In early November, US warships and Australian P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft monitored a Russian naval flotilla as it approached Australia's northeast coast, within the nation's Exclusive Economic Zone, having completed exercises in the Bismark Sea.
The flotilla consisted of the cruiser 'Varyag' (Russia's Pacific Fleet flagship), Udaloy class destroyer 'Marshal Shaposhnikov', replenishment tanker 'Boris Butoma', and the civilian-manned salvage tug 'Fotiy Krylov'.
Some analysts believe that the flotilla also included a nuclear-powered attack submarine. Such craft often operate discreetly in company with Russian surface ship deployments in order to carry out scouting and exercise duties.
This deployment is the latest example of President Vladimir Putin's increasingly forcible and outward-looking defence posture. His policy is proving popular domestically, particularly as it is widely seen as defying international criticism of Moscow's support for pro-Russian elements in turbulent Ukraine.
Recent months have seen Russian warplanes resume cold war-style incursions into European and North American airspace, while many analysts are convinced that the craft that recently carried out an underwater incursion into Swedish waters was a Russian submarine.
There is little doubt that the presence of Russian warships off Australia was pre-planned to coincide with Putin's presence at the G20 Summit in Brisbane. Predictions that the Russian leader would be heavily censured in Brisbane over the Ukraine issue proved to be accurate.
In response, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) dispatched the Anzac frigates 'Stuart' and 'Parramatta' supported by the replenishment tanker 'Sirius' to shadow 'Varyag', which had detached from the Russian flotilla, and was heading towards the Australian coast.
Reports indicated that there were no confrontations between the RAN warships and 'Varyag'. Contact was reportedly correct, and cordial, with 'Parramatta' and the Russian cruiser carrying out communications exercises. Following Putin's early departure from the Summit, the four Russian vessels, having demonstrated how "poised" warships can be used to further political ends, proceeded to the Philippine Sea, where they carried out exercises with other Russian warships.
Trevor Hollingsbee
Image Source: Saberwyn