Twelfth report on the naval situation in the Mediterranean Sea

New (12th) 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 2 aircraft carriers available in the central/eastern Mediterranean (the French Navy’s carrier strike group, including nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, is currently on a deployment in the Indian Ocean):

1) The USNavy aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush (CVN-77) and her Carrier Strike Group is now sailing west of Crete

2) Italian aircraft carrier Cavour (C550) is in Taranto naval base (Italian aircraft carrier Garibaldi (C551) is undergoing maintenance in the Taranto arsenal and is currently unavailable).

3) The Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 is somewhere in the eastern Mediterranean sea, probably close to the southern Aegean

4) The Standing NATO Mine Counter Measures Group Two (SNMCMG2) is in the same area of the SNMG2

5) the patrol boat ITS Comandante Foscari (P 493)  and the frigate HS Limnos (F451) are participating in IRINI operation in the eastern Mediterranean Sea 

RUSSIAN Naval Forces

Most of the Russian Navy forces are in port in Tartus, Syria. The presence in the central/eastern Mediterranean of a Russian nuclear submarine is reported (Akula class, or Sierra-I/II or Victor-III classes) is now considered unlikely. The unit most likely made its way to Russia.

Currently, the only Russian submarine in the Mediterranean is the Krasnodar, an improved Kilo class, which is now located in Tartus

Two units are currently not present in Syria, the frigate Admiral Grigorovich (Krivak V class) and the intelligence ship Yury Ivanov (Project 18280).

We do not know exactly where they are but it is likely that they are sailing in the area of the Combat Strike Group of the USS Bush