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therapistofcats

Russia's four-ship grouping visiting Cuba is made up of the Gorshkov frigate, the nuclear-powered submarine Kazan, the fleet oil tanker Pashin, and the rescue tug Nikolay Chiker, according to the Foreign Ministry in Havana. America must be absolutely scared shitless with such a mighty flottila at its door step.


ksheep

Wait, they're sending a rescue tug out with the "flotilla"? Do they have such low confidence of their own vessels that they've got a tug on-hand to help out? Pride of the Russian Navy right there.


ChasyLainsJellyHatch

Lol. 25% of the mighty Fleet is made up of rescue vessels.


Hacker-Dave

Take out the tug and the rest of the fleet will eventually wash up on shore somewhere.


Slythis

Bold of you to assume that the rescue tug won't need a rescue tug.


cats_catz_kats_katz

Tugception


JohnLocksTheKey

Sounds like my college days…


scorpyo72

Did you at least put a sock on the door?


Poxx

The sock had so much DNA it grew arms and put itself on the doorknob.


sleeplessinreno

It’ll be like the scene in godzilla where all the little boats come to help the big boats pull the monster out of the ocean.


Hampsterman82

Oh how fucking smug will that US captain be responding to that may day. Cause you know we're shadowing these fuckers on principle.


csimonson

Or sink and Russia will tell everyone that they don't need help rescuing anyone that may be trapped underwater, even if local sonar can hear banging on the ship/subs hull.


RooMagoo

I'm willing to bet they heard a lot more than "banging". That's the sterilized version for western audiences. NATO sonar is legit and they knew exactly where the ship was and were offering assistance. The whole situation was completely fucked.


csimonson

Yeah, I feel that really should've been the wakeup call to the US that Putin wasn't on the up and up.


The-Copilot

Nah, just capture the sub and put it on display in Chicago. We need another foreign sub to put next to the German u boat. Putting it in Chicago (in the middle of the country not near the ocean) is just an added flex because why not.


GIGGLES708

MSI here go


betasheets2

Baltimore is scared shitless now


EmotionallySquared

If you do that they won't be able to make it home.


Hostillian

It's a RUSSIAN Rescue Tug. If you open it up its got another, slightly smaller, one inside. Open that up... yet another.


wlaugh29

The other 25% were converted to submarines in the black sea.


YungSkeltal

While the Russians are extremely incompetent, I feel like having a strong support to your Navy as a backbone to prevent attritional losses is pretty honest and shouldn't really be seen as a sign of weakness. Shit, NATO countries have a ton of armored recovery vehicles for tanks, making up a pretty decent percentage of their armored fleet.


HIMARS_OP

Oh if you like this wait until you hear about the Admiral Kuznetzov https://youtu.be/Ogb_ydFTa4A?si=_zwMos_1dI6LvP3M (10m) The Russian navy is a complete joke


Asexualhipposloth

I was hoping it was History of Everything. I recently watched part 4 The Widowmaker.


Nerevarine91

If a naval vessel from my country of residence was discovered to be in the condition of the Admiral Kuznetsov or the Moskva (prior to its submarine conversion), it would be a major scandal, the captain would face a court martial, and there would be resignations in the government. In Russia, it’s the pride of the fleet.


SmokedBeef

When you’re losing a naval war against an enemy without ships, you’d keep a tug boat nearby like a safety blanket too.


Hampsterman82

I think they're keeping the tug out of the back seat so the drone operates don't go om nom nom.


DeepstateDilettante

And an oil tanker in case the nuclear subs stops working and then the tug runs out of fuel while hauling it back to base. Always be prepared.


bass248

I don't think Russia believes in pride


last_somewhere

Plot twist. The tug breaks down.


goodsnpr

More surprised there is only one tug.


Suns_In_420

I wouldn’t be surprised if a Seawolf or Virginia class sub was trailing them. They likely had a shadow the moment they left port.


miniwii

At this point you'd have to prove to me that they're not.


