Russian Missile Corvettes Ready to Enter Service in Caspian*

MOSCOW, January 13 (RIA Novosti) – A pair of new missile corvettes have completed acceptance trials and will enter service in Russia’s Caspian Flotilla in the first quarter of this year, the Southern Military District said Monday.
The two ships, the Grad Sviyazhsk and Uglich, are the first in the new Buyan-M class and are equipped with anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles.
The vessels began sea trials in August and completed four test launches of the Kalibr-NK missile, which can engage surface, underwater and coastal targets.
The five countries bordering the Caspian Sea – Russia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Iran – all maintain a naval presence in the sea.

 * Notícia publicada a RIA Novosti. Malgrat que sembla que la tensió amb l'Iran pot haver baixat, Moscou nou perd l'oportunitat d'assegurar la seva posició a la Mar Càspia.

Iran, Russia to hold joint naval drills in the Caspian Sea*

ASTRAKHAN, June 28 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian and Iranian navies are planning to hold joint exercises in the Caspian Sea in the second half of this year, a Russian military commander said Friday.
Nikolai Yakubovsky, deputy commander of Russia’s Caspian Flotilla, made the announcement after a meeting with the commander of a group of Iranian guided-missile boats that were visiting the port of Astrakhan.
Iranian navy representatives welcomed the opportunity to take part in the joint exercises, but declined to discuss the plans in more detail.
In 2009, Russia and Iran held their first joint naval exercise in the Caspian, involving about 30 ships.
Caspian Flotilla commander Admiral Sergey Alekminsky said in an interview with Moscow radio station Ekho Moskvy in November that the two navies could strengthen their collaboration in the future.

* Notícia publicada a RIA Novosti.

Iran launches new destroyer in Caspian Sea*

TEHRAN – A new domestically manufactured destroyer, named the Jamaran 2, was launched in the Caspian Sea during a ceremony held in the port city of Bandar-e Anzali, in the northern Iranian province of Gilan. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi, Major General Hassan Firouzabadi, the chief of the general staff of Iran’s armed forces, and Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, the commander of the Iranian Navy, attended the ceremony.   The Jamaran 2, which is a destroyer of the Moj class, has been designed and manufactured by experts at the Marine Industries Organization of the Iranian Defense Ministry.  The warship can carry helicopters and is equipped with advanced radar systems, electronic warfare systems, artillery and anti-aircraft guns, torpedoes, and surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles.  At the ceremony, the defense minister said that the Jamaran 2 would be used to guard the country’s sea borders and back up operations to combat human and drug smuggling.  It is about 100 meters long and weighs over 1,300 tons, Vahidi said.In addition, he said that the destroyer would undergo final tests over the next three months and would join the Navy in the first half of the next Iranian calendar year, which starts on March 21. Iran’s first domestically manufactured destroyer, the Jamaran, was launched in February 2010.  The Sahand destroyer was also launched in September 2012.  The Iranian Navy has also announced that it plans to build seven destroyers of the Sina class, which are capable of firing missiles. 

* Notícia publicada al Tehran Times. Tot i que dubtem de l'utilitat d'unitats de superfície superiors a les patrulleres en una mar con la Càspia, no deixa de ser curiós que l'Iran vulgui marcar territori al nord. Com s'ho prendrà Rússia? Turkmenstan i Azerbadjan demanaràn ajuda?