17-03-2018, 02:07 PM
One British and two US nuclear submarines are taking part in a joint naval exercise currently underway in the icy waters of the Arctic Ocean.
Armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles and Spearfish heavy torpedoes, the HMS Trenchant is the first British nuclear sub to be deployed under the Arctic ice in a decade.
It joined a pair of the US Navy’s fast attack submarines the USS Hartford and USS Connecticut, both of which surfaced in the Arctic Circle on March 10 as part of the multinational maritime Ice Exercise 2018.
Dreadnought, 3,500 tons, Britain's first nuclear powered submarine, is shown in the water after her launching in the Vickers-Armstrongs dockyard at Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire on October 21, 1960.
© AP PHOTO/ RIS
Fear and 'Dreadnought': UK's New Nuclear Submarine Will 'Deter' Extreme Threats
The biennial drill, meant to improve the submarines’ combat capabilities in extreme cold-water conditions, comes amid growing tensions with Russia, exacerbated by London’s accusations of Moscow being allegedly behind the recent poisoning of a Russian ex-intelligence officer in Britain.
Russian officials have strongly denied the accusations, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov saying that Moscow is ready to cooperate in the probe but needs to look at the samples of the substance in question.
On March 4, Sergei Skripal, who was accused of espionage on behalf of London and later granted asylum in the United Kingdom after a US-Russia spy exchange, and his daughter were found unconscious on a bench at a shopping center in Salisbury.
Both of them remain in critical condition and are being treated for suspected exposure to a nerve agent.
US Senate Warns Russia of Sanctions if S-400 Sold to Any Foreign Nations © Sputnik/ Grigoriy Sisoev
US
03:34 17.03.2018Get short URL6216135
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - A group of US lawmakers led by Senator Bob Menendez told the State Department in a letter that any sale of Russian S-400 air defense system should lead to new punitive measures as stipulated in the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
"We are writing today to specifically inquire about reported negotiations between Russia and certain countries over sales of the Russian government’s S-400 air defense system and whether these reported deals could trigger mandatory CAATSA sanctions," the letter said on Friday. "Under any circumstance, a S-400 sale would be considered a 'significant transaction' and we expect that any sale would result in designations."
The lawmakers also requested that the State Department provide detailed analysis on the current status of Russian S-400 talks with China, Turkey, India, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and any other country.
The senators based their letter on a report produced by the Congressional Research Service, which showed that Russia has been working on potential defense deals with different countries.
An S-400 air defence missile system at the Hmeymim airbase
© SPUTNIK/ DMITRIY VINOGRADOV
Indian Air Force Lists Russian S-400 Air Defense System as Top Priority
Menendez and co-signers demanded information on how the State Department is trying to prevent the sales of S-400 being finalized and reiterated Washington's accusations of Russia's aggression in Ukraine and meddling in democratic process in foreign states.
The request comes just a day after the Treasury Department used the CAATSA legislation, along with an Executive Order that was amended by CAATSA, to impose sanctions on five entities and 19 individuals.
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), Main Intelligence Directorate and six Russian individuals were sanctioned under the CAATSA legislation.
The US Congress passed CAATSA last summer in response to allegations that Russia sought to influence the 2016 US presidential election. Trump signed it into law on August 2.
Armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles and Spearfish heavy torpedoes, the HMS Trenchant is the first British nuclear sub to be deployed under the Arctic ice in a decade.
It joined a pair of the US Navy’s fast attack submarines the USS Hartford and USS Connecticut, both of which surfaced in the Arctic Circle on March 10 as part of the multinational maritime Ice Exercise 2018.
Dreadnought, 3,500 tons, Britain's first nuclear powered submarine, is shown in the water after her launching in the Vickers-Armstrongs dockyard at Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire on October 21, 1960.
© AP PHOTO/ RIS
Fear and 'Dreadnought': UK's New Nuclear Submarine Will 'Deter' Extreme Threats
The biennial drill, meant to improve the submarines’ combat capabilities in extreme cold-water conditions, comes amid growing tensions with Russia, exacerbated by London’s accusations of Moscow being allegedly behind the recent poisoning of a Russian ex-intelligence officer in Britain.
Russian officials have strongly denied the accusations, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov saying that Moscow is ready to cooperate in the probe but needs to look at the samples of the substance in question.
On March 4, Sergei Skripal, who was accused of espionage on behalf of London and later granted asylum in the United Kingdom after a US-Russia spy exchange, and his daughter were found unconscious on a bench at a shopping center in Salisbury.
Both of them remain in critical condition and are being treated for suspected exposure to a nerve agent.
US Senate Warns Russia of Sanctions if S-400 Sold to Any Foreign Nations © Sputnik/ Grigoriy Sisoev
US
03:34 17.03.2018Get short URL6216135
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - A group of US lawmakers led by Senator Bob Menendez told the State Department in a letter that any sale of Russian S-400 air defense system should lead to new punitive measures as stipulated in the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
"We are writing today to specifically inquire about reported negotiations between Russia and certain countries over sales of the Russian government’s S-400 air defense system and whether these reported deals could trigger mandatory CAATSA sanctions," the letter said on Friday. "Under any circumstance, a S-400 sale would be considered a 'significant transaction' and we expect that any sale would result in designations."
The lawmakers also requested that the State Department provide detailed analysis on the current status of Russian S-400 talks with China, Turkey, India, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and any other country.
The senators based their letter on a report produced by the Congressional Research Service, which showed that Russia has been working on potential defense deals with different countries.
An S-400 air defence missile system at the Hmeymim airbase
© SPUTNIK/ DMITRIY VINOGRADOV
Indian Air Force Lists Russian S-400 Air Defense System as Top Priority
Menendez and co-signers demanded information on how the State Department is trying to prevent the sales of S-400 being finalized and reiterated Washington's accusations of Russia's aggression in Ukraine and meddling in democratic process in foreign states.
The request comes just a day after the Treasury Department used the CAATSA legislation, along with an Executive Order that was amended by CAATSA, to impose sanctions on five entities and 19 individuals.
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), Main Intelligence Directorate and six Russian individuals were sanctioned under the CAATSA legislation.
The US Congress passed CAATSA last summer in response to allegations that Russia sought to influence the 2016 US presidential election. Trump signed it into law on August 2.