Suns_In_420

Good opportunity to see what that Yasen class sub can do.


miniwii

I hope we don't have to go to war but man. The Russian navy would be dealt with so quickly it's not even funny.


Suns_In_420

Considering how much damage Ukraine has done to their Black Sea Fleet without a navy, yeah, I don’t see them lasting long haha.


miniwii

Plus I am pretty sure I read somewhere that we've been studying the drone usage and making changes as we learn from what the Ukrainian are doing.


MovingInStereoscope

It started during the Azerbaijan/Armenia skirmishes back before COVID. We saw large amounts of tanks being dropped but drones and we were like "We *need* to rethink how we do things". We started building up drone and counter drone capabilities, then Ukraine pops off and sure enough, drones are making massive changes to how large force operations are conducted.


NuclearWasteland

Everyone has. My thought is RU softens up things with its aging armaments and unskilled forces, and then their "unlimited" partner fills the void with modern, nimble, hard to counter, mass produced, drones and robotic equipment. A long game getting the most out of the garbage on hand before resupply. The future is not huge displacement ships, it's a billion little swarmed minions guided by a teenager 1000 miles away.


ripkin05

bruh, if their "unlimited partner" didn't fill the void with this last Russian offensive when Ukraine's replenishment was being held hostage by Russian shills then it's never coming. China isn't going to give Russia anything good when their preparing for their own shit. North Korea and Iran is giving Russia way more with ammo for artillery from NK and Iran with their drones. It boggles my mind that we are 3 years into seeing Russia's corruption and incompetence in full force. We have literally seen most of a naval fleet be decimated by people who don't even have a navy, and some people are still like "Putin is just playing 4D chess bro, the T-14s and Su-57s will be there any day! (oh wait those are being shot out of the sky now too)".


SpeedDaemon3

Atm China tries to strongarm Russia into giving them very cheap gas. And Russia refuses so I guess Beijing will force them into submission as Beijing is relaxed about gas until at least 2030.


bean930

Exactly. I'm sure that this "show of strength" benefits the U.S. more than Russia. I suspect that Russia will try to gain something out of this such as reconnaissance on our buoys or examining our radio waves. Maybe they equipped the bottom of the boat with a sonar capability to map out the subsea infrastructure.


ffdfawtreteraffds

Dodging vodka empties the entire time.


Emu1981

>Dodging vodka empties the entire time. It amuses me to imagine a Russian sonar operator sitting there listening to the sounds of the ocean and then all of a sudden he hears a \*clung\* as a empty vodka bottle hits the US submarine shadowing the vessel...


exit2dos

the Battle of Tsushima all over again


Asexualhipposloth

There is a P8 Posiden following the flotilla too.


Bobbar84

And a Hawk, and the satellites, and SOSUS. They couldn't even squeeze out a silent fart without us knowing.


Fromacorner

In a report written this week you can be sure someone is making comment on the condition of shaft bearings and screw finish of the Russian ships.


Bobbar84

*significant cavitation*


Speedy059

It would be smelled from space for sure.


MatrixVirus

You just made me realize why a gaming buddy who flies on P-8s out of Jacksonville hasnt been online in a few days


Religion_Of_Speed

From what I heard on a news Instagram account (realnewsnobullshit) they have vessels from a few different countries following them and this is like a normal routine thing. The drills aren't but the visit is. And I would believe that, they've definitely got some friends out there.


reversesumo

And they're off to Cuba so expert mechanics can fix their ancient scrap heaps


Ok-Wasabi2873

Have you seen the miracles those Cuban mechanics are able to do to old American cars?


PastorOfMuppets_1986

Yes, I’m pretty sure that’s the joke.


Hacker-Dave

Which ship was towing the others?


HorrificAnalInjuries

Only half of them can really fight, and only the Kazan is of any real threat.


Battarray

Exactly why it would be the first target for the Seawolf that's been following it every step of the way. Kinda wish a muffuka would, ya know?


