TALLINN, March 16 - Sputnik. The Russian spy ship Viktor Leonov returned to waters off the US East Coast after a brief refueling and resupply stop in Havana last week, Fox News reported, citing official sources.

The ship was spotted by the US military about 37 kilometers southeast of the Kings Bay base in Georgia and was heading north. Submarines of the US Navy's Atlantic Fleet are based at Kings Bay. Submarines are assigned to the base - carriers of cruise missiles Florida and Georgia, as well as submarines - carriers of ballistic missiles Alaska, Tennessee, West Virginia, Maryland, Rhode Island, Wyoming.

According to the US military, the Russian ship remained in international waters and did not enter US territorial waters, which end at a distance of 22.2 kilometers from the coast.

Earlier, Fox News reported that the ship SSV-175 "Viktor Leonov" was seen off the east coast of the United States on the morning of February 14th. With reference to American officials, the TV channel reported that the ship was located several tens of kilometers from the border of US territorial waters. At the same time, he was allegedly equipped with reconnaissance equipment and surface-to-air missiles.

The Pentagon said they were not concerned about the appearance of the ship, but they were monitoring its movements.

Later, President Donald Trump commented on the appearance of the ship near the US borders. At a press conference on February 16, he stated that he would not shoot at the Russian ship.

“I would like to get along with Russia… I know it’s not very good politically. A great thing I could do is shoot at a ship that is 30 miles from our waters. And then everyone would say: "It's great, it's great. But it's not great," Trump tweeted.

Trump also dismissed speculation that Russia was allegedly "testing" him by stepping up military activity.

"Not good," Trump replied as a journalist at a press conference began to list the latest cases of Russian military activity. In particular, the media representative mentioned the approach of a Russian Navy ship to the US coast and the overflight of Russian military aircraft over the US ship in the Black Sea.

“If I were being rude to Russia right now… you would say, ‘He is so tough. negotiate with me, because it is politically unpopular for me to negotiate (with the Russian Federation)," Trump said. "I don't think Putin is testing me," the American president added.

This is not the first time the ship "Viktor Leonov" has been seen near the USA and in the Western Atlantic. A year earlier, "Viktor Leonov" participated in a joint exercise with the Venezuelan Navy and repeatedly called at the Cuban port of Havana.

Ship cruises do not depend on US elections

The campaigns of Russian and American reconnaissance ships do not depend on the political situation and the results of the US election campaign. This opinion was expressed to RIA Novosti by the former commander of the Baltic Fleet (2001-2006), Admiral Vladimir Valuev.

"American reconnaissance ships go where there are US interests. Accordingly, Russian ships go where it is necessary to find out the operational situation. Our ship goes, as they say, in neutral waters, does not approach anyone, does not violate anything, does not create threats for maneuvering ", - said Valuev.

According to him, this is a common maritime practice.

"This practice does not depend on who is the President of the United States of America. The Russian Navy and the US Navy solve their tasks regardless of the political situation, in particular, on the election of Donald Trump as the head of the American state," the admiral noted.

"For example, the Norwegian reconnaissance ship" Maryata "for decades, as they say, spends day and night at the exit from the base of the Northern Fleet - controls who leaves, and, most importantly, specifies why they leave. Especially representatives of the navies of NATO member states are interested in Russian ships entering combat service," Valuev added.

Scout ships

According to open sources, the medium reconnaissance ship SSV-175 "Viktor Leonov" is the seventh in the series of project 864 (according to NATO classification - Vishnya Class). Entered service in 1988, is part of the Northern Fleet. Main characteristics: total displacement 3800 tons, length 91.5 meters, width 14.5 meters, draft 5.6 meters, maximum speed 16 knots, cruising range 7000 miles, autonomy 45 days, crew 220 people.

Reconnaissance ships of the Russian Navy are constantly present in the most remote areas of the World Ocean, ensuring national security and favorable conditions for the country's economic development. Especially in the Maritime Doctrine of the Russian Federation, two directions are distinguished - the Atlantic and the Arctic. The first is in connection with the active development of NATO and its approach to Russian borders.

