The Russian Black Sea Fleet is armed with a large number of small inconspicuous platforms that can pose a danger to the enemy at a considerable distance. The author examines in detail what kind of vessels they are.
Sebastien Roblin
It is necessary to remember the following: perhaps, in general, there are not very many large warships in the Black Sea Fleet, but it is armed with a large number of small inconspicuous platforms that can pose a danger to the enemy at a considerable distance.
On November 25, a conflict occurred during which ships and boats of the border guard service and the Russian Navy stopped an attempt by Ukrainian vessels - two small armored artillery boats of the Gyurza-M project and a raid tugboat - to pass under a new bridge connecting the Russian mainland with the Crimean Peninsula. Russian ships and planes opened fire, and then the ships rammed and seized Ukrainian boats and arrested their crews. This incident has raised concerns about Russia's prolonged blockade of the Sea of Azov and the escalation of the confrontation between the two countries' navies in the Black Sea.
The Russian Black Sea Fleet (BSF) has existed in one form or another since 1783 and initially supported the campaigns that Moscow conducted against the Ottoman Empire. During World War II, the Navy fought the Axis forces besieging Odessa and Sevastopol, resupplying ground forces, landing Soviet Marine units behind German lines, and evacuating key personnel when those cities eventually fell. Today, the navy continues to ensure the security of Russia's southern sea flank, while projecting the power of the Russian Navy into the Mediterranean Sea in case of a special situation, such as the civil war in Syria.
But in order to enter the Mediterranean Sea, Russian ships must pass through the Turkish-controlled Bosphorus Strait, therefore, due to the conflict between Russia and NATO, the Black Sea Fleet ships will most likely not be able to leave the Black Sea. For this reason, the Black Sea Fleet has few large ships for operations in the waters of the world ocean and no nuclear submarines.
The main base of the fleet was traditionally located in Sevastopol, which is located in Ukraine. After the collapse of the USSR, successor states formed in the post-Soviet space usually inherited military systems deployed on their territory. However, the Black Sea Fleet command in Sevastopol refused to transfer its ships to Ukraine. Over time, Kiev and Moscow came to a compromise, according to which the bulk of the ships remained with Russia, which also leased access to the base in Sevastopol.
For many years, the terms of the lease of naval facilities remained a bone of contention between Kiev and Moscow. When Ukrainian pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych was overthrown in February 2014 during the uprising, Putin sent Russian special forces to seize the Crimean peninsula in a coup d'etat, during which 12 of the 17 ships of the Ukrainian Navy were also captured.
Cruiser "Moscow"
The flagship of the Black Sea Fleet is the missile cruiser Moskva, the first of three Project 1164 Atlant cruisers (according to NATO codification, the Slava class), laid down by the Soviet Union in the 1970s. The fourth ship, the construction of which has not been completed, is located in Ukraine. The missile cruiser with a displacement of about 11.5 tons has a length of 186 meters (more than two football fields), and its crew consists of 480 people.
The cruiser Moskva was built to destroy aircraft carriers, for which it is equipped with the anti-ship missile system PKRK P-1000 Vulkan with sixteen missiles located in huge 11-meter launch containers on both sides of the deck. The flight range of the 5.3-ton rocket is about 500 meters, and the speed is two and a half times the speed of sound. The Moskva cruiser is also equipped with the S-300F Fort anti-aircraft missile system, which can provide an air defense cover zone, a shipboard double-barreled 130 millimeter automatic cannon, numerous short-range missiles and automatic cannons, as well as anti-submarine torpedoes.
But there is a rather serious problem with the cruiser Moskva - since January 2016, the ship has been docked awaiting modernization, which will take three years. In addition, it is not known when the financing for repairs will arrive - if at all. This is a common problem for Russian theoretically formidable surface ships.
Frigates of the Admiral Grigorovich type
Even more important for the Black Sea Fleet are three new missile frigates of the 11356 series, in which the lead ship is the frigate Admiral Grigorovich. These ships with a displacement of 4,000 tons are made using stealth technology and provided with radar protection. They are also equipped with PC-10 fire jamming systems and electronic warfare systems. The 8-cell vertical launch system (VVP), which the frigates are equipped with, can be used to launch supersonic anti-ship missiles "Caliber" or "Onyx" capable of hitting ships at a distance of up to 650 kilometers. Another ATC for 32 missiles is designed to launch Buk missiles (9M317M), which can destroy aircraft and small vessels within a radius of 65 kilometers. In addition, anti-submarine torpedoes and missile launchers are installed on these universal frigates, and a hangar is provided for the placement of the Ka-27PL shipboard anti-submarine helicopter.
