The Russian Navy operates a flotilla in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, with cruise missile-armed surface ships and submarines from the naval group taking part in the counterterrorism mission in Syria which kicked off in 2015.
An informed source has confirmed to Sputnik that the Black Fleet’s Rostov-on-Don diesel-electric attack submarine which disappeared from NATO radar screens last week remains in contact with command and is transmitting information.
“NATO’s anti-submarine warfare forces have been trying to find the Rostov-on-Don for a week now…Attempts to find it have not met with success. At the same time, Russian command remains in contact with the sub,” the source said.
On Thursday, Israeli media reported on a “mysterious operation” by US naval reconnaissance aircraft off the coasts of Israel, Lebanon and Syria, with Navy Poseidon P-8 aircraft engaged in unscheduled patrols in search of the Rostov-on-Don, thought to have passed Gibraltar into the Mediterranean about a month ago. Britain’s Royal Navy was said to have shadowed the sub as it sailed south and entered the Mediterranean, with the US Sixth Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy taking over from there. This week, the sub was said to have disappeared from US radar screens, its position unknown.
Sputnik’s source noted that while NATO enjoys major capabilities in the Mediterranean, the Russian submarine’s ability to evade their systems has exceeded all expectations, and may have caused frustration among alliance forces.
“They have used large forces to search for the Russian sub, but to no avail. This means that in conditions of hostilities, they are in the crosshairs, and this bothers them tremendously,” the source suggested.
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