Russian reconnaissance ships do not have strike weapons on board and do not create direct threats to any country in the world. They can equally successfully study the migration of biological resources in the ocean, the relief of the seabed and areas of mineral deposits, as well as create individual "acoustic portraits" of surface ships and submarines of a potential enemy.

Another important area of ​​research is marine hydrology.

The complex hydrological map of the World Ocean requires regular updates, because the density (salinity) and temperature of the water, sea currents - all this affects the propagation of electromagnetic waves in a changeable environment, that is, the detection range and accuracy of hitting targets.

The US and NATO navies also have a fleet of reconnaissance ships that often find themselves close to Russian shores. For example, the ship of the Sixth Fleet of the US Navy USS Mount Whitney is closely studying the Black Sea.

The approach of the Viktor Leonov reconnaissance ship to the US coast is a sign of Russian weakness, not strength, American media write, citing their intelligence sources. The sources were caught with humor, for "Viktor Leonov", characterized by the word "useless", it even becomes insulting. The point, however, is that these comments are unforgivable nonsense.

In the NBC News material, the intelligence equipment on the Viktor Leonov is called outdated - supposedly it can only listen to radio communications between ships, between ships and the coast, as well as commercial radio transmissions. “I hope they enjoyed listening to Classic Radio,” quipped an anonymous New England Coast Guard officer (referring to Classic 101, which plays old rock hits and country music). "Leonov" is not a threat, the senior intelligence officer echoes him. “This is proof of Russia's weakness compared to the US. This shows how far the Russians are behind the US in electronic listening. The ship specializes in listening to radio signals, not digital communications, so it is virtually incapable of intercepting any sensitive military or intelligence communications,” he said.

“Such data is a valuable trophy, you can chase it with undercover forces for decades, drinking liters of cheap rum with employees of the Norfolk base”

This "review" was prompted by earlier media reports that the "Viktor Leonov" was seen 65 miles northeast of Norfolk, Virginia, where the largest US naval base in the Atlantic is located. On Wednesday, it was reported that the Viktor Leonov approached the US Navy submarine base in Connecticut. Prior to that, the ship was off the coast of Delaware. It is the first time since 2015 that he has been patrolling off the East Coast of the United States.

"Viktor Leonov" (until 2004 it was called "Odograph") - the ship is really middle-aged. It, like six more of the same type, was built in Polish Gdansk in the period from 1985 to 1988, but repeatedly underwent equipment upgrades. All seven ships of this project 864 are highly specialized in the types of electronic equipment and differ greatly from each other even in appearance due to the characteristic features of radars and other electronic warfare systems. At the same time, they are included in the "Unified State System for Lighting the Surface and Underwater Situation", and all the technical characteristics of the electronic equipment installed on them are strictly classified, although the general purpose of certain electronic warfare systems is known.

The irony of the Americans is either a manifestation of the small mind of those naval officers to whom the journalists turned for comments, or a way to retouch their own negligence, since the admission of the Viktor Leonov almost close to Norfolk is a big mistake. In the old days, American ships almost rammed "oceanographic vessels" of Project 864 (under the legend of "studying the bottom of the oceans for scientific purposes" they hung opposite the US Navy bases for six months, and replenished their supplies in Cuba). Once, the American missile cruiser "Texas" chased the same type "Viktor Leonov" "Karelia" for several days (now under repair and re-equipment), approaching a distance of several tens of meters side to side. At the same time, "Texas" is three times more - he could simply sink the "Karelia".

The fact is that "Viktor Leonov" is not designed to intercept Internet traffic or wedge into ultra-modern communication systems (which, by the way, do not exist). Its hydroacoustic reconnaissance systems (GAR) and the system with the characteristic name "Memory" record the so-called "noise profiles" of surface and underwater objects according to the parameters of sound wave radiation in the water column. Simply put, each surface ship and especially a submarine emit a specific set of noises that is characteristic only for this object. This, in fact, is a sound wave, the vibrations of which in water can be “copied” and stored electronically. It's like a file cabinet of fingerprints of criminals: once "copied" - and will never get away. Such a file of "sound profiles" is available to hydroacoustic teams of all Russian military ships and submarines, which makes it possible to determine exactly what kind of object is moving at you at a great distance and without contact. And this is especially important for submarine warfare.