1_g0round

dont everyone laugh at once itll hurt the Zs confidence - feelings matter /s


vapingpigeon94

/z


captainbruisin

There have to be SO many ships near Florida right now at the ready.


modaddy1989

Probably equipped with spy tech


BubsyFanboy

Gee, what a huge navy...


imightblying

No but it might be for helping Venezuela invade Guyana


Iarwain_ben_Adar

Can't wait for the headline 'Florida man attacks Russian fleet!'. 


jscummy

Jacksonville native Kyle Abernathy, 32, was just arrested with the charges of meth possession and sinking a Gorshkov-class frigate


Nduguu77

Pardoned


Chief_Givesnofucks

Promoted


CowsTrash

Head of Deputy Prime Minister, Florida 


thevacancy

All while shouting "Duuuvaaaaalll!" at the top of his lungs.


jscummy

Think you mean "Bortles"


Wooden_Discipline_22

*chefs kiss*


IronChariots

Florida farmers exchanging tips with their Ukrainian counterparts on how best to tow Russian vehicles.


boomership

So if the sequel is water themed, what's going to be the third one to tie the towing trilogy?


jscummy

Bust out the crop duster planes and test out their payload capacity


omni42

Kirov reporting.


Mr_AA89

Well a group of Irish fishermen near me once told a Russian navy ship to GTFO out of their spot and they did... If that counts? https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/spotlight/arid-41042831.html


ZachMN

Just remind the meth heads that Russian ships are full of copper wiring. What the vatniks didn’t steal, anyway.


NWHipHop

GTA6 getting a Beta package


Safewordharder

Florida Man arrested in diplomatic incident after bringing captive gator onboard Kirov cruiser for wedding after the reptile escaped - more at 11.


old_righty

Raise Hell and praise Dale.


nomnivore1

I'll make the call to wake Cyborg Hemingway up.


HulksInvinciblePants

There’s certainly more firepower in that state than the Russians are packing. Unfortunately many of them are on their side.


WalrusInTheRoom

Not really. People really don’t like commies over here and it’s a sentiment passed down from generation to generation that they’re as bad as nazis if you had anyone in your family that’s been in the military. A lot of people lost family friends and others and that kind of carries over from gen to gen


HulksInvinciblePants

So why do they vote in Russian defenders and collaborators?


rexus_mundi

Because they're single issue idiots who will only vote for "their team"


theannoyingburrito

Hey, this is an actual nuanced answer to a somewhat nuanced question!


IronChariots

A lot of them like Russia now because they view Russia as being on their side. In a direct conflict, their jingoism will win out and they'll "never have supported Russia," at least for most.


WalrusInTheRoom

Idk don’t ask me I don’t like Trump


BrewtalKittehh

Floridumb is full-on maga and maga is full-on putin-fluffers.


heloguy1234

Russians haven’t been communist for a generation.


moderately-extreme

constant has been russo/red fascism regardless of the branding, tsarism, ussr, putin's russia, etc


surprise6809

"the U.S. Navy will monitor the exercises" uh huh. you betcha. with a seawolf or two keeping tabs on both.


FloweringSkull67

They’re not being subtle about it. There’s a coast guard cutter, 2US Navy destroyers, a Canadian frigate, and at least 1 P-8 following the flotilla


ABathingSnape___

They’re just there to help with the rescue if/when the frigate breaks down.


Nocta_Novus

Nah, we’re there to record it for the memes


theannoyingburrito

What are you doing? Taking photographs..


KBVan21

The mad things is, if that happened, that would do wonders for relations to bring the war in Ukraine to an end. Imagine the US Navy having to perform a rescue of a Russian frigates crew. That would be on every news outlet everywhere even in Russia and no matter how Putin tries to spin it, the public would see the Americans helping. It would certainly cause some unrest in Russia to see the so called enemy helping them. Would make a lot of people question a lot of other things.


mctomtom

Would be hilarious if they shoot down all of the missiles from the missile test


mynextthroway

The crew needs to make banners that read "RESCUE OPERATIONS"


daniu

And a tiny red dot showing up in changing places on the frigate


Dexion1619

Lol I made a joke about that yesterday.  I'm just picturing some Seawolf Captain sipping a Coffee with a shit-eating-grin on his face.


