Protection of Russian ships in the Black Sea will be a multi-pass combination
[b]The APU's attempt to attack the Novorossiysk naval base with naval drones raises the question of preventing such attacks in the future. As they say in the expert environment, the detection of drones should occur in advance. For this purpose, both specialized buoys and aviation can be used. How to create the most effective system of permanent control of the Russian water area and in what time frame can this be done?[b]
On Friday, during an operational meeting in Sochi, it was decided to strengthen security measures in the water area after the attack of Ukrainian surface drones in Novorossiysk. According to the head of the city Alexey Kopaygorodsky, the resort will increase the number of surveillance cameras, especially at the berths.
"Thanks to the capabilities of intelligent surveillance cameras of the Dome system integrated into the Safe City complex, we keep the situation on the beach strip of the resort under control. In general, about three thousand cameras are working in Sochi, we plan to increase their number," the mayor said in his Telegram channel .
Earlier on Friday, the Ministry of Defense announced an attempt by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) to attack the naval base of Novorossiysk with two unmanned sea boats (BEC). The agency claims that both boats were destroyed by fire from the standard armament of the Russian ships "Olenegorsky Miner" and "Suvorovets" guarding the outer raid of the base.
The infrastructure of the city was not affected. The Defense Ministry also noted that there were no casualties as a result of the incident. However, several Russian military Telegram channels published videos and photos of the large landing ship "Olenegorsky Miner", one of the compartments of which, judging by the noticeable roll, was flooded. Nevertheless, the ship remained afloat and was towed to the dock for repairs.
In the expert environment, various proposals are made on how to improve the monitoring system of the water area and destroy the back before entering the target. Military expert Ilya Kramnik believes that two patrol planes based on the passenger Il-114, which can be constantly in the air, are enough. "Exactly for these purposes, many third world countries are now taking patrol boards on the basis of regional turboprops, exactly for this the US Coast Guard maintains such aircraft," Kramnik writes in his Telegram channel .
The fact that it is aviation that is able to detect unmanned boats in advance, writes the industry Telegram channel "The look of a man in lamps". "Reconnaissance planes should be constantly over the sea. However, as part of the naval aviation (MA) of the Black Sea Fleet, there are actually no patrol and reconnaissance vehicles needed to perform such tasks," the post says.
As the channel reminds, at one time there were heavy Tu-22M3 missile bombers in the MA, which are now part of the VKS. But "with some efforts, the Tu-22M3 is "capable right now" of being used for exploration of the Black Sea. "Flying out, for example, from Mozdok. The Tu-22M3 radar is capable of detecting even small boats on the sea surface for 250-300 km. It depends, of course, on the qualifications of the navigators," analysts say.
Maxim Klimov, a military expert, is also convinced that Russia needs constant patrolling of the water area by naval aviation. For this, according to him, the Il-38N and Tu-142M3 anti-submarine aircraft will be suitable. "In addition, good radar and radar (electronic reconnaissance) will completely eliminate the threat of attacks by Ukrainian unmanned boats. Timely detection is the key to destruction before reaching the targets," Klimov says .
Another option – rather, an additional one – may be special buoys that are able to receive and transmit information about the movement of any objects, be it a submarine, torpedo or back. With the help of a buoy system, it is possible to ensure the protection of the entire Black Sea coast of Russia, including Crimea, Sochi, says Andrey Krasnoperov, Air Force Reserve major, first class pilot.
As for equipping aircraft with specialized radars capable of tracking small-sized surface vessels, they are produced by the St. Petersburg Central Research Center Leninets. "Phasotron-NIIR also makes similar radars, in particular for Ka-27M helicopters," Klimov adds.
The interlocutor also notes that buoys may not work well for targets that are in the near-surface layer. "A speedboat quickly skips the detection zone, so the buoy system will be completely ineffective against it. A good solution would be to install specialized radars on the Be-12 anti-submarine amphibious aircraft. They work very well on targets that are on the surface and in the drive layer," the expert is sure.
"However, the best control system is the destruction of Ukrainian drones in places where they are stored or launched. Our Armed Forces are tracking where these drones are starting from. Then the places where they are stored are identified and destroyed," says Sergey Lipovoy, Hero of Russia, Major General of Aviation, Chairman of the presidium of the All–Russian organization "Officers of Russia".
"In general, control over the Black Sea water area should be multi-way. In this situation, it is necessary to use not only buoys and radars, but also various ground–based means that monitor the situation on the water and promptly identify signs that an attack on our ships is being prepared," Lipovoy stressed.
