– Barents Observer – A pair of Northern Fleet Tu-142s has for the fourth time in just over two weeks been on mission outside Norway. The flight on Wednesday went all south to the Bay of Biscay.

– War Zone – The Borei-A class boats are said to be among the quietest in Russia’s fleet and they feature some amenities that are distinctly Russian.-

– Barents Observer – Norwegian and British fighter jets were scrambled two times this week to meet a pair of the Northern Fleet’s ASW aircraft on training mission over the Norwegian Sea.

– Barents Observer – Russia has conducted the first ship-launched firing of its new hypersonic missile called Tsirkon and plans further tests from nuclear submarines.

– Naval News – The Project 545 ‘Laika’ was first revealed in the background of a media report on a Russian defense exhibition in December. Although it has not been officially confirmed the new design is likely to be the next generation Russian attack submarine project known as Husky. The name Laika refers to a breed of Siberian hunting dog very similar to the husky.

– From the Office of Naval Intelligence

– Naval News – All Nanuchka III-class small missile ships (corvettes) of project 1234 of the 114th brigade of the Pacific fleet will be upgraded. They will get new arms and radars, communications, and economical and powerful diesel engines.

– El Snorkel – The priority is the refloating of the Komsomolets K-27 and K-278 nuclear submarines.(in Spanish)

(Thanks to Alain)

– The Sun – The US Navy Second Fleet command trawled the North Atlantic for Russia’s most powerful submarine, the Severodvinsk, but said it remained undetected despite a mission to find it lasting several weeks.

(Thanks to Alain)

– Naval News – The overhaul of the Tiger (K-154 Tigr) nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) of project 971 (Akula-class) is to be completed by the end of 2023. The SSN has not made any sorties since 2010s. Three years ago, it was towed to the shipyard in Snezhnogorsk. The overhaul will increase its might due to Kalibr missiles.

(Thanks to Alain)

– Barents Observer – The Russian Border Guard Service, a department under the FSB, is strengthening its presence in the ice-covered waters of the Arctic. Construction of a first icebreaking patrol vessel of Project 23550 was launched in April 2017 and a second in November 2019.

– Newsweek – William Arkin writes that during the height of tensions with Iran last year, the United States conducted an unprecedented series of war games. Over five months, from May until the end of September, 93 separate military exercises were held, with forces operating continuously in, above and around 29 countries. The games, which practiced everything from ground platoon tactics to cyber warfare, weren’t held in the Mideast and weren’t directed at Tehran. They were directed against Moscow—and constituted the most intense uninterrupted set of drills since the end of the Cold War.

– War Zone – The missile, details about which are scant, has at least some development hurdles to overcome and is still years away from entering service.

– Barents Observer – The rebuilt version of the passenger aircraft Tu-204/214 will be Russia’s equivalent to the U.S. built Boeing P-8 Poseidon that Norway, among others, will deploy for surveillance flights over the Barents- and Norwegian Seas.

– Barents Observer – As the country’s one and only vessel of the kind lies damaged by accident and fire at port in Murmansk, the President puts his eyes on a brand new project.

– Barents Observer – The «Akademik Pashin» can simultaneously provide three vessels with fuels and other goods while sailing at open sea.

– Barents Observer – “Knyaz Vladimir”, the first upgraded Borey-A class submarine, will not be handed over to the navy by the end of 2019 as planned.

– BMPD – On December 26, 2019, in St. Petersburg, the Admiralty Shipyards JSC (part of United Shipbuilding Corporation – USC) held a launch ceremony for the B-603 large diesel-electric submarine being built for the Navy of the Russian Federation “ Volkhov ” (serial number 01615) of project 06363. This is the second of six submarines of project 06363 being built for the Pacific Fleet. (In Russian)

(Thanks to Alain)

– Barents Observer – After the two previous 4th generation multi-purpose submarines experienced long delays in construction, Russia now seems to have gain speed at the shipyard in Severodvinsk.

– National Interest – These doomsday weapons are the latest iterations of the new arms race.

– Barents Observer – A former officer from the Headquarters of the Armed Forces in Northern Norway told about the surfacing submarine in a TV documentary by NRK about the Cold War.

– Barents Observer – MiG-31K fighter jets armed with the new Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missile based at Kola, Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya could in practice pose a threat it is not possible to defend against in the European Arctic, northern Scandinavia and North-Atlantic.

– Barents Observer – Sailing under the ice north of Siberia is cheaper than crushing through, a concept study concludes.

– National Interest – What will Moscow do now that its carrier just had another major setback?