Adm. Foggo Warns of Russian Submarines Challenging U.S.
Defenses
By: Megan Eckstein
October 3, 2018 4:31 PM * Updated: October 4, 2018 USNI
The head of naval forces in Europe warned that Russia is
preparing an underwater battlespace in the Northern Atlantic and that U.S.
naval presence is more important now than any time since the fall of the Soviet
Union.
Adm. James Foggo said in the second episode of his
"On the Horizon" podcast that Russia's national security policy seems
to be to challenge the U.S. and its allies, and the U.S. must do all it can to
ensure a rules-based international order remains in the waters in and around
Europe.
Foggo, who serves as commander of Allied Joint Force
Command Naples, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe and commander of U.S.
Naval Forces Africa, discussed how the European theater has evolved in recent
years.
"Russia has renewed its capabilities in the North
Atlantic and the Arctic in places not seen since the Cold War. For example,
Russian forces have recently reoccupied seven for their former Soviet Union
bases in the Arctic Circle," he said. "The improved capability of
Russia to be able to project power into this region and these strategic routes
from the Arctic into the North Atlantic and the GIUK Gap is something that we
need to pay particular attention to."
As for the technology the Russians are using, Foggo said
"I think Russian submarines today are perhaps some of the most silent and
lethal in the world, with the exception of our own - I think we still in the
United States Navy hold the edge." The Kalibr missiles that Russia has deployed
from coastal defense systems, aircraft and submarines have "shown the
ability to reach pretty much all the capitals in Europe from any of the bodies
of water that surround Europe."
"We know that Russian submarines are in the
Atlantic, testing our defenses, confirming our command of the seas and
preparing a very complex underwater battlespace to try to give them an edge in
any future conflict. And we need to deny them that edge," the admiral
continued.
"So not only have Russia's actions and capabilities
increased in alarming and sometimes confrontational ways, its national security
policy, I think, is aimed at challenging the United States and NATO, our allies
and our partners. So I remain concerned about the potential for miscalculation
- we shouldn't ignore this - but the simple truth is that, as an alliance, NATO
is stronger together."
Foggo said in the podcast that naval forces are
forward-deployed, making them the best able to provide the presence to reassure
allies and "better postured to deal with and defend and maintain stability
and security, and if necessary defeat any threat."
He noted that carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) and
its escort ships are back in the North Atlantic and North Sea to participate in
this effort, and "I couldn't be more happy about that."
Additionally, U.S. naval and joint forces are set to come
together with allies and partners this month for one of the largest NATO
exercises in decades. Trident Juncture 2018 will take place mostly in Norway
and will rehearse how NATO and its partners would respond if Norway's
sovereignty were threatened.
Foggo, who will lead the exercise, said the exercise will
include more than 40,000 personnel from 30 countries, with about 70 ships, 120
aircraft and 10,000 ground vehicles. He stressed the exercise will be
defensive, transparent and proportionate to the threat that countries in Europe
face. Particularly after Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea, Foggo said it
was important to hold Article 5 collective defense rehearsals to ensure all
countries can come together effectively in that type of contingency.
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