[Goose]

It is interesting that the shadow fleet tanker that was boarded by France, and the captain arrested, may be tied to the drones in Denmark.  No strong evidence mentioned yet, but a ship offshore (it was 50 miles from Copenhagen) is a plausible source.

That's right up there with destroying undersea cables.

The beauty of it is that it doesn't matter if the tanker was actually involved.The tanker is impounded until the charges are litigated. The gears of French justice can grind very slowly.
 
One problem with stopping shadow fleet vessels in European waters is that Russia can start escorting them. PITA for Russia, but I doubt that France would risk such a confrontation. Much better to grab them in the IO. Of course that would be difficult for France to pull off for the same reasons Russia couldn't escort the shadow fleet that far.

Does Russia have the assets to do that?

Theydo not. More importantly they do not have the support structure for blue water operations far from Russian ports. Power projection was never the Russian Navy's thing.
 
France would be in a slightly better position to operate in the IO, but not much better. They probably could do it for a month. In reality NATO nations have relied upon having US assets available to provide beans, fuel and air support. France has their own air, but how long it could remain in the IO would undoubtedly be limited by the escort's endurance.

[Goose]

It is interesting that the shadow fleet tanker that was boarded by France, and the captain arrested, may be tied to the drones in Denmark.  No strong evidence mentioned yet, but a ship offshore (it was 50 miles from Copenhagen) is a plausible source.

That's right up there with destroying undersea cables.

The beauty of it is that it doesn't matter if the tanker was actually involved.The tanker is impounded until the charges are litigated. The gears of French justice can grind very slowly.
 
One problem with stopping shadow fleet vessels in European waters is that Russia can start escorting them. PITA for Russia, but I doubt that France would risk such a confrontation. Much better to grab them in the IO. Of course that would be difficult for France to pull off for the same reasons Russia couldn't escort the shadow fleet that far.

Does Russia have the assets to do that?

Theydo not. More importantly they do not have the support structure for blue water operations far from Russian ports. Power projection was never the Russian Navy's thing.
 
France would be in a slightly better position to operate in the IO, but not much better. They probably could do it for a month. In reality NATO nations have relied upon having US assets available to provide beans, fuel and air support. France has their own air, but how long it could remain in the IO would undoubtedly be limited by the escort's endurance.