The 5th Squadron (Russian: пятая эскадра, translit. pyataya eskadra, officially known as Operational formation of the Russian Navy in the Mediterranean Sea) is a squadron of the Russian Navy responsible for projecting Russian power in the Middle East through the Mediterranean Sea. The fleet was first established by the Soviet Navy in 1963–64 during the Cold War with the United States. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) generally referred to it as the Soviet Mediterranean Fleet (Russian: Средиземноморский флот), as it was the primary adversary to the U.S. Navy's Sixth Fleet.