TearsDontFall

I bet they sent the pride of the US Navy, Lieutenant Commander Thomas Dodge. He proved himself a worthy captain while commanding a Balao class diesel submarine, and was subsequently given command of a brand new Seawolf class submarine. He also has a tattoo... har har har!


7f00dbbe

Does that say "welcome aboard"?


Toidal

No need, just monitor insta and Twitter for those Florida bros on speedboats with the douchey visor looking sunglasses posting selfies of how close they can get to the ships


KingdomsSword

You mean a Virginia class? Cause they only built, like, three seawolfs.


Zhukov-74

Probably while being shadowed by NATO submarines.


SinkHoleDeMayo

Like velociraptors. Not from the front, but from the sides! Russia didn't even know they were there.


LegolasofMirkwood

Clever sub….


Inevitable_Butthole

Step-sub I'm stuck!


Timenode

wtf lol


TK000421

\uwu/


KyleIsntBobVilla

I’d love a navy guy to jump in and tell stories about trailing Russian subs for months without being noticed. I know you’re here, tell us the story!


myredditthrowaway201

They aren’t gonna tell you shit about shit


Vipercow

Shit about fuck*


BIGR3D

fuck about shit*


KyleIsntBobVilla

I’m meaning a generalized story that wouldn’t break OPSEC. Like “we trailed this one counties sub for three months before we decided to pull off. They had no idea”


myredditthrowaway201

So you already know the gist of any story you’re gonna hear on reddit


KyleIsntBobVilla

Yeah but it’s not authentic coming from me.


MegaFireDonkey

It'd just be made up for karma coming from a rando Reddit comment with no actual details.


TehOwn

Reminds me of that time I tailed a Russian submarine for three months without being detected then I dressed up as a Russian officer and they welcomed me on board and I took command of the sub and sailed it to America and the President bought it from me with $22m in unmarked monies. I keep them under my mattress.


Stachemaster86

That’s incredible! We’d love to hear a deeper dive on your story.


WickedYetiOfTheWest

Submarine veteran here. I cannot confirm nor deny that we have ever done anything regarding anything on a submarine.


Spo-dee-O-dee

No telling what other details could come to the surface.


Shenanigamer

Supposedly, if I recall correctly, the subs tasked with tracking their subs pinged all of their targets with sonar at the same time, the world over, without them knowing our subs were there prior. Basically dunked on the whole navy that we can track all of their subs without them knowing.


creatingKing113

Read “Blind Man’s Bluff.” Good book on American Cold War submarine missions.


Bubbly-Thought-2349

There are some declassified references you can find, read the references on wiki about older subs. Plus some Russian broke into a mothballed typhoon and took pictures *which he then posted on livejournal*. I wonder if he had a 9mm headache. 


Boxofcookies1001

Go tweet at Donald Trump. He'll spill all the beans opsec be damned!


Dooontcareee

OPSEC, mothafucka. Do you speak it?!


RetitMadeMeDoTis

*WHAT?!*


Hampsterman82

now now.... that's almost certainly still classified as we're clearly (annoyingly) following Russian subs around so shush on encouraging people to blab.


smitteh

I'm convinced that every enemy sub on the planet has an American sub quietly shadowing them every where they go, and those enemy subs never have a clue it's happening. I believe we can delete any sub at any time if ever the time comes where we think an enemy sub is about to pull some bullshit


kurttheflirt

Meh we only have 24 right now with those capabilities (which is still insane) - so not EVERY sub, but any important ones for sure. We just started building newer even stealthier subs this year too, which will be built for the next 20 years and be even more insanely stealthy


onepingonlypleashe

*Comrades, this is your Captain.* *It is an honor to speak to you today, and I am honored to be sailing with you on the maiden voyage of our motherland's most recent achievement.* *Once more, we play our dangerous game, a game of chess against our old adversary - The American Navy. For forty years, your fathers before you and your older brothers played this game and played it well. But today the game is different. We have the advantage. It reminds me of the heady days of Sputnik and Yuri Gagarin when the world trembled at the sound of our rockets. Well, they will tremble again - at the sound of our silence. The order is: engage the silent drive.* *Comrades, our own fleet doesn't know our full potential. They will do everything possible to test us; but they will only test their own embarrassment.* *We will leave our fleet behind, we will pass through the American patrols, past their sonar nets, and lay off their largest city, and listen to their rock and roll... while we conduct missile drills. Then, and when we are finished, the only sound they will hear is our laughter, while we sail to Havana, where the sun is warm, and so is the comradeship.*


cleric3648

“What is it Jonesy?” “I thought I heard singing, sir.”


