At least not while they are underwater.
Thus, the Black Sea Fleet’s submarines are now Russia’s most important offensive weapon. In July, the fleet succeeded, possibly for the first time in this major war, in capturing three According to Ukrainian Navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk, several submarines are simultaneously deployed to attack Ukraine.
In response, the Ukrainian military is redoubling its efforts to attack these submarines when and where they are vulnerable: when they surface in port.
Before Russia expanded its war against Ukraine in February 2022, the Black Sea Fleet had six kilo-Class, each of which displaces around 3,000 tons when submerged and is equipped with a crew of around 50.
Two of the kiloThey were in the Mediterranean at the beginning of the war and could not rejoin the rest of the Black Sea Fleet because Turkey had closed the Bosporus Strait to all warships.
Three remained kilos to wage war against Ukraine, particularly by firing Kalibr cruise missiles at Ukrainian cities as part of the Kremlin’s broader terror campaign against the Ukrainian people. kilo can carry four Kalibrs at the same time and must return to port to reload.
A fourth kilothe 10-year-old Rostov-on-Donwas in dry dock in Sevastopol in Russian-occupied Crimea, undergoing repairs alongside a Black Sea Fleet amphibious ship. And on September 13, Sukhoi Su-24 bombers of the Ukrainian Air Force fired cruise missiles – either British Storm Shadows or French SCALP-EGs, different names for the same weapon – at the dry dock. Sevastopol’s air defenses had been disabled by carefully coordinated attacks by Ukrainian special forces.
The warhead of Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG is called Bomb Royal Ordnance Augmented Charge, surnamed BROACH. It uses a shaped charge to punch a hole in a target’s defenses, then the main warhead explodes inside.
