The Russian submarine, the New Rosisk, has recently been the focus, last week flooding near the coast of the Bretagne peninsula in northwestern France and then heading towards the North Sea, all the way watched by NATO.
The French escort ships first "observed", the British sent the "Iron Duke" escort ships and "Wild Cat" helicopters followed for three days, and the North Sea was accompanied by the Dutch Navy.
The most exciting thing is that NATO and Russia have talked about the “upstream cause,” one saying the submarines are “faulty,” the other saying “in accordance with international rules, no problem.”
The reason for the rise is so noisy
NATO sent two photos on October 9, saying that the French frigate was staring at the Russian submarine.
Later on, he said on social media that “NATO has been vigilant and can defend the entire Atlantic”, but did not name the submarine.
The real smell of fire came on October 13 when NATO Secretary-General Luther spoke in Slovenia, directly mocking the submarine "one by one".
He also said that the Russian navy is now almost gone in the Mediterranean Sea, leaving only such a "faulty boat". He even compared "Hunting the Red October" and said that Russian submarines are now "more like looking for a repairman."
The West also circulated more specific statements, saying that the submarine had a big problem when returning from the Mediterranean Sea, fuel leaked into the cabin, and eventually had no way to float out of the water, and even in the North Sea was "trapped."
However, the Russian Black Sea Fleet issued a statement on the same day denying it, saying that the submarine was "transferred as planned" after completing the Mediterranean mission and that it floated up in the English Channel in compliance with international navigation rules and was not malfunctioning at all.
The two sides said a bit sorry, this "New Rosisk" is a diesel-electric submarine in service in 2014, 70 meters long, can carry 50 crew members, also with "caliber" cruise missiles, can dive to 300 meters in depth, a range of 7500 nautical miles, according to the performance is not bad.
NATO not only said that the submarine was broken, but also wanted to lend it to everyone to feel that "the Russian Navy is not going to do it", by the way, give the allies a determination bullet.
It is understandable that Russia insists on "compliance". After all, the submarine floating is being watched. If the fault is recognized, not only will the image of the navy be affected, but NATO will also feel that it can "control the Russian navy."
So they bite to death is “come according to the rules”, in fact, they are also defending their maritime sovereignty and don’t want to be taken by NATO.
Russian Navy is having a hard time
This was seen as a small controversy on the submarine, but behind it was a big problem for the Russian Navy.
The most obvious is the loss of the Black Sea Fleet, in 2022, their flagship missile cruiser "Moscow" was sinked by Ukrainian missiles, almost 400 people were evacuated, 1 person died, 27 people were missing.
It was the largest naval ship sunk by the Russian Navy after the Second World War, which hit the Black Sea Fleet.
Now the Western think tank says that the Black Sea Fleet will be able to use much fewer ships than in 2022, and the diesel-electric submarine forces are still lacking parts because of Western sanctions, the maintenance cycle is delayed from six months to nine months.
After the return of the "New Rosisk", it is said that immediately to enter the dock maintenance, which is equivalent to just completing the mission to have to be repaired, on the side indicates that the fleet logistics is a bit unable to follow.
There is also the recent "shadow fleet" issue in the English Strait, with Russian tankers hanging third-country flags frequently disappearing, and France last month also checked a tanker called "Bolaque".
The British Defense Secretary had previously warned that more and more Russian warships were crossing the Strait, and the Royal Navy had to keep an eye on it all day long.
In fact, it can also be seen that the Russian Navy, although it wants to maintain its presence in the European waters, but can use a limited number of ships, even energy transportation has to rely on the "shadow fleet" to circumvent sanctions, less than before.
So it appears that the incident on the New Rossk was not just a matter of the submarine itself, but more like a game between NATO and Russia in the European waters.
NATO wants to use this matter to suppress Russia, and Russia wants to keep its face and sovereignty.
However, the current situation of the Russian Navy may be difficult to be as "tough" as before. Whether it can stabilize its existence in European waters in the future depends on how they solve logistics and equipment problems.