Approximately in the same way, the Viktor Leonov equipment can memorize the profiles of specific radar stations of a potential enemy and air defense systems, the electromagnetic radiation of various objects is also specific to each. From the point of view of military intelligence, such data is the most valuable trophy, intelligence forces can chase after it for decades, drinking liters of cheap rum with employees of the Norfolk base under the gaze of the NCIS and the FBI, after which they find that all these profiles have been out of date for five years, along with liver.

The last time such a scan of Norfolk and other bases on the US Atlantic coast was carried out in 2015 - it's time to update the filing cabinet.

As for the interception of ordinary radio messages, here the Americans overdid it with sarcasm. After all, they, just like the rest of the world, talk on the radio, on open frequencies between ships, and in some cases even Morse code is still in use, although already in the late 80s it seemed that this was completely prehistoric knowledge (in specific educational institutions they complained about the need to spend time memorizing meaningless combinations of dots and dashes). The Americans have not yet invented or implemented any special means of communication, so the classics of rock music are not the only thing that could be of interest to specialists from Viktor Leonov.

The Americans themselves do not have such reconnaissance vessels, by the way. Ten hydroacoustic reconnaissance vessels (SGAR) somehow fall under these characteristics, of which half are of the same years of construction as Viktor Leonov and the company. Most of them are small - with a crew of about 30 people - and are mainly designed to detect diesel submarines at shallow depths - they drag a towed buoy with sonar on a rope, almost like during the Second World War. Another ship was converted into a ballistic missile launch tracking point. By the end of the 20th century, the United States considered that such a specific type of ships was no longer needed - due to the absence (as it then mistakenly seemed to them) of objects of observation. And that is why they are now surprised at the very appearance of the "Viktor Leonov" to their shores, especially since the Americans cannot repeat such a trick opposite Severomorsk, Gadzhiyevo or Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

The United States continues to rely on a super-powerful constellation of orbiting satellites, but their capabilities, paradoxically, are limited - most of the frequencies used in radio communications cannot be intercepted from orbit, and it is completely unrealistic to make a sound or electromagnetic profile of an object. By the way, the US allies in NATO (and, more broadly, the West as a whole) prudently did not refuse to use ships of this class and conduct this kind of physical reconnaissance. Moreover, for the most part, such ships were built simultaneously with the Russian-Soviet project 864. For example, they are in the German Navy (three types of "Oste" project 423 with a displacement of 3200 tons, built in 1988-1989), Italy (RZK "Alettra" type "Alliance ", 3180 tons, 2003), Spain (RZK "Alerta" of the "Dare" type, 2292 tons, 1982), Norway (RZK "Maryata", 7560 tons, built in 1994 to replace the obsolete ship of the same name and destination), Poland (two types of "Moma" modified, project 863, with a displacement of 1677 tons, built in 1997-1999), Greece ("Germis", former RZK Germany, 1497 tons, 1960), France (RZK "Bougainville" , 5195 tons, 1988), Sweden (RZK "Orion", 1400 tons, 1984), Romania (RZK "Gregore Antipa" type "Corsair", 1450 tons, built in 1980).

Recently, the Americans and the British have assigned physical reconnaissance duties to surface ships and even submarines. For this purpose, additional equipment is simply hung on them, which (together with the personnel) only complicates the life of the ship. So, Her Majesty's fleet added some new radars to the Trafalgar submarine, after which it broke down and got into dry dock. The function of electronic reconnaissance was transferred to the missile frigates Broadsworth and Duke, which increased their crew due to electronics maintenance personnel and increased the danger of navigation, since now these ships are forced to go into a dangerous approach to the object of study, and this is not welcome.

