Hawaii's Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands, is the largest instrumented
multi-environmental range in the world. Capable of supporting surface, subsurface,
air, and space operations simultaneously, PMRF is the only facility in the world where submarines,
surface ships, aircraft, and space vehicles can operate and be tracked simultaneously.
As a state-of-the-art compound that can support operations ranging from small,
single-unit exercises up to large-scale, multiple-unit battle group scenarios,
it is no surprise Barking Sands is one of the most top-secret facilities the United States has.
In January of 2023, as tensions between Washington and Moscow increased over the
Ukraine conflict, a Russian vessel was spotted operating near the facilities,
and the Coast Guard was put on high alert.
In video and satellite photos released by the service, the Russian vessel can
be seen coming as close as 25 miles to the Hawaiian shore, displaying her guns and
what appears to be cutting-edge spyware equipment, showing that the facility's
strategic importance and capabilities make it a potential target for dangerous adversaries…
Spotted
In mid-January 2023, a Russian Navy ship appeared in America's backyard
after sailing thousands of miles from the icy coasts in the far east to the warm sunshine.
Open-source intelligence analysts were the first to report the incident, tracking a mysterious
Russian spy vessel operating just miles to the west of the Hawaiian island of Kauai.
This was no coincidence, as the island is home to the United States Navy's Pacific Missile
Range Facility, Barking Sands, the world's largest instrumented multi-environmental range, capable of
handling exercises from single-unit operations to large-scale, multiple-unit battle group scenarios.
For days, the Russian ship lingered off the western coast of Hawaii, where the US Navy
and the Missile Defense Agency test-fire a wide variety of missiles, including ballistic
missile interceptors like the Navy's SM-3 and SM-6 weapons. In the last few years, Russia repeatedly
warned that it considers American missile defense efforts a danger to Russian security.
After tracking the ship, the United States Coast Guard reported that they were already aware of her
movements. According to Commander Dave Milne, chief of the Coast Guard's external affairs:
[QUOTE] "The U.S. Coast Guard is currently monitoring the Russian vessel operating in
the vicinity of Hawaii [...] As part of our daily operations, we track all vessels in
the Pacific area through surface and air assets and joint agency capabilities."
The Coast Guard also released a video recording of the ship, which showed a
Russian tanker supplying the alleged spy ship and then cut to the large spy vessel,
with her bow and AK-630 Gatling guns visible. The latter half of the video
focused on the rear of the Russian vessel, with a particular focus on her antennas.
Although neither the Coast Guard nor the United States Pacific fleet provided
additional details about the Russian spy ship, online commenters quickly identified
the vessel as the Russian Navy's Vishnya-class auxiliary general intelligence ship Kareliya.
Spy Ship
Also known as the Meridian, Vishnya class, or Soviet designation Project 864,
the Kareliya is an intelligence collection ship originally built in the 1980s.
The ship is approximately 490 feet long and is powered by a diesel and gas mixed
turbine propulsion system, allowing for a maximum speed of 30 knots.
Typically, the Vishnya-class is crewed by 150 sailors and officers,
and when used for reconnaissance missions, it includes a helicopter landing deck and hangar.
The Vishnya-class is designed for signals intelligence gathering through an extensive
array of state-of-the-art sensors. These spy ships collect intelligence about an adversary’s
potential radio and radar signals, as well as sea and air traffic near a port. The gathered data
is then transmitted to shore via satellite link antennas housed in two large radomes.
After being in conservation status for over a decade, the Russian Navy decided to take
seven of these ships out of mothballs in 2014 for a repair and upgrade period,
returning them to the fleet in 2017. Today, seven such ships specialize in signals intelligence,
intercepting and deciphering an adversary's transmissions.
As with all Navy ships, the ship seen snooping around in Hawaii is not to be taken lightly.
In addition to two AK-630 close-in weapon systems, the vessel also has
a powerful SA-8 Gecko air-to-missile system for last-resort self-defense.
Common Practice
According to the Coast Guard, the presence of foreign military ships near the United
States' exclusive economic zone is neither illegal nor unusual.
Nevertheless, the presence of a suspected intelligence-gathering ship attracted the
attention of American defense officials due to the current precarious timing of the Kremlin's
invasion of Ukraine and Russia's previous naval appearances near United States coastlines.
Signal intelligence operations are common practice with both rival and allied navies,
as Chinese and Russian vessels routinely monitor United States exercises and vice versa.
Throughout the Cold War, Soviet surveillance ships often operated off the East Coast near
naval stations in Virginia, Florida, and a nuclear submarine in Georgia.
Even in recent years, similar incidents have continued to occur along American coasts.
In 2016, Navy intelligence spotted a Russian spy ship near Hawaii while the
United States and other allied countries conducted large-scale naval exercises.
Three years later, in December of 2019, American officials stated that a Russian spy ship,
the Viktor Leonov, was sailing off the coast of Florida and South Carolina in an unsafe manner.
The actions of the surveillance ship were deemed as such because
the ship was not using running lights in low visibility weather and was not responding to
communication attempts by commercial vessels to avoid potential accidents.
Aware
Satellite photos from January 10th show the Russian vessel coming as close as 25 miles to
the Hawaiian shore. Since the beginning, the Navy and Coast Guard have remained
aware of every movement of the Russian ship, with spokesman Captain John Gay confirming
that the Pacific Fleet continued to track the vessel throughout her time around the coast.
Only a few days after the initial announcement of the spotting of the Russian spy ship,
an update by a defense official informed the press that the ship had been operating just within the
bounds of international law. As such, while the incident was suspicious, particularly due to
the timing, there was no rule-breaking within the accident, and it was not a hazard to navigation.
As the Coast Guard continued to monitor the ship, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary
Sabrina Singh stated that the Pentagon did not know why the Russian ship sailed near Hawaii,
but also noted what she called the operation's precarious timing.
According to the spokeswoman: [QUOTE] "We haven't seen any unsafe or unprofessional behavior and we
expect that the Russians will operate within the region in accordance with international law."
Keeping An Eye Out
The Coast Guard stated in its news release that ships belonging to foreign militaries
can sail through the United States' economic exclusive zone. As part of the Department of
Homeland Security, the service works with the Department of Defense to track vessel movement
and provide additional United States presence in areas where foreign military ships may be sailing.
According to the report, the activities of this particular Russian ship were more
a matter of routine than unusual interest. Washington stated that the ship did not pose
any immediate threats to United States military and civilian relationships,
as it did not engage in any unsafe or unprofessional behavior.
The deputy Pentagon press secretary, Sabrina Singh, stated that the government expected the
Russian vessel in question to continue operating within the region following international law.
However, online critics and commentators have speculated that the Kareliya vessel
was parked off the Hawaiian coast in anticipation of a new American missile
test or related exercise. While such tests are not typically announced in advance,
the Russians have a history of having a vessel in place to collect data ahead of time.
Exactly how Moscow knows this is just one of the many mysteries of
the ever-evolving Russian-American relationship…
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