Since the Russian invasion began in 2022, Ukraine has successfully resisted its opponents on many fronts, but its most surprising success got here in an area where few expected Ukraine to win: the Black Sea.
In 2022, the Consensus amongst military analysts was that Russian President Vladimir Putin's military would most probably destroy Ukrainian forces within the air, on land and at sea. enormous financial aid and weapons from the USA and Western nations, nevertheless, Ukraine has Russia fought to a standstill on land. At sea, the Ukrainians have been more successful, ushering in a revolution in weapons and tactics that gives each lessons and warnings to the navies of the world.
When the invasion of Moscow began, Ukraine’s only warship was a Soviet-era frigate, the needed to be sunk within the Ukrainian port of Mykolaiv to stop it from falling into Russian hands. The Russian Navy is unchallenged at sea ballistic missiles rained down on Ukrainian citiesprovided shelter to military aircraft, blockaded Ukrainian ports and ready an amphibious assault on Ukraine's largest port, Odessa.
But the usage of a spread of latest tactics and weapons in what’s generally known as Battle of the Black SeaSince the war began, the Ukrainians have been in a position to destroy 26 Russian ships and force Russia's mighty Black Sea Fleet to flee a whole lot of miles to safer harbor. This historic success is a lesson in how weaker powers can use revolutionary pondering and recent technologies to defeat more powerful opponents.
First victory: sinking of the Moskva
Since the invasion began in late February 2022, the Moskva, a guided missile cruiser that served because the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, has played a key role in Russia's naval campaign against Ukraine. Perhaps its most famous motion was in February 2022, when it captured the strategic Ukrainian naval base Snake Island – whose defenders reportedly responded to Russian calls for give up with the words “Russian warship, fuck you.”
The ship's onboard defense systems and skill to operate from a distance of greater than 60 miles off the Ukrainian coast appeared to put the Moskva, Russia's third largest energetic warship, practically insensitive to attacks.
But at around 1 a.m. on April 14, 2022, the Ukrainians managed to locate the Moskva using a mix of radar and Intelligence information shared by the United States A land-based missile battery then fired two Ukrainian-built Neptune anti-ship missiles, which destroyed the Moskva, Firing the ammunitionIt was the primary lack of a flagship because the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 and the largest warship sunk in battle since World War II.
In the times that followed, the smaller ships of the Russian Navy withdrew, remaining 20 miles farther from the Ukrainian coast than before. This move severely limited their striking power and put an end to Russian plans for an amphibious assault on Odessa.
During 2022, the Ukrainians used more missiles to explode modern Russian air defense systems on the Crimean peninsula and damage two more Russian ships. These victories and the following recapture of Snake Island opened shipping lanes within the western Black Sea for vital Ukrainian grain shipments to world markets.
But Russian hopes that their navy could be safer further out to sea were dashed when the Ukrainians began hunting their ships with one other recent naval weapon: sea drones.
Attack of the ocean drones
Starting in spring 2022, with little external help, the Ukrainians began developing and constructing the world’s first combat-capable sea drone, the so-called Magura V5This explosive-laden vehicle was designed to do what many thought was inconceivable: It could travel long distances over stormy seas undetected by radar and deliver 225 to 315 kilograms of explosives to distant targets.
The first test of the drones was an evening raid on the guts of Russian power within the Black Sea, the Sevastopol naval base in Russian-occupied Crimea. At 4 a.m. on October 19, 2022, six to eight remote-controlled Magura sea drones reached the port and damaged the brand new flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleetthe frigate Admiral Makarov and a minesweeper. A naval combat analyst described the primary sea drone attack on a naval base as “a turning point in naval strategy.”
After this victory, the Ukrainians began to make use of drones on a bigger scale. Cameras on board the remote-controlled aircraft transmitted images of their attacks on a lot of ships of the Black Sea Fleetincluding tugs, patrol boats, assault boats, corvettes, trawlers, minesweepers and landing ships. In a typical attack, several remote-controlled drones repeatedly hit and sank the missile corvette Ivanovets. The dramatic Drone footage of secret Ukrainian group 13 released shows the crew of the doomed ship firing into the water because the unmanned vehicles head toward their goal. Footage of every bomb-laden drone ends abruptly because it penetrates the ship's hull and explodes.
A tactical retreat, but not a refuge
The waves of drone attacks, combined with Cruise missile attacks Deliveries to Ukraine by the United Kingdom and France, 26 Russian ships sunk or damagedThese losses eventually forced the Russians to withdraw most of their fleet from Sevastopol in October 2023.
But if the Russians thought they were protected of their port of retreat in faraway Novorossiysk, they were mistaken. Inspired by the success of the Magura drones, the Ukrainians developed larger sea drones, the so-called Sea babies and mamaisThese more modern drones were used to fly nearly 500 miles over the Black Sea to attack Russian ships across the recent base.
The Seababy drones were also used to sink 4 ships with sea minesto the strategic Kerch Bridge connects Russia with Crimea And Carry rocket launchers for launching missiles at Russian land and sea targets.
The Ukrainians' successes with sea drones are usually not only a reason for celebration in Ukraine, but in addition show the potential of latest ideas and equipment for reshaping naval warfare and the military balance of power at sea.
image credit : theconversation.com