partners have much better conditions because they have put up bases the world over. And they enter them and refuel."

Russia, meanwhile, has to support all its major sea operations with a fleet of refuelling ships, "which is very expensive and completely inefficient," Medvedev said.

"All in all, this is a subject demanding careful government involvement," Medvedev said.

http://www.brahmand.com/news/Russia-to-expand-foreign-naval-bases-Medvedev/5601/1/10.html

 

[Ray]

Syria is one country where they were contemplating a base since it is on the Mediterranean side of the Bosporus and is also in the international hotspot - the Middle East.

Syria is not well disposed to the US or the West.

Africa is ripe for the taking and so are some of the South American countries which are not well disposed to the West.

Vietnam maybe amendable since they are not too enamoured with the Chinese expansionism and because they are fraternal brothers and all that!

Indonesia is another.

 

[p2prada]

Syria is one country where they were contemplating a base since it is on the Mediterranean side of the Bosporus and is also in the international hotspot - the Middle East.

Syria is not well disposed to the US or the West.

Africa is ripe for the taking and so are some of the South American countries which are not well disposed to the West.

Vietnam maybe amendable since they are not too enamoured with the Chinese expansionism and because they are fraternal brothers and all that!

Indonesia is another.

Is it possible for Russia to get an entire island for its own use in the South Pacific, close to the South China Sea. Something like Diego Garcia for the US?

 

[Parthy]

Is it possible for Russia to get an entire island for its own use in the South Pacific, close to the South China Sea. Something like Diego Garcia for the US?

Materialistic is going to be a big factor on that case.. We know US armed forces are engaged in battle out of their nation since long back and they have an enormous economy to support it... Unlike Russia whose economy has been battered since Soviet Union collapsed.

 

[Ray]

Is it possible for Russia to get an entire island for its own use in the South Pacific, close to the South China Sea. Something like Diego Garcia for the US?

Diego Gracia is a British territory and Britain is an ally. Therefore, it was possible for the US to take it on lease.

Russia has no ally.

 

[kuku]

There is Vietnam offering naval basing to Russia and India.

By its very aggressive stance on the south china divide i think PRC has ensured that all the nations in the region increase their naval force levels and find support amongst themselves and outside powers.

Nyugen Tan Dung, the Vietnamese prime minister, said Cam Ranh Bay, 180 miles north west of Ho Chi Minh city, would stand ready to service ships and submarines "from all countries".

Russia is to help rebuild the port as part of an £1.3 billion defence deal signed earlier this year.

The move is one of a series of interlocking regional arrangements that are being put in place to counter China's growing might.

In October, Vietnam signed an agreement giving Indian naval ships base facilities at its ports. India, in turn, agreed to help Hanoi expand its naval logistics capabilities, and to train its army in jungle warfare.

Russia is selling Vietnam a raft of state of the art military hardware, including six submarines and 20 Sukhoi 30 fighters.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...2/Vietnam-offers-navy-base-to-foil-China.html

The problem for PRC is if they use their rapidly increasing naval power to force an issue in this globally connected world they will be isolated, and they are not a big enough power to force their way out of this isolation or to avoid it completely.

Russia is no more a power that can afford the same global presence that soviet union had (and even the soviets had to choose their battles).

The thing that interests me is the Russian mindset, they are always fixated on the larger global picture through their military, even in the days when money was tight (the 90s and early 2000s) they kept on investing money into their submarine programs, very specific military equipment.

 

[amoy]

Russia is really tight on budget. It converges with China to use SCO as a platform to consolidate Central Asia as her backyard. But it simply lacks funds for 'Stans to resist temptation from the US, and orbit around Moscow.

Viet Nam won't give any naval base to anybody though rumor had it that Cam Ranh Bay would be offered to Russia or the US. Then VN came out denying again and again. Anyway VN will keep it as a bait :happy_2:

 

[p2prada]

Diego Gracia is a British territory and Britain is an ally. Therefore, it was possible for the US to take it on lease.

Russia has no ally.

Lets consider budget is not a problem and they have a Vietnamese island for their base. I wanted to know if they have a strategic interest in having a naval presence in the Indian Ocean Region?

They obviously have no qualms for oil and trade in the area is minimal compared to China. So, is their presence in the region important for any kind of geo-political mileage they want to gain over some particular country in the region, barring China of course?

 

[Tshering22]

I can think of only a few countries offering fully operational bases to Russia at this point for decent price:

- Venezuela: Chavez has been an eager beaver to offer his land for Russian base
- Vietnam: A longtime friend
- Mozambique, Kenya: Both are too open for a good try
- Burma: a possibility

We could open up our one of the many island bases for their ships to just refuel and maintenance in case of emergency (say from fighting pirates) or medical facilities, but not a full fledged base. What do you think?

 

[civfanatic]

We could open up our one of the many island bases for their ships to just refuel and maintenance in case of emergency (say from fighting pirates) or medical facilities, but not a full fledged base. What do you think?

We already have a similar arrangement. The Russian Navy has docking rights in Vishakhapatnam.

 

[JBH22]

Russia has in the past decade lost several of its most important Soviet-era bases, including in Cuba and Vietnam.

WTF It was putin who ordered the closure of lourdes facility in CUBA and the Cam rahn base in Vietnam all this was justified by saying it no longer serves the interest of mother Russia but in reality it was sheer stupidity.Between what has changed so much that within less than a decade they have changed their mind