Post by oldhippy on Oct 6, 2019 12:31:17 GMT
Moscow Issues Stern Warning After U.S. Threatens Kaliningrad
Russia’s Defence Ministry has issued a stern warning in response to the announcement of Pentagon plans for an American led attack on the Kaliningrad autonomous region - Russia’s isolated but heavily fortified Westernmost province which borders Poland and Lithuania. U.S. Air Force commander in Europe and Africa, General Jeffrey Lee Harrigian, stated regarding a potential offensive: “If we have to go in there to take down, for instance, the Kaliningrad IADS (Integrated Air Defense System), let there be no doubt we have a plan to go after that. We train to that. We think through those plans all the time, and… if that would ever come to fruition, we’d be ready to execute.” He referred to a “multi-domain, very timely and effective capability that we would bring to ensure we have the access we need in that environment” - a means gaining access to Kaliningrad’s air and seaspace by neutralising its combat aircraft and ground based air defences to facilitate strikes on ground forces based there and very likely a potential takeover by NATO. Such an attack would, according to General Harrington, make use of joint air, ground, sea, space, cyber and electronic attacks - although he did not further elaborate on the types of assets which would be used or the scale of the offensive planned.
The announcement of American attack plans has been interpreted in Russia as highly provocative - particularly in light of previous tensions around Kaliningrad including mock attack sorties by cruise missile equipped nuclear capable American B-52H heavy bombers. Moscow has invested heavily in fortifying the region over several years to deter a potential Western offensive, and the region’s missile brigade deploys more than 50 launch vehicles today. In 2018 a new tank battalion was formed in Kaliningrad, the latest addition to a very large and modern ground force, with other assets deployed including Iskander-M tactical ballistic missiles which can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads. These missiles are considered capable of evading all existing Western air defence systems, and place major targets in Poland and beyond within their range. Such missile strikes can be complemented by long range air launched missiles deployed from the Russian mainland such as the Tu-160 bomber’s Kh-101 and MiG-31K interceptor’s Kh-47M2 long range air to ground missiles. Kaliningrad’s air defences are also formidable, and the region was the second only after Moscow to deploy S-400 long range surface to air missile batteries which guard the region’s airspace alongside complementary shorter ranged systems. Other than significant numbers of Su-27 air superiority fighters, possibly of the advanced SM2 or SM3 variants, little is known about the composition of Kaliningrad’s air units. Su-24 strike fighters have appeared frequently in satellite imagery, and are thought to be deployed in unknown numbers. Russian naval units deployed include one Sovremenny Class destroyer, six frigates of the Neutrashimy and Steregushchiy classes and a number of corvettes such as the Buyan-M Class - which carry modern Kalibr cruise missiles. These are supported by ground based missile systems such as the K-300 Bastion-P and P-35 Redut deploying P-800 Oniks and Kh-35 missiles respectively. Approximately 250,000 military personnel are deployed to the region - one of the most heavily militarised in all of Russia.
Russian Ministry of Defense has warned that Kaliningrad remains well defended against any aggressive plans by the Pentagon or NATO, stating: "The lightness of General Jeffrey Lee Harrigian, the U.S. Air Force commander in Europe, and his naive belief in the superiority of certain ‘plans’ for the conquest of Kaliningrad, should be primarily a concern for his direct reports. These, it seems, know better one of the chief commandments of the military commanders – ‘a plan is only good until the battle’… The Russian region of Kaliningrad is safely protected against any aggressive ‘plans’ developed in Europe by U.S. generals.” Whether this warning will be followed by further military deployments, possibly including longer ranged ground based missiles which can be stationed there legally following the American withdrawal from the INF treaty, remains to be seen.
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