(RightIsRight.co – In a severe alert, U.S. officials stated that the Navy deployed warships and aircraft to monitor a Russian naval flotilla that sailed within 30 miles of South Florida’s coast.
Moscow dispatched three ships and a nuclear-powered submarine to the Caribbean last week for what U.S. officials say will be extensive military air and naval exercises — the first in at least five years.
According to a Russian Defense Ministry statement, the drills began in the Atlantic while the hypersonic-capable frigate and nuclear-capable submarine simulated a strike on enemy ships.
Yet, it is unclear if the frigate is armed with hypersonic missiles, but U.S. intelligence believed none of the Russian vessels were carrying nuclear weapons.
A U.S. Northern Command official stated that while the Biden administration is not overly concerned by the Russian activity, it has still authorized the deployment of three powerful destroyers and a submarine reconnaissance aircraft to the area.
“In accordance with standard procedures, we’ve been actively monitoring the Russian ships as they transit the Atlantic Ocean within international waters,” the NORTHCOM official said.
“Air and maritime assets under U.S. Northern Command have conducted operations to ensure the defense of the United States and Canada. Russia’s deployments are part of routine naval activity which pose no direct threat or concern to the United States,” it added.
Moreover, the U.S. deployment included three guided-missile destroyers — the USS Truxtun, USS Donald Cook, and USS Delbert D. Black — along with a Coast Guard cutter, the Stone, and a Boeing P-8 maritime patrol aircraft.
Last week, confirming Russia’s deployment plans, a senior administration official said the U.S. Navy would adopt “whatever the necessary posture is to track and to monitor” their activity as the exercises unfold.
Multiple officials said the Russian ships might make a port call in Venezuela. The Biden administration expects the exercises will culminate in worldwide naval exercises by Russia, including deployments from the Caribbean to the South Pacific.
Additionally, users of the website marinetraffic.com have been tracking the positions of U.S. and Russian ships recently. According to the site, the Russian sea rescue tug Nikolay Chiker was 26 nautical miles from Key Largo.
“We have been monitoring the ships’ paths closely,” a U.S. official stated. “At no point have the ships or submarine posed a direct threat to the United States.
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