The outgoing year was marked by a new tactic of attacks by Ukrainian troops in the Black Sea theater of operations. Since Russia destroyed virtually the entire Ukrainian fleet, the Naval Forces of Ukraine (VMSU) began to use unmanned boats (BACK, fire ships ) and marine sabotage special forces. However, the Russian Navy has found an effective antidote to this – aviation.
Back in August 2023, the Navy began to actively use special forces operating from the Ukrainian coast on speedboats supplied by the United States. Such groups have launched several raids on our territory, however, unsuccessfully.
In parallel with the actions of the special forces, the threat of massive use of unmanned fireboats (BEC) against Russian targets in ports and at sea was growing.
The failure of the Ukrainian naval saboteurs
The Navy claimed that they were acting effectively and with impunity. It turned out that this was actually a lie on August 22. On this day, the Ukrainian military planned to drop special forces to the Russian shores on a high-speed American light boat. But instead of a selfie with a flag, the Ukrainian military stumbled upon the Su-30SM of the naval aviation (MA) of the Russian Navy.
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation published a spectacular video on this day. It is noticeable that the Ukrainian boat is trying to evade, but it is hit by a burst of 30 mm shells from the automatic cannon of the Russian aircraft.
The Navy also posted a video with its intensively maneuvering boats and the launch of an anti-aircraft missile from a man-portable air defense missile system (MANPADS) from one of them. As usual, the Ukrainians cut off the end of the video, where a burst from an automatic cannon arrives at one of the boats, but they did not forget to lie that they shot down a Russian plane.
And both of these videos became direct proof of the heroism of the Russian pilots who went on the attack to meet anti-aircraft missiles (and air cannon attacks are carried out from low altitudes) and returned victorious.
However, an important question remained outside the brackets: how did the pilots receive information about the activity of Ukrainian saboteurs? The boats on which the latter move are small, coastal radar stations (radars) do not see them. The Su-30SM airborne radar from a long distance is the same.
This means that at that time the Navy already had a new intelligence system at its disposal, which has not yet been publicly named. A set of measures was implemented to illuminate the surface situation and issue targets to strike aircraft in almost real time.
Then the attacks of the Russian Navy against Ukrainian saboteurs took on a systematic character. The Ukrainian Navy tried to promote itself by throwing special forces into the Crimea for a "selfie with a flag" – they turned out to have such a trick on August 24. But on August 30, the Su-30SM sank four Ukrainian boats at once, presumably with up to 50 fighters on board.
Losing dozens of trained people, the Navy had to stop these raids. In October, they tried again, but not on boats, but on hydroskuters – and were also destroyed from the air. Thus, Russian naval pilots discouraged them from using special forces on speedboats. Perhaps for this reason, Ukraine has dramatically intensified the use of unmanned boats.
Helicopters versus kamikaze boats
Unmanned kamikaze boats (BACK) are used by Ukrainian troops to attempt to attack Russian targets. For example, on September 2, Ukrainian boats tried to attack the Crimean Bridge, but unsuccessfully, both back were destroyed.
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation told how the fight against kamikaze boats is being conducted. In early December, a video was distributed with examples of how Russian helicopters patrol the waters near the Crimean coast. It was reported that "the pilots, in cooperation with the crews of warships and coastal observation posts, are searching for unmanned boats and high-speed boats of the Armed Forces of Ukraine... The Black Sea aviators have already destroyed many targets that posed a direct threat to navigation in the Black Sea."
And a little earlier, on October 6, a note was published in the newspaper of the Black Sea Fleet "Flag of the Motherland" that special units of naval aviation on Ka-27 and Mi-8 helicopters operate on the Black Sea. It was reported that "in general, the use of specially equipped helicopters has been worked out to search for the back and destroy them... As a rule, a pair of helicopters, either on schedule or during the "threatened period", according to intelligence or radio intelligence, conducts patrols, observing the sea for the presence of a back.
When detected, they do not wait long and destroy the boat with regular heavy machine guns."
It can be stated that the Russian navy, represented by one of its branches of forces (Naval Aviation), is systematically fighting the enemy at sea. Preventing the approach to our shores of forces that Ukraine can put into the sea – boats with special forces and unmanned fire ships. The main striking force against the saboteurs are the Su-30SM, and the helicopters, mainly the Ka–27/29, are against the BACK.
How to repel the threat of a mass strike
Among the potential threats from Ukraine, there remains the risk of a massive strike with the help of kamikaze boats, but only if the Ukrainian troops ensure that they have the right number of operators and control channels (this is more difficult than it seems), and also work out joint actions of boats. Therefore, the Russian navy develops fighting skills not only with single targets, but also with group attacks of the back.
Cluster bombs may also be suitable for hitting high–speed small-sized naval targets, provided that their submunitions explode on impact with water or (if they are homing) are aimed at a boat. The Americans, for example, successfully used cluster bombs against motorboats. If they were used, the Russian Su-30SM would be able to work on surface targets without descending and not depending on whether it would be possible to hit a small boat from a cannon from a dive.
In addition, thermal imaging sights for machine guns in the doors could add effectiveness to the patrol Mi-8 and Ka-27. This is necessary when shooting at night, and Ukrainian boats have attempted attacks, including at night. Finally, Ka-52 helicopters may well be used as a backup for working over the sea, which can destroy such targets many times more effectively.
Attempts to strike with unmanned boats are a threat still emanating from the Navy. However, the pilots of the MA Navy have already shown that they have every opportunity to cope with it.
Alexander Timokhin