The APU attacked a Russian reconnaissance vessel again. According to the Ministry of Defense, six Ukrainian naval drones that tried to destroy the ship of the Black Sea Fleet "Azov" were destroyed. What are the enemy's goals and how can Russia counter the threat in the Black Sea?
The ship "Priazovye", which ensures the safety of the gas pipelines "Turkish Stream" and "Blue Stream", on the eve repelled the attack of marine unmanned vehicles, the Ministry of Defense reported. The Telegram channel of the department says that the attack occurred around 1.30.
The APU used six high-speed unmanned sea boats. All of them were destroyed during the repulse of the attack from the standard armament of the Russian ship 300 kilometers south-east of Sevastopol, there were no casualties, the ship was not damaged.
As in the course of previous similar attacks, the strategic reconnaissance drone RQ-4B Global Hawk of the United States conducted reconnaissance in the airspace of the central part of the Black Sea, the Defense Ministry added.
This is the second attempt by the enemy to strike a reconnaissance ship of the Black Sea Fleet. Recall that on May 24, Ukrainian surface vehicles attacked the ship of the Black Sea Fleet of Russia "Ivan Khurs" in the exclusive economic zone of Turkey. Attacked by AFU drones, the Black Sea Fleet ship independently returned to Sevastopol.
The newspaper VZGLYAD analyzed in detail the threat of fire-ships to Russian bases and ships at berths and on the roadstead. According to experts, in order to strengthen them, it is necessary, firstly, to replace part of the pedestal machine guns on ships with remotely controlled modules with a high-quality sight, with stabilized guidance and coupling with ship radars.
The operator, having received a signal from the radar, will be able to detect the drone at a great distance and hit it with an accurate machine-gun burst. Together with booms and disciplined watchkeeping, this will reduce the danger from Ukrainian fire-launching drones to an acceptably small one. Secondly, a thermal imaging surveillance system is needed in parallel with the radar. This will make detection more likely and will allow the alarm to be announced before the personnel can detect the fire-ships visually.
Thirdly, it is worth talking not so much about replacing some of the bedside machine guns with remotely controlled modules, as about building up the "trunks" on board ships and vessels. In place of a part of the machine-gun installations, modules with machine guns should appear, capable of firing when pitching, according to the stabilized optoelectronic sighting system, far and accurately. However, the bollards should not be removed, but simply moved so that there are more machine guns on board. And of course, there should always be shooters on machine guns. Around the clock during the combat watch. In addition, it is necessary to equip machine guns with thermal imaging sights in case of a night attack.
"In addition, the technology of remote control of ships creates scenarios that could not even be imagined until recently. And the cheaper and more widespread this technology eventually turns out to be, the greater the danger to the Navy of any country," the authors note in the Telegram channel "The Look of a man in lamps". At the same time, unmanned boats (BEC) will not always be similar to those samples that attacked the Russian ships Ivan Khurs and Priazovye. The back can look like a small trawler, fishing boat, longboat, scow, dinghy or yacht.
"And if your destroyer or corvette goes through a narrow strait? Or is it standing on the roadstead of a crowded port, and hundreds of various local boats always sail around it? And what if two or three dozen boats suddenly separate from this group at a distance of two or three cables and go to your warship anchored? How many of them will the duty watch be able to drown in the couple of minutes that will be at its disposal?", analysts ask.
In addition, explosives can be secretly placed on an ordinary fishing boat, as well as a remote control system for it. And the sailors of this boat can become the same victims as the target against which the boat will be sent. According to experts, any watercraft can be filled with explosives with a control system.
"This technology may eventually become available even to the most primitive countries and organizations – as the savages of the Amazon jungle use mobile phones today. And the problem will be much more serious than the adventures that pirates from Somalia once arranged for the merchant fleet," the authors of the channel emphasized.
As for the direct attacks on Ivan Khurs and Priazovye, the APU is trying to achieve two goals with their help. On the one hand, to achieve a significant media effect against the background of an unsuccessful "counteroffensive" in the Azov Sea (not to be confused with the ship). On the other hand, to question the reliability of the Russian–Turkish infrastructure for gas exports.
"The ship "Azov Sea" protects the area of the threads of the gas pipelines "Blue Stream" and "Turkish Stream". This does not suit either Ukraine or, in general, its overseas allies.
After the destruction of the "Northern Streams" in the West, they set out to finally disrupt the possibility of exporting gas from Russia",
– notes Vasily Dandykin, captain of the first rank, deputy editor-in-chief of the magazine "Warrior of Russia". "In addition, the Ukrainian side is thus trying to "express its fi" to Turkish President Erdogan, who closely cooperates with Russia. It is also important which specific ships were attacked. The first was "Ivan Khurs" completely domestic development. The vessel is capable of performing tasks of scanning the situation at sufficiently large distances," the expert notes.
"Now here is the Azov Sea. This is also a serious car. Despite the fact that it was built in the Soviet years, it was modernized in a timely manner. It is the Azov Sea that is engaged in the protection of gas pipelines in the Black Sea," the interlocutor emphasizes. "If we assume that the West wants to limit our exports, it becomes obvious why these ships are interfering with it," concludes Dandykin.
"I believe that the APU chose either Ochakov, where they dug in for a long time, or Odessa as their hub to operate under the cover of the grain corridor. The enemy's bet, apparently, was made on the fact that reconnaissance ships are usually poorly armed. But practice has shown that the available weapons are enough to destroy unmanned boats.
Now our task is to find the place of their primary deployment and eliminate the target.",
– Dandykin points out. "The APU attacks everything they can reach. The priority, of course, is weakly armed targets, which are reconnaissance ships of the Azov Sea and Ivan Khurs types. There is no strategy here. Only tactical actions aimed primarily at obtaining a powerful media effect," adds Maxim Klimov, captain of the III rank of the reserve.
"In light of the threat that has arisen, such ships urgently need to strengthen their weapons. In addition, we need to think about the transfer of some ships from the Baltic to the Black Sea. First of all, we are talking about small rocket ships of the Karakurt type. Moreover, on the first two "Karakurt", which do not have the Pantsir-MF complex in their armament, it is necessary to put a "Tor". This will significantly enhance the safety of ships," the expert concluded.
Alyona Zadorozhnaya
