Saturday, September 26, 2015

Russian Navy Exercise in Eastern Mediterranean Sea

Flight bans (yellow) and flight route restrictions (green) for Russian Navy combat drills -- September 30-October 7, 2015

Amidst the ongoing transfer of military personnel and materiel from Russia to the Syrian port of Tartus and the deployment of Russian aircraft to Syria comes the announcement that Russian Navy ships will hold drills in the eastern Mediterranean Sea in September and October. According to a September 24 Russian defense ministry press release, Slava-class cruiser "Moskva", Kashin-class destroyer "Smetlivyy", Alligator-class landing ship "Saratov" and an unknown number of auxiliary vessels will conduct anti-submarine, anti-air, and anti-ship warfare drills in the eastern Mediterranean Sea in the coming weeks; "Moskva" will serve as the command ship for the exercise.

Flight bans and route restrictions for the exercise were announced in early and mid-September:
A1106/15 - RUSSIAN NAVY EXERCISE (ROCKET TEST FIRINGS) WILL TAKE PLACE IN AREA:
344400N0345800E
351300N0345800E
351300N0353300E
344400N0353300E
THE AREA INCLUDES BUFFER ZONE. SFC - FL660, SEP 30 AND OCT 05-07 0500-1500, 30 SEP 05:00 2015 UNTIL 07 OCT 15:00 2015. CREATED: 03 SEP 07:25 2015

A1108/15 - DUE TO RUSSIAN NAVY EXERCISE AS REFERRED IN NOTAM LCCC A1106/15 THE FOLLOWING AIRWAYS WILL BE CLOSED BETWEEN SFC-FL660:
1.W/UW17 (BALMA-NIKAS)
2.R/UR78, M/UM978 (ALSUS-NIKAS).

SEP 30 AND OCT 05-07 0500-1500, 30 SEP 05:00 2015 UNTIL 07 OCT 15:00 2015. CREATED: 03 SEP 07:30 2015

A1166/15 - RUSSIAN NAVY EXERCISE (ROCKET TEST FIRINGS) WILL TAKE PLACE IN AREA:
345601N0300000E
352206N0300000E
352206N0303145E
345601N0303145E
THE AREA INCLUDES BUFFER ZONE. SFC - FL660, 01-07 0500-1700, 01 OCT 05:00 2015 UNTIL 07 OCT 17:00 2015. CREATED: 17 SEP 09:55 2015

A1167/15 - DUE TO RUSSIAN NAVY EXERCISE AS REFERED IN NOTAM LCCC A1166/15 THE FOLLOWING AIRWAYS WILL BE CLOSED BETWEEN SFC-FL660:
1.G/UG18, L/UL609 (ALKIS-MAROS)
2.R/UR78, M/UM978 (TOSKA-TOBAL).
01-07 0500-1700, 01 OCT 05:00 2015 UNTIL 07 OCT 17:00 2015. CREATED: 17 SEP 10:03 2015
"Moskva" departing Sevastopol on September 24, 2015
(credit: A. Balabin)
Flight bans and route restrictions for Russian Navy activity in the eastern Mediterranean Sea have become a routine occurrence. Similar activity took place as far back as July 2012 (A0614/12) and more recently in July 2015 (A0819/15 + A0820/15 + A0821/15 + A0822/15) and August 2015 (A0959/15 + A0964/2015).