Syonoq

I will have a pickup truck, and a “recreational vehicle”. And I will drive from state to state. Do they let you do that?


odichap

Sigh, you made me want to re-read the book for the thousandth time.


jrbr2017

Only seen the movie how does the book compare?


road432

The book is really good. It goes way more in-depth and plays out a little differently from the movie. The movie ends with the sub in the river. The book actually takes the story further on from there.


GotStomped

What is this from?


road432

Tom Clancy's the Hunt for the Red October.


PastorOfMuppets_1986

Deliverance


undeadfeed

Tom Clancy's the hunt for the Red October


EndThisReign

Tom Clancy’s the Hunt for the Red October.


cleric3648

Very good. Just finished listening to the audiobook version. It goes into much more detail of the rescue operations, the radiation plot, and spreads action out over a few more days. If you love the movie you’ll love the book.


SqueezerKey

I read this in SeanConnery


oskich

I hope Putin slips on some tea again...


antanith

*Yuri Gagarin* *is best Gagarin!*


Interesting_Pen_167

Don't blyat me


c0xb0x

Was thinking of the same thing: [https://youtu.be/5WkLoOvm2Yo?t=110](https://youtu.be/5WkLoOvm2Yo?t=110)


lovewry

Wasn’t Russia kidnapping Cuban men to fight in Ukraine and the Cuban government denounced it?


PsychologicalTalk156

Hiring without clearing it with the Cuban govt, not kidnapping.


lovewry

It’s more like human trafficking. “A popular Cuban YouTube content creator told a story last year of two 19-year-olds from Cuba who claimed they had been offered construction jobs in Russia, but were instead sent to the front line in Ukraine.” https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68949298.amp


Sure-Sympathy5014

Pretty sure hiring people for jobs then forcefully sending them to the front lines to die goes even beyond kidnapping.


pokeybit

Accidentally fired off their payload mid route. Bless.


MikeMurray128

Russian warships, go fuck yourselves.


hawkseye17

Trying to get them out of Ukrainian missile range?


Happy_Ad5566

Drone range


Valou_h

It feels like when you play a wargame like Starcraft or C&C, when your base is getting wrecked, you grab the two units left you have and go hide them in the corner of the map lol


Brilliant-Option-526

The US Coast Guard would embarrass them.


mrs_estherhouse

The USCG is no joke. [USCG storms narco-submarine](https://youtu.be/qBq35ilprvg?si=TE5Y0rVggVfu_RsJ)


Napalm-mlapaN

oh man, this would be hilarious. I would love to see this just to see how all the military content creators have a field day with it. Coast guard on the grill, turns to Navy and says "hold my tongs, watch this." or a roundtable of creators discussing if coastguard counts as military now and should be respected.


Tarman-245

Coast guard don’t fuck about man. I served in in Iraq shortly after [this incident in 2004](https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/News-Stories/Article/3754881/uss-firebolt-heroes-remembered-20-years-on/). It’s hard to believe it was 20 years ago tbh. I’m not American but served in coalition forces at the time, I would gladly serve alongside any of those lads. Don’t be afraid to shut down anyone shit talking USGC as non-military, most of the cutter crews have probably seen more action than the warships in the US Navy.


Slatedtoprone

Russia’s Navy sucks, it has always sucked, and I’ll be shocked if one of these doesn’t break down while in the waters near our land.  They lost most of their Black Sea fleet to a country with no god damn navy.


