New (6th) report on the naval situation in the Mediterranean sea.
Warning. This post shows the positions of the main naval groups or other individual units deemed relevant. This post is not exhaustive of all units present at sea at this time.
NATO naval forces
NATO currently has 4 aircraft carriers available in the central/eastern Mediterranean:
1) The US aircraft carrier USS Truman (CVN-75) and its CSG (Combat Strike Group) is underway off western Sicily westbound
2) Italian aircraft carriers Cavour (C550) and Garibaldi (C551) are in Taranto.
3) French Navy carrier Charles de Gaulle (R-91) left on April 30 Toulon for a training mission
4) The Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 is underway in the eastern Mediterranean sea
5) The French Navy frigate Auvergne (D654) has arrived today in Antalya, Turkey
6) The Standing NATO Mine Counter Measures Group Two – SNMCMG2 is carrying out an exercise (MINEX-22) off the Balearic Islands
7) On April 20 the Royal Navy submarine HMS Audacious (S122) left Gibraltar and headed for the central Mediterranean.
RUSSIA naval forces
Russian forces are currently divided as follows:
1) Surface Action Group (SAG) of the cruiser Varyag is in the southern Aegean Sea. We received a photo taken on April 12 showing a Russian Navy Udaloy class destroyer sailing north of Crete about 20 miles north of NATO Souda Bay naval base. Since then the SAG should always be in the area.
2) Most other surface units, including the cruiser Ustinov, are located in Tartus.
3) two Russian Navy Kilo class submarines are somewhere in the eastern / central Mediterranean (their exact location is not known but it is known that they are no longer in Tartus)