Should we expect new Russian military bases in Africa?

December 4 2020 9

The opening of a Russian naval base in Sudan has not gone unnoticed in the world. Not only France or the United States is showing increased interest in this region, but also new players such as Turkey, China and a number of Middle Eastern countries. But why do Russian naval sailors on their territory to Sudan itself, and should we expect our new bases in other African countries?

In detail about the format of the presence of our fleet in Port Sudan, we told earlier. There will be up to four warships and over three hundred military and civil servants. It was specially stipulated that a ship with a nuclear power plant could stop in the Red Sea, to which we only include missile cruisers of the Orlan, Peter the Great or Admiral Nakhimov projects, a formidable weapon. According to the updated information, the Russian contingent, designed to defend the base, will be able to deploy outside its territory. It will also be covered by some advanced air defense missile system. It is not known which one exactly, but if it is S-400, then it is strong. In addition to all this, a lot of weapons will be supplied to the Sudanese troops, which means that our military experts will also be there, training local soldiers to manage "flounders".

All this looks nice, but it is clear that a lot of four ships and 300 Russians will not fight there, in which case. The real tasks are to get the opportunity for the ships of the Russian Navy to replenish fuel supplies and be repaired, as well as to demonstrate the Russian naval flag. It is for this flag that the authorities of Sudan invited us to their country. They do not hide the fact that they are carrying out the most multi-vector policieswithout placing a bet on one or the other. Among the partners of this African country are the United States, Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, China and others. The goal is to make them compete with each other for the best investment conditions. In other words, the interests of Khartoum and Moscow completely coincided.

But is it worth seriously counting on the appearance of Russian military bases in other countries of the "black continent"? In the Western press, there were suggestions that the Kremlin is trying to get consent to the deployment of facilities of the Russian Ministry of Defense in Mozambique, the Central African Republic, Eritrea, Somalia, Egypt and Madagascar. The authorities of the Central African Republic seem to have even offered Russia to do this themselves, but for some reason they did not grow together. The reason, in fact, can be extremely simple.

The Kremlin simply does not have enough resources to create and maintain such a developed military infrastructure on another continent. If Sudan gave permission to open a naval base on a gratuitous basis, other African states were clearly not so generous. You have to pay for everything, and the Russian federal budget has run out of money due to falling hydrocarbon revenues. It is also very unpleasant that there are not so many surface ships in the Russian Navy that could be sent somewhere across several seas on an ongoing basis without prejudice to the country's defense capability. The cat cried out for the ships of the far sea zone, we even had to negotiate in an agreement with Sudan the possible presence of Peter the Great there, and this, for a second, is the flagship of the Northern Fleet. "Admiral Nakhimov" is still being modernized.

In fact, Russia, perhaps, would like to gain a foothold in Africa, but the lack of resources does not allow doing this. Today, the format of presence on the "black continent" presupposes a strategy of low involvement through the sale of weapons to partners, contracts of private military companies and such small bases where only a few warships can stand.

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Jacques sekavar

+2

4 December 2020 18: 19

Sudan is adopting the “multi-vector” policy of Djibouti, where the same bases of the USA, France, and the PRC are located side by side. For a poor state, foreign payments are a replenishment of the budget, an opportunity for someone to put together capital and perhaps even avoid another coup.
There is no need for cover with an advanced air defense missile system, this is a support point for the protection of which there is no need to put on duty an advanced air defense system for which special systems and personnel will be required.
Obsolete and decommissioned weapons are sold to third world countries.
They are being repaired at full-fledged bases, and there the personnel will be able to rest and replenish some ship supplies.
Force support keeps pace with economic power and economic expansion, such as the United States, whose interests cover the whole world, or the Chinese maritime Silk Road, and the interests of the Russian Federation in Africa are vague, more and more somehow planned-promising and very vulnerable, which can be judged by the arrogance of our western partners who fearlessly invade the territorial waters and imitate nuclear strikes against the Russian Federation
ODRAP

-3

5 December 2020 02: 20

The author, well, what is the base ?!
This gas station differs from naval base in the same way as a dealer's car service from a roadside overpass ...
Or, like a carpenter from a joiner ... :))
1. Marzhecki
  
  -2
  
  5 December 2020 08: 54
  
  This item is a kind of military base.
  1. ODRAP
    
    -2
    
    5 December 2020 11: 36
    
    Joiner, also a kind of carpenter. And here and there a tree, in both hands, a sharp vein ... The exhaust is different. This will be called the PMTO, not the naval base.
    The devil is in the details.
  2. Volkonsky
    
    0
    
    5 December 2020 17: 37
    
    Seryoga, give him the example of Tartus, (SAR), there was also a PMTO there at first, but now it has grown to a full-fledged naval base. By the way, among our ships with a nuclear control system, you forgot all our nuclear submarines, believe me, they also really want to expand their region of presence by the Indian Ocean (we are talking about the nuclear submarines of the Northern Fleet, SSGNs and SSBNs of the Pacific Fleet can get there anyway)
    
    https://topcor.ru/17410-kljuchi-ot-afriki-rossija-vozvraschaet-svoe-prisutstvie-v-mirovom-okeane.html
    1. ODRAP
      
      -2
      
      6 December 2020 00: 35
      
      Keys to Africa ... :))
      Take a look at the map. A refueling point for ships, in the sea, bounded on one side by the Channel, on the other, by the Strait of Bab, on both sides of which there are full-fledged naval bases, and not even friends at all .... Who controls the entrances to the Red Sea, tell me? And the land corridor cannot be pierced, that's an ambush.
      Even if the btam suddenly turned out to be an overwhelming runway, then the planes may not allow many to pass through their airplane.
      
      By the way, remind, how long did it take from the start of work in Tartus to the receipt of the naval base status?
      1. Volkonsky
        
        0
        
        6 December 2020 00: 43
        
        Come on, come on, tell me, who can forbid us to go through Suez and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait?
        
        ODRAP
        
        -2
        
        6 December 2020 01: 35
        
        Mr. Volkonsky, if you please adhere to the Rules of communication on the forum and contact you.
        
        The comment was deleted.
123

+2

6 December 2020 13: 38

All this looks nice, but it is clear that a lot of four ships and 300 Russians will not fight there, if something happens.

And what are they going to fight there? They build a base, not a fortress.

The cat wept for the ships of the far sea zone

And why should it be ships of the "far sea zone"? It can be corvettes or RTOs. The base is nearby, the conditions are quite comfortable.

we even had to negotiate in an agreement with Sudan the possible presence of Peter the Great there, and this, for a second, is the flagship of the Northern Fleet. "Admiral Nakhimov" is still being modernized.

It would be rather strange if no one tried to agree on the entry of nuclear ships. Do you believe that there are no other ships and therefore are forced to send a flagship? So it was created for long journeys. And "Nakhimov" will not be under repair forever, the agreement was not signed for a year.

In fact, Russia, perhaps, would like to gain a foothold in Africa, but the lack of resources does not allow doing this.

In fact, you would like to write something nasty again, but it doesn't work out very well. Everything is as usual, the news about the base, but between the lines it clearly appears - we are orphaned and poor, we have no fleet, no economy, we have nothing to do there.