vice-admiral

The chief of naval operations staff for the Colombian Navy, Vice-Admiral Orlando Enrique Grisales, said the three semi-submersibles they had stopped were all capable of sailing from Colombia to Australia without the need to refuel at sea.

Vice-Admiral Doug Perry, one of the senior US military chiefs overseeing the exercise, says it's clear to him "the European continent's already at war".

Two days later pro-Russian military bloggers reported that the commander of the Black Sea Fleet Admiral Viktor Sokolov had been replaced by Vice-Admiral Sergei Pinchuka.

"We are sending a clear message of vigilance to Russia: Not on our watch," Vice-Admiral Jan Christian Kaack told reporters in Berlin.

A detachment of warships, including the destroyer Vice-Admiral Kulakov, the landing ship Alexander Otrakovsky and the rescue tug Altai went to the Arctic, the ministry said.