Bottom line, the reaction of American sailors to the work of "Viktor Leonov" is more like a journalistic trick. Even earlier, the press reported personally to Donald Trump about the voyage of "Viktor Leonov". And to the question of what he was going to do with the ship, the president replied - “I won’t say”: “I am not obliged to tell you what I am going to do with North Korea. And I don't have to tell you what I'm going to do with Iran. Do you know why? Because they don't need to know. And when you ask me what I'm going to do with the Russian ship, I won't answer you. I hope I won't do anything, but I won't tell you."

Yes, it won't. And he won't say. And now - "Yablochko" with greetings from the Navy on the air of Classic 101 radio.

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

The Pentagon said that the Russian intelligence ship "Viktor Leonov" is still located off the Atlantic coast of the United States.

According to CNN, the ship was spotted in international waters 160 km southeast of Wilmington. Earlier, the Washington Free Beacon, citing military sources, reported that Viktor Leonov was spotted on Cape Canaveral (Florida), Kings Bay (Georgia), near Norfolk (Virginia) and New London (Connecticut).

The presence of the Russian spy ship Viktor Leonov near the US military base in Connecticut is evidence of Russia's weakness, not its strength, US military and intelligence officials have said.

Representatives of the New England Coast Guard, which includes the state of Connecticut, explained to NBC News that Russian electronic wiretapping equipment is outdated and is only capable of picking up radio signals from ships, shores, and commercial radio broadcasts.

One military base officer expressed hope that the Russians "enjoy listening to [radio] Classic 101." He stressed that the ship "Viktor Leonov" demonstrates the primitiveness of the Russian system of electronic wiretapping and how far behind it is from American technology.

"The ship specializes in listening to radio broadcasts, not digital communications, which makes it useless in collecting any military intelligence," he explained.

Tellingly, the Pentagon has previously said that the Russian intelligence ship Viktor Leonov is equipped with high-tech spy equipment designed to intercept. He was spotted near the US Naval Forces Base in Connecticut on Wednesday, February 15th.

It is worth noting that ships of this type are the basis of the Russian reconnaissance fleet. They were created to solve problems in the sea and near ocean zone. As retired Captain 1st Rank of the Northern Fleet Vladislav Ershevsky explained to the site, "this is a ship that not only writes sound profiles of all submarines and ships, but also all radio emissions, electromagnetic emissions - radars, air defense, missiles, ships, aircraft. For the parameters of which intelligence , usually, they chase, forcing them to turn on, in order to then suppress electronic warfare, for example.

According to the expert, “if they laugh at him, they are idiots. No, if the United States has learned to speak between warships-aircraft using invisible plasma or they have radars, air defense and other things that work on the dissolution of air, then the ship is outdated. two". When asked about the Americans laughing at the rust on board the ship, the former naval officer invited the citizens to look at their ships.

It is worth adding that US President Donald Trump, answering a question from journalists about what he would do in connection with the presence of a Russian ship near the American military base, said that he was not going to publicly share his plans.

"Americans, what, do they listen differently? I don't know of any other ways. It's either a physical connection to a wired line, or listening to the air. There are no other ways. Yes, the United States has an advantage - a powerful satellite constellation that can radio reconnaissance should be carried out from orbit. But you also need to understand that only certain wavelengths are available from there, and certain means of communication are intercepted," retired colonel and chairman of the Military-Industrial Commission of the Russian Federation Viktor Murakhovsky told Pravda.ru.

He also added that “if we talk about VHF radio communications, about radio relay communications, then you won’t catch such things from space. It’s not for nothing that the Americans launch their reconnaissance equipment near the borders of Russia. They also have radio and electronic intelligence ships in the Baltic Sea , and in the Black Sea they do try to get closer to our borders."

The US military and intelligence officials said the presence of the Russian spy ship Viktor Leonov near the US military base in Connecticut is evidence of Russia's weakness, not its strength.

