"An up-top sub can't be missed" Royal Navy Shadows Russian Sub Near UK Waters

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Vendor

They want to push the limits.

And it seems they have limits! http://www.wsj.com/articles/russian-campaign-in-syria-exposes-moscows-defense-gaps-1480273941?mod=e2fb The aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, shown here in the English Channel in October, lacks the kind of powerful catapult system featured on U.S. carriers.

A flotilla of Russian warships in the Mediterranean is providing a high-profile show of force in support of the Syrian regime. But the deployment has also thrown into sharp relief the limits of Moscow’s conventional military.
State television broadcasts to the domestic audience Top Gun-style footage of bombers taking off from Russia’s flagship aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov. Foreign observers get to see one of the country’s most important weapons exports, the MiG-29 fighter plane, in action.
But the quarter-century-old Kuznetsov lacks the kind of powerful catapult system that is featured on U.S. carriers, forcing Russian planes to carry lighter payloads and less fuel, according to North Atlantic Treaty Organization officials.
And a dearth of highly trained aviators able to take off and land at sea has forced the ship to carry fewer pilots, according to Western officials. Moscow already lost one jet fighter when it crashed this month during a training flight on an approach to the carrier.
“The Russian navy has not had a lot of operational experience in recent years in actual combat,” said Eric Wertheim, author of The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World.
Russian planes are bombing forces opposed to the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and its attacks on the besieged city of Aleppo have prompted sharp criticism from Washington and other Western capitals. (Hey it's only ok when we do it...with drones)
The Russian military hasn’t said that the Kuznetsov is taking part in the assault on Aleppo, though top NATO officials say that is the primary purpose of the deployment. Russia also has a number of planes stationed at an air base in Syria.
Western officials see the Kuznetsov operation—along with recent announcements that Russia will permanently base Iskander missiles in its Baltic Sea enclave of Kalingrad—as part of a two-pronged strategy from Russian President Vladimir Putin, particularly since the election of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency.

I wonder if the Donald even has a 'prong' ...much less a strategy; ie will Western good 'trump' Russian evil?! Required reading: http://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2016/11/22/assessing_the_admiral_kuznetsov_deployment_in_the_ syrian_conflict_110373.html