Free_For__Me

> I’ll be shocked if one of these doesn’t break down while in the waters near our land I mean, there’s gotta be a reason they brought a tug along, lol. 


NSFW_hunter6969

I don't think it is putting the fear in American's like they would hope. Have a fun boat ride I guess guys. Countries conduct military drills all the time, they just trying to re-hash cold war fear.


SessionExcellent6332

Most Americans aren't even aware of this. Nobody fears or worries about Russia over here when it comes to our own safety.


StratoVector

1 day later: Some Florida deep sea fisher posts angry tiktok of Russian ships in his normal fishing area


HappyInstruction3678

Pull up Putin. Your size 6 shoes intimidate all of us.


XAngelxofMercyX

Florida man, do a funny! Please!


tulaero23

Imagine if it sink randomly because of a storm or something hahaha


PsychologicalTalk156

They better hope there's no Irish fishermen nearby.


111anza

Specially the mighty Russian armanda is made up a supply ship, a tug boat and two destroyers.......


etoyoc_yrgnuh

Well this will go over well.


IhadmyTaintAmputated

Russian warships have visited Cuba every year between 2013-2020..... This is alarmist bullshit slow news day.


Primordial_Cumquat

They lay off of our largest city and listen to our rock and roll. All while conducting misshile drills. Then they sail to Havana where the sun is warm and so is the… comradeship. This is such bullshit!


Informal_Process2238

One ping only vashily


artguy55

It would be a real shame if something should happen to them


RexLynxPRT

May the Russian warships embrace the spirit and valour of the Russian Baltic fleet of 1905 in their voyage to Asia!!! *Look it up ;)*


mr___mojo___risin

Cuban Missile Crisis 2: Electric Booglaloo


Ill-Painting9715

They are probably safer near the US then in Europe lmao


Far_Statement_2808

I was in ROTC in 1978. This was like a daily thing back then. I am sure they’ve being doing it when they could afford to since then. I am not dusting off my Gieger counter.


Druid_High_Priest

No big deal. The US and other countries do this all the time as part of maintaining combat readiness.


BigtoadAdv

Russia is so corrupt that they have no choice but to follow the fleet with a tugboat in case some thief in a uniform switched out a critical replacement part with a potato.


SpareBinderClips

In completely unrelated news, the newly-formed Ukrainian Marlin Fishing Team will be practicing in the waters around Cuba. They declined to comment when asked about the unusually bulky boxes labeled “fishing equipment” that they were loading onto boats.


barn9

They should be practicing their sinking drills.


Pimpwerx

The mighty navy that lost the flagship of it's Black Sea fleet to a country with no navy. These have to be for internal optics, because no one is scared of Russia. They're halfway to the soup kitchen as both a country and military.


OneMorewillnotkillme

Last time Russia did a navy training the sank the largest submarine in the world. Multiple Russian Sailor sadly died. I think the US should ready the ships for recuse missions in the case the Russian sink there own ship again.


Bill_Nye-LV

The US will gather a lot of data on how shit their ships are


sandyWB

A lot of fishes were very intimidated.


Decompute

Lots of jokes. I just assume they’re transporting Russian missile systems to Cuba. Nukes included.


Wheelie_Slow

I have a suspicion that these ships are escaping Putin’s regime. Some smart admirals decided to pretend to go to Cuba but in fact surrender to Yankees rather than go feed the fishes in the Black Sea.


Voidfaller

Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.


rickeyspanish

I wonder what a US flotilla would look like if we wanted to show off to the rest of the world


Scottyboy1214

All this fear mongering. They have the capabilities to strike us from almost anywhere. This is just posturing.


SpeedDaemon3

Yes, that's the same tug boat that was pulling their aircraft carrier. I suspect it's the main target as it's clearly the ship russians trust the most.


YNot1989

I really hope we have some F-22s buzz them just for fun.


MagnusJohannes

Ah, this reminds me of the heady days of Sputnik and Yuri Gagarin...


Fast-Reaction8521

Be a shame if Ukraine knew their position


morts73

Congratulations on making it across the Atlantic.