"Caspian Sea - The New Naval Flashpoint?" Topic

I admit to not knowing much about this lake/inland sea, so my interested was piqued with the announcement of Iran's new indigenously produced destroyer launch:

eurasianet.org/node/62458

Apparently, both the Russians and Iranians are investing heavily in protecting their access to rich oil and gas reserves in the region, and in perhaps keeping others from exercising their rights, as was being discussed at the Caspian Littoral Summit a while back:

eurasianet.org/node/62409

Here's more info on the naval situation in the region:

link

link

This comment from the Pravda article gave me a good laugh, in relation to what is essentially a large Russian lake:

"One should also take account of the destructive influence of the West, the USA, first and foremost, as they attempt to destabilize the situation in the region," the expert said.

Apparently, the USA still weighs heavily on the Russian psyche.

This one, from a baffled news writer made me chuckle as well, since 100+ Iranian missile boats are mentioned, but then it goes on to state that exactly TWO of the boats are actually equipped with SSMs:

"After Moscow, Tehran is the second power in the sea that adjoins Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan. Iran's Caspian force is estimated to be around 100 missile boats, two of which are equipped with anti-ship missiles".

It appears that news reporting, and editorial review quality aren't what they used to be.

Here's the link to the whole article, which also mentions the deployment of Iranian subs in the Caspian as well, in addition to their new home-built destroyer:

link

Here's a link to Russia's Caspian Fleet (not sure if it is up to date though, since its unclear when the article was posted):

link

Here's info on the Iranian naval forces, though it isn't clear which are allocated to the Caspian Sea:

link

The above, plus forces from some of the more minor nations in the region, might make for an interesting, and off-beat naval, or combined naval and air skirmish or two, if you are looking for some new scenarios.

Info on the Jamaran "Destroyer" (more like a frigate): link

One thing I'd like clarity on: it says it is armed with 4 Standard knock-off missiles. Does this mean it has a launcher for 4 missiles that are reloaded from a magazine, or does it have 4 missiles period? If it's the latter, not nearly as impressive, and sounds a bit vulnerable to air attack or missile saturation attacks…

Damon.

Russians might have to dust off a "Caspian Sea Monster" or two

Naval operations in the Caspian could be summed up with one phrase…"Fish in a Barrel". With Russian Naval Aviation, anybody's ships would be a victim, and then throw in shore launched anti-ship missiles.

The other countries like Azerbaijan might be intimidated easier by the Iranians, and certainly by the Russians.

Yea, I agree to the "fish in a barrel" notation, but still, one side might be able to get off a quick surprise attack before the other can intervene.

Of course, after that there probably won't be anywhere to hide, if one or both of the major powers are involved in the initial skirmish/battle.

I didn't read the article, but did see a headline stating that Russia has suggested that it and Iran form a "combined navy" in the Caspian. That would certainly be interesting, and no doubt the smaller powers wouldn't be very happy about that.

Of course, it reminds me a bit of the old Hitler/Stalin alliance back in the day, until that went south shortly thereafter.

talking up the "enemy" to be ten feet tall is pretty standard practice, especially when seeking funding. For example, to look at the US press these days you'd think the Norks had hundreds of ICBMs targeted on the West Coast. And noting that there are another three countries that border on the Caspian Sea, all of which the US has been playing into to some degree or another, I can appreciate the US destabilisation comment (it brings similar US concerns over Soviet involvement in the Caribbean to mind)

Obviously, we have to send a carrier group to the Caspian Sea in order to stabilise the region…wait…

It's a corvette.
-Kle.

Well, yes and no on the Carribean, since that region is surrounded by a lot of open sea, whereas the Caspian is essentially a Russian/former-Soviet controlled lake, with very limited access, via a Russian controlled river, which is as shallow as 12' deep in some places, apparently.

Granted, the US has provided a bit of support to some of the minor states there, but it pales in comparison to what the Russians have in the region.