As Ukraine Crisis Builds,Major Naval Drills Set To Begin in Europe

As Europe totters on the edge of an abyss fabricated by the Kremlin,naval forces of both Russia and NATO will soon begin exercising in the region.Russia is holding massive drills involving more than 140 warships and support vessels,50+ aircraft,1,000 pieces of military equipment,and 10,000 personnel,from January-February;while NATO,for its part,is staging Exercise Neptune Strike 22.The NATO drills were not on the list of official NATO exercises for 2022.So far,details about it are sketchy.All that is definitely known is that it begins on 24 January and concludes on 4 February,and that the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group with its four Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers;a guided missile cruiser;typically up to two nuclear-powered attack submarines with Tomahawk cruise missiles for power projection on land; and a Royal Netherlands Navy frigate are taking part.The carrier air wing includes several dozen Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets,which can carry armaments ranging up to the B61-12 tactical nuclear bomb.* Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby,US Navy retired,said the drills will: demonstrate NATO'S ability to integrate the high-end maritime strike capabilities of an aircraft carrier strike group to support the defence and deterrence of the Alliance...NATO Allies will participate in coordinated maritime manoeuvres;anti-submarine warfare training;and long-range strike training.* The Russian exercises will take place both in Russian seas and select World Oceans,including the Mediterranean,the Russian news agency TASS said,where the Truman CSG has been patrolling on orders of the Secretary of Defense,General Lloyd Austin III,US Army retired.* It is also known that NATO Ally Spain has dispatched a minesweeper and a frigate to the Mediterranean and the Black Seas in response to the Ukraine crisis;it may also send fighter aircraft to reinforce NATO Ally Bulgaria.France has offered to send troops to reinforce Romania.* Boeing (BA)

An Old Cruise Missile

The Harpoon cruise missile is still in service 31 years after its introduction.The Boeing product is an all-weather,autonomous,over-the-horizon anti-ship missile,with a sea-skimming trajectory and active radar guidance.It can be launched from a variety of platforms,from submarines to surface vessels,ground defense sites and aircraft.Twenty-seven countries rely on the Harpoon for anti-ship defense.It has a range of more than 60 nautical miles and cruises at high subsonic speeds.The Navy deploys the AGM-84D Harpoon on Arleigh Burke class destroyers and Ticonderoga class cruisers,as well as Hornet and Super Hornet strike fighters.