In an interview with NBC News, representatives of the New England Coast Guard, which includes the state of Connecticut, noted that Russian electronic wiretapping equipment is outdated and is only capable of picking up radio signals from ships, shores, and commercial broadcasts.

According to the officer of the military base. he hopes that Russians "listen to [radio] Classic 101 with pleasure." He stressed that the ship "Viktor Leonov" demonstrates the primitiveness of the Russian system of electronic wiretapping and how far behind it is from American technology.

"The ship specializes in listening to radio broadcasts, not digital communications, which makes it useless in collecting any military intelligence," he explained.

Tellingly, the Pentagon has previously said that the Russian intelligence ship "Viktor Leonov" is equipped with high-tech spy equipment designed to intercept intelligence signals. He was spotted near the US Naval Forces Base in Connecticut on Wednesday, February 15th.

Ships of this type are the basis of the Russian reconnaissance fleet. They were created to solve problems in the sea and near ocean zone. As retired Captain 1st Rank of the Northern Fleet Vladislav Ershevsky explained to Politonline, “this is a ship that not only writes sound profiles of all submarines and ships, but also all radio emissions, electromagnetic emissions - radars, air defense, missiles, ships, aircraft. , usually, they chase, forcing them to turn on, in order to then suppress electronic warfare, for example.

"If they laugh at him, they are idiots. No, if the United States has learned to speak between warships-aircraft using invisible plasma, or they have radars, air defense and other things that work on the dissolution of air, then the ship is outdated. And so - hell with two." When asked about the Americans laughing at the rust on board the ship, the former naval officer invited the citizens to look at their ships. "If the ship does not [engage in sexual relations in an unconventional way], but goes to sea, to combat and exercises, without any rust, this is not an indicator of the problem. It will come to the base, paint it, and remove it"

It is worth adding that US President Donald Trump, answering a question from journalists about what he would do in connection with the presence of a Russian ship near the American military base, said that he was not going to publicly share his plans.

Trump noted that "I don't have to tell you what I'm going to do with North Korea. And I don't have to tell you what I'm going to do with Iran. You know why? Because they don't have to know. And when you ask me what I'm going to to do with the Russian ship, I will not answer you. I hope that I will not do anything, but I will not tell you."

"Americans, what, do they listen differently? I don't know of any other ways. It's either a physical connection to a wired line, or listening to the air. There are no other ways. Yes, the United States has an advantage - a powerful satellite constellation that can radio reconnaissance should be carried out from orbit. But you also need to understand that only certain wavelengths are available from there, and certain means of communication are intercepted," retired colonel and chairman of the Military-Industrial Commission of the Russian Federation Viktor Murakhovsky told Pravda.ru.

“If we talk about VHF radio communications, about radio relay communications, then you cannot catch such things from space. It’s not for nothing that the Americans launch their reconnaissance equipment near the borders of Russia. They also have radio and electronic intelligence ships in the Baltic Sea, and in the Black Sea they are trying to get closer to our borders," the military expert believes.

A new reason for reasoning about the "Russian threat" appeared in the American media.

According to the channel's sources, the Russian ship returned to the shores of the United States after a short stop in Havana. In February 2017, the Viktor Leonov was spotted near the port of Norfolk in Virginia.

The ship does not commit any violations of the established norms, the Americans admit, it is in international waters.

Such trips to the shores of America are not an extraordinary event, just as there is nothing extraordinary in a similar appearance of similar ships of the US Navy in the area of ​​the Russian coast. However, in the United States and other Western countries, the appearance of Russian ships and aircraft causes an unhealthy stir.

Project 864

"Viktor Leonov" is a Project 864 medium reconnaissance ship.

This type of reconnaissance ships of the third generation was the last one developed and implemented in the USSR. Created to solve problems in the sea and near ocean zone, the ships of the project became the basis of the Russian reconnaissance fleet.

A total of 7 ships were planned and built. Construction was carried out in 1985 - 1988 in Poland, at the Gdansk shipyard named after Heroes of Westerplatte. The lead ship of the project was the SZRK "Meridian", now bearing the name "Admiral Fedor Golovin".

