The Russian Navy has reinforced its naval group in the Mediterranean Sea, as part of a scheduled rotation of its warships. The group was recently joined by the Black Sea Fleet's Project 636.3 diesel-electric submarine Rostov-on-Don, which is armed with Kalibr cruise missiles. The Moskva cruiser, which is completing an overhaul in Sevastopol, according to Russian Defense Ministry sources, is also expected to join the Russian Navy's permanent Mediterranean task force.

Described as Russia's "aircraft carrier killer," the Moskva – the flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet – had been previously deployed near the Syria-Turkey border to help defend Russian aircraft participating in the military campaigns in Syria. It is the lead ship of the Russian Navy's Project 1164 Atlant class of guided-missile cruisers. It is essentially a naval version of the Russian military's S-300 long-range air defense system and is armed with anti-air and anti-ship missiles as well as anti-submarine mortars and torpedoes.

The Moskva remains the most powerful warship of the Black Sea Fleet, with naval warfare expert Dmitry Boltenkov telling NavyRecognition, "It will serve for several more years. Its anti-ship missiles can sink any vessel. It is armed with long-range S-300 Fort antiaircraft launchers to create zonal air defense and protect a whole area or squadron from adversary attacks. The qualities were useful in Syria where the cruiser defended Humaymin and Tartus bases from sea attacks."

Since 2014, the Black Sea Fleet has been reinforced to ensure that it can provide support for the Mediterranean group – however, many of the warships operated in the region are decades old, and require constant maintenance including the Moskva, which was laid down in 1976.

Yet, its frigates, corvettes, and submarines are still armed with the aforementioned Kalibr missiles that can target the Mediterranean and the Middle East. The SS-N-30 (3M-14 Kalibr), is a land-attack cruise missile (LACM), that has an estimated range of 1,500 to 2,500 kilometers and it has become a mainstay in the Russian Navy's ground-strike capabilities. The missiles were launched from the vessels in the Caspian Sea and hit targets in rebel-held Syria.

Russia has been a close ally of Syria during the latter's ongoing civil war. Russia maintains an airbase in Hmeymin, from which it has launched airstrikes at ISIS militants.

In 2017, Moscow struck a deal with Syria to extend its lease on the Russian naval base in Tartus for 49 years. Under the agreement, Russia is allowed to keep up to 11 warships at its base in Syria including nuclear-powered ones. Russia has also moved to modernize and expand its naval facilities.

Tartus is the only such facility Russia maintains outside of the former Soviet Union and Russia undertaken efforts to modernize and expand the facility. This has included plans to open a maintenance shop that would make it easier to repair and maintain its naval capability in the region. That would allow its naval ships to refuel and rearm without the need to return home via Istanbul to the Black Sea.

Last December Russia announced that it would invest $500 million in the port facilities, which Moscow has had a presence in since 1971.

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites. He is the author of several books on military headgear including A Gallery of Military Headdress, which is available on Amazon.com.