New analysis says that the Russian Navy has reactivated some legacy radio communications links dating back to the Cold War in support of the Baltic Fleet. Why?
Regular readers of both our Armada Military Communications and Electronic Warfare webpages will be familiar with the work of EW Analytics LLC. That company has generously shared its expertise and analysis regarding Russia’s strategic integrated air defence system. You can imagine the delight in the Armada editorial office when we came across the work of Droxford Maritime. This consultancy has emerged as an excellent provider of open-source intelligence on the Russian Navy. One recent article in particular has made an important contribution to understanding how the Russian Navy communicates.
Armada has written extensively in the past on Russian land manoeuvre force and air force communications. Until recently, there was a relative paucity of information in the public domain regarding Russian Navy communications links. For example, it is known that the navy uses Very Low Frequency (VLF) wavebands of three kiloehertz/KHz to 30KHz chiefly for submarine communications. Meanwhile, in September 2024, Russia’s Tass news agency announced that a new naval communications centre in St. Petersburg, western Russia, had been activated. Extremely Low Frequency (three hertz/Hz to 30Hz) radio is also believed to be used for communications with Russian Navy submarines at depth. As in common with Russia’s other armed forces, her navy uses High Frequency radio (HF: three megahertz/MHz to 30MHz) for line-of-sight and beyond line-of-sight links. It is likely that HF is used to either supplement, or replace, standard satellite communications. Additional information on the HF networks used by the Russian military can be found here.
Back to the future
The Droxford Maritime article noted that the Russian Navy appears to have reactivated some legacy trunk communications links that have remained dormant since the days of the Cold War. The use of legacy encrypted voice and data links by the Russian Navy’s Baltic Fleet headquarters in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad was first noted in November 2024. These links were connecting the Kaliningrad facility with the Russian Navy headquarters in St. Petersburg, and Baltiysk, also in the exclave. Baltiysk is home to a Baltic Fleet port, a garrison and an airbase.
Droxford Maritime assesses that the activation has been for radio operator training and to evaluate link performance. The analysis continues that legacy links are being activated to provide command and control redundancy. The logic is to provide additional communications should other conduits be jammed, or degraded, through kinetic or electronic attack in the event of war. The analysis adds that current levels of activity on these links are the highest they have been since the Cold War.
War in the Baltic
Droxford Martine also notes that the activation has been commensurate with Baltic Fleet exercises which have included enhanced levels of radio training compared to the 2020 to 2024 timeframe. Interestingly, similar levels of radio activity have not been observed in the Russian Navy’s Northern and Pacific Fleets. This is also the case for the Caspian Sea Flotilla.
While much attention remains understandably on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, the surge in communications activity within the Baltic fleet is interesting. Droxford Maritime’s analysis argues that the re-employment of these Cold War-era links suggests the navy is increasing its readiness in this part of Europe. Should war with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation erupt it is most likely that the Baltic and Nordic regions will be the most likely theatre of operations.
More Russian Navy news and analysis from Droxford Maritime can be found here.
by Dr. Thomas Withngton