"Viktor Leonov" became the last ship of the project, and when laid down was named "Odograph". After the transfer of the Soviet Navy, he became part of the Black Sea Fleet. In 1995, the ship was transferred to the Northern Fleet, where it became part of the 159th reconnaissance ship brigade.

The total displacement of the ship is 3396 tons, length - 94.4 meters, width - 14.6 meters, draft - 4.5 meters. Full speed - 16.5 knots, cruising range - 7900 miles, crew - 150 people (maximum - 220).

The armament of the ship is the AK-306M artillery system. For air defense, the ship is equipped with Igla MANPADS. Ammunition is 16 anti-aircraft guided missiles 9M39.

"Proof of weakness" or a show of strength?

The main part of the ship is its radio equipment, the exact information about which is classified.

In recent years, all ships of the project have undergone a deep modernization, during which the latest equipment was installed on them, allowing them to perform both reconnaissance and ocean exploration tasks.

What kind of equipment is on the Viktor Leonov, the Americans do not know, which is why their mood changes from derisive to panic when the ship appears off the coast of the United States.

So, in February, NBC News journalists described the ship as outdated in their material. “This is proof of Russia's weakness compared to the US. This shows how far the Russians are behind the US in electronic listening. The ship specializes in listening to radio signals, not digital communications, so it is virtually incapable of intercepting any sensitive military or intelligence communications,” an anonymous Coast Guard official said at the time in a comment.

But if a worthless vessel floats off the coast of the United States, then the question arises: why is so much attention shown to it?

In fact, Project 864 ships are capable of collecting "noise profiles" of surface and underwater objects according to the parameters of sound wave radiation in the water column. Thus, a database is compiled for the ships of the NATO countries, which is subsequently transferred to the hydroacoustics of all ships of the Russian Navy. This allows you to accurately identify an object at a great distance without visual contact with it. And this is just one of the “skills” that Russian ships of this type possess.

"Seventh visit to Havana"

In Soviet times, Project 864 ships sailed the seas as "oceanographic research vessels conducting research on the World Ocean for peaceful purposes." As already mentioned, ships are capable of solving such tasks. Although what the Viktor Leonov is actually doing off the coast of the United States is known only to its crew and the high command of the fleet, which set the task of marching.

As TASS reported, on March 8, 2017, the communications vessel of the Russian Northern Fleet Viktor Leonov entered the port of Havana. As a representative of the command staff of the ship told a TASS correspondent, the purpose of the visit of Viktor Leonov was to replenish supplies. "The ship will stay in the port of Havana for three days, after which it will continue to perform tasks to ensure communications in the Western Atlantic," the agency's interlocutor said. "Viktor Leonov" went on a sea voyage at the end of 2016 from Severomorsk, where the main base of the Northern Fleet is located. He is expected to return there in May. This is already the seventh visit of "Viktor Leonov" to Havana over the past nine years.

Who is Viktor Leonov?

As already mentioned, the ship was originally called "Odograph", and in 2004 it was renamed "Viktor Leonov", in honor of the hero of the Great Patriotic War who died in 2003.

Viktor Leonov - commander of separate reconnaissance detachments of the Northern and Pacific fleets, twice Hero of the Soviet Union.

Leonov received the first star of the Hero for capturing an enemy 88-mm battery at Cape Krestovoy during the Petsamo-Kirken offensive operation. Thanks to the actions of the Leonov detachment, the success of the Soviet landing in the non-freezing port of Linahamari and the subsequent liberation of Petsamo (Pechenga) and Kirkenes were ensured. The second star of the Hero Viktor Leonov received for battles with the Japanese in the Far East. In the Korean port of Wonsan, Leonov's scouts captured 3,500 Japanese soldiers and officers. And in the port of Genzan, Leonov's detachment disarmed and captured about 2,000 soldiers and 200 officers, capturing 3 artillery batteries, 5 aircraft, and several ammunition depots.