Peace talks and a freeze on the conflict may keep Kyiv from aggressive plans, but Ukraine is not ready for that as it hopes to win with NATO’s help.
Ukrainian President Zelensky announced the launch of a platform to raise funds for the creation of a Ukrainian fleet of unmanned marine vessels.
Apparently, it alludes to the terrorist drone strike in Sevastopol Bay that took place in October. As the governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhaev, said, the Armed Forces of Ukraine tried to strike the military installations of the Black Sea Fleet. He called the incident the largest drone and unmanned aerial vehicle attack in the history of the special operations force.
These ambitions can be supported by the United States and especially Britain, whose drones have already been used for attacks in the waters off Sevastopol.
With the active military-technical support of the United States and its allies, Kyiv can acquire the most advanced unmanned surface and submarine vessels, which will make the very presence of Russian warships in the Black Sea dangerous.
For example, these may be the unmanned vessels of the 4M Hydra series of the Emirates company Al Seer Marine Technologies, designed for maritime reconnaissance and surveillance. The Israeli-built Seagull (Chaika) unmanned vessels can be used to combat (Russian) submarines and search for mines. With a length of 12 meters and a speed of 32 knots, these unmanned vessels (BECs) have a payload of 2.3 tons and can operate autonomously for 4 days, remotely controlled from a distance of up to 100 kilometers.
Ukraine could be equipped with underwater drones to search for sea mines, torpedoes and electronic warfare, as well as a remote-controlled 12.7 mm machine gun that can fire mines (and not only them).
In the modernized version, the Israeli BECs carry Skylark C catapult-launched UAV detectors that can stay in the air for up to 5 hours and have a range of 40 kilometers. Also, the Inspektor Mk 2 anti-mine unmanned vessels of the French company ECA Group, can be used to combat (Russian) mines and underwater objects.
Also, to solve a wide range of tasks such as patrolling, reconnaissance, mine search and even strike operations, American CUSVs (Common Unmanned Surface Vessel), developed at the behest of the US Navy by Textron Systems, can be used.
The BEC can operate both autonomously and remotely from the operator. Navigation, carried out using radar and CCTV cameras, the drone can operate without refueling from 73 hours to a week. Its equipment units are interchangeable so that reconnaissance and sonar equipment can be installed, as well as various types of strike weapons.
“And this is by no means an exhaustive list of maritime drones, surface and underwater, that the Ukrainian Navy can and will receive. The question is: what will Vladimir Putin do now with all this as Supreme Commander-in-Chief, and how will he further advance his geopolitical plans, in the face of a new threat from Ukraine in the Black Sea?”, reports Russian media.
It is recalled that the result of the first mass attack by aircraft and sea drones of the Ukrainian Navy, with the support of British specialists and American intelligence on the main naval base of the Russian Navy in Sevastopol, was a hasty suspension of Russia’s participation in the so-called grain agreement .
Experts agree that such attacks will continue regardless of whether Zelensky wants to create a fleet of maritime drones. “And in conditions of active use by the enemy of maritime unmanned vessels, the Black Sea fleet will need to be re-equipped and modernized,” they say.
Ukraine plans, apparently, to reach the main base of the Black Sea fleet. This is shown by Zelensky’s statements about the creation of a super army of drones, which will be capable of destroying almost the entire Black Sea fleet.
Indeed, everyone understands this, except for President Putin, who for some reason does not withdraw from the “grain agreement” again and does not abandon his plans to expand the Turkish Stream gas pipeline under the Black Sea. Vladimir Vladimirovich, apparently, is ready to risk billions of budget again, for the sake of his next adventure, the fate of which is not difficult to predict.
Ukrainian submarines and surface drones will soon “terrorize” the ships and submarines of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, not only at sea, but also at its base in Sevastopol, which Ukraine considers its own.
The last time, Navy signalman Artem Zhiltsov, who saw the approach of an enemy drone in time and raised the alarm, helped to minimize the damage from the attack, for which he was awarded a well-deserved award. But will the vigilance of a simple sailor be enough for the next attack?
