NATO mobilized 50 warships to the Baltic and deployed the Typhon system with SM-6 and Tomahawk cruise missiles targeting the Russian Baltic Fleet, Kaliningrad and the Northern Fleet.
The Atlantic Alliance is completing preparations for a general conflict with Russia in the second area of operations, that of the Baltic.
Last week saw the end of Nato’s biggest land exercises, Steadfast Defender 2024, which involved moving alliance troops through “land corridors” to the eastern flank. However, the military preparations in Europe do not end there.
According to the Russians, after the conclusion of the Steadfast Defender 2024 exercises, some of NATO’s weapons and military equipment remained in the areas where combat coordination took place. In particular, Bundeswehr tank units on the territory of Lithuania reinforce the divisions deployed on the border of Russia and Belarus.
Naval blockade of Russia in the Baltic Sea
NATO under the cover of the exercise Baltic Operations 2024 (BALTOPS) mobilized 9,000 soldiers, more than 50 ships and more than 80 aircraft from 20 countries of the alliance.
It is noted that the Polish Armed Forces participate with the navy, naval aviation, marine corps, airborne troops, transports and others.
Thus, only in the port of Klaipeda there are more than 30 warships of NATO, more than four thousand sailors, marines and pilots of Navy aircraft.
“In terms of size, it is the largest exercise ever held in the Baltic Sea,” noted the Lithuanian Armed Forces.
For the first time since joining NATO, Swedish sailors will take part in the exercises. During their time they will practice amphibious operations, anti-submarine warfare, air defense, mine search and clearance, drone and USV operations.
According to Russian military experts, NATO is preparing to blockade the Baltic Sea in the event of a direct conflict with the Russian Federation.
“You don’t need to be a brilliant general to understand the purpose of the exercises. Especially if you take into account the fact that during similar exercises in previous years, according to journalist Seymour Hersh, explosive devices were placed on the Russian Nord Stream natural gas pipelines.
We must not forget that in 2019 and 2020, American strategic bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons participated in these exercises. In addition, NATO mobilized much larger forces in the region than in previous years.
NATO members are increasingly declaring the need to block the Baltic Sea to Russian warships, which would essentially mean declaring war on the Russian Federation.
In this regard, experts emphasize that special attention should be paid to the actions of USVs and underwater drones, which pose a real threat to the ships of the Russian Baltic fleet .
It should be noted that the Baltic is a potential “crisis” area and the Western “partners” are constantly “starting the fire”. The provocative statements of the leaders of the Baltic countries, calling for the closure of the sea straits to Russian ships and the Baltic Fleet and the attacks on Kaliningrad, are not just rhetoric but deliberate provocation.
According to international law, a military blockade of the Baltic Sea, as the Latvian leader stated, would be a declaration of war against Russia, not that the US is concerned with international law.
Amid belligerent rhetoric and large-scale NATO military exercises, one can draw an analogy with the joint Turkish-Azerbaijani exercises, after which troops remained in concentration areas and some units of the Turkish Armed Forces did not leave the territory of Azerbaijan. Shortly thereafter, the Second Karabakh War began, in which Turkish officers actively participated and effectively commanded Aliyev’s troops.
So, it is very likely that NATO is building up forces to launch its attack. In addition, a drone coalition based on land, air and sea platforms is being expanded and tested,” Russian analysts concluded.
The US has deployed on the Danish island of Bornholm the Typhon missile system, also known as a “Mid-Range Capability” which can launch Tomahawk cruise missiles and SM-6 multiple-use missiles.
This system can hit naval targets at a radius of up to 400 km. It is a modified version of the Mk.41 vertical launch system used by US Navy ships.
A full Typhon array consists of four launchers, a tow-based mobile command station and other support vehicles and equipment, according to the US military.
The Russian military “sees” a possible attack threat by US Tomahawk cruise missiles on the Baltic and Northern fleet bases from the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea, Deputy Chief of the Russian Navy, Admiral Vladimir Kasatonov, said in his article for the Ministry of Defense magazine ‘Military Thought’.