However, the frigates use Ukrainian-made gas turbine engines. Consequently, due to the serious deterioration of relations between Russia and Ukraine, the implementation of plans to deploy three more heavily armed vessels is postponed indefinitely.
In addition, the Black Sea Fleet has two older ships of the Burevestnik project with missile armament, as well as the patrol ship Smetlivy, which joined the fleet in 1969.
Missile boats of the Molniya project
The firepower of the Black Sea Fleet is enhanced by 10 boats, which are part of its 41st brigade of missile boats. Five missile boats of the project 1241 Molniya class (according to the NATO codification - Tarantula), whose length is three times less than the length of the cruiser Moskva, may not seem too impressive. But each of these boats with a displacement of 500 tons of boats is equipped with eight supersonic low-altitude shipboard missiles P-270 "Mosquito", which rush to targets located at a distance of up to 280 kilometers at a speed three times the speed of sound. Although such small vessels will not be able to withstand return fire, they are equipped with powerful electronic jamming systems to provide protection from enemy attack.
The 41st Missile Boat Brigade also includes two small hovercraft (MRCS) of project 1239 "Sivuch" ("Bora" and "Samum") equipped with anti-ship missiles "Mosquito", developing a maximum speed of 55 knots, MRCS of project 21631 "Buyan-M" with eight cruise missiles Kalibr and two older MRCS of Project 1234 Gadfly (according to NATO codification, Nanuchka III), one of which (Mirza) sank a Georgian patrol boat with a Malachite missile in 2008.
Project 636 Varshavyanka submarines
Six submarines of the Varshavyanka project 636 (according to the NATO codification - Improved Kilo) are based in Novorossiysk as part of the 4th Submarine Brigade. The Varshavyanka submarine, which is an improved version of the Halibut submarine (project 877ZKS) of the 1980s, is perhaps one of the most silent and unobtrusive diesel-electric submarines in service today, not counting submarines equipped with air-independent engines or lithium-ion batteries. Sonar unobtrusiveness is achieved due to the sound-absorbing coating of the Varshavyanka's teardrop-shaped hull, which absorb and "divert" active sonar waves, while simultaneously reducing the noise emission detected by passive sonar. In addition, the isolation of its mechanisms plays an important role in ensuring low noise of the submarine. According to the study, the Varshavyanka can be compared with the advanced multifunctional submarine of the Los Angeles class of the US Navy in terms of sonar stealth.
The Varshavyanka submarine, which has a cruising range of 12 thousand kilometers and a maximum diving depth of 300 meters, is suitable for short-range patrol in shallow areas of the Black Sea. These diesel-electric submarines are armed with 18,533 mm heavy torpedoes, but while submerged, they can also launch Kalibr cruise missiles at land or sea targets hundreds of kilometers away. So in 2015, the Rostov-on-Don submarine became the first Russian submarine since the Second World War to open fire on the enemy, launching a missile attack on militant positions in Syria.
Consequently, the Varshavyanka submarine poses a serious threat to opposing warships and submarines, and can also serve as an invisible platform for striking ground targets.
The Black Sea Fleet has additional auxiliary facilities. To conduct amphibious operations, the Black Sea Fleet has an amphibious brigade of marines and seven large amphibious ships (BDK) of the project 1171 "Tapir" class (according to the NATO codification - "Alligator") and BDK of the project 775 (according to the NATO codification - "Ropukha"/"Toad"). To comb the sea in search of submarines and mines, there are six small anti-submarine ships of the 1124/1124M Albatross project (according to the NATO codification - Grisha) and eight minesweepers. As part of the naval aviation, there are several dozen anti-submarine helicopters and tactical front-line bombers with a variable sweep wing Su-24M and multi-purpose Su-30SM fighters capable of launching missile and bomb attacks on surface targets. Additional firepower is provided by ground-based anti-ship missile systems and anti-aircraft missile systems. Even patrol ships and small missile ships of the landlocked Caspian Flotilla, part of the Russian Navy and located 800 kilometers away, can provide fire support. These ships are equipped with Kalibr cruise missiles capable of hitting ground targets.
Perhaps, in general, there are not very many large warships in the Black Sea Fleet, but it is armed with a large number of small inconspicuous platforms that can pose a danger to the enemy at a considerable distance.
