Ukrainian maritime drones strip Russian fleet of any sense of security – Austrian expert
Ukraine’s successes in naval warfare often remain overlooked, even though it is precisely the innovative use of surface and underwater drones that has forced the Russian fleet to retreat to ports, where it still is not safe.
This was stated in a comment to Ukrinform by Austrian military expert and Head of the Officer Training Institute at the Theresian Military Academy, Colonel Markus Reisner, commenting on the strike against a Russian submarine in the port of Novorossiysk.
“Against the backdrop of cautiously pessimistic reporting on Ukraine, it is often overlooked that in the domain of naval warfare Ukrainian forces have, time and again, prevailed over the Russians to this day. And this is for a country that does not possess significant naval forces,” Reisner noted.
According to the expert, the key to Ukraine's success, which lacks a powerful conventional fleet, has been the innovative use of maritime unmanned systems.
“The reason lies in the innovative use of surface and underwater maritime drones, for which the Russian fleet has so far found no effective countermeasures,” he explained.
Photo: militaeraktuell.at
As Reisner emphasized, as a result, the Russian fleet in the Black Sea has “largely retreated to ports, where it is effectively deprived of the ability to operate.” At the same time, even Russian warships are not safe there.
“Even there, Ukrainians repeatedly manage to deliver effective strikes,” the Austrian military expert stressed.
In his assessment, the damage inflicted on a Project 636.3 Varshavyanka-class submarine, which was a carrier of Kalibr cruise missiles, will affect Russia’s ability to conduct massive missile strikes, although the impact will be limited.
At the same time, he drew attention to the strategic implications of Ukraine’s successful use of underwater maritime drones.
“This leads to the tying down of additional Russian forces at sea. No ship can be considered safe anymore,” Reisner concluded.
As previously reported by Ukrinform, in the port of Novorossiysk in the Russian Federation, the Security Service of Ukraine's Sub Sea Baby underwater drones blew up a Russian Project 636.3 Varshavyanka-class submarine for the first time in history. As a result of the explosion, the submarine sustained critical damage and was effectively put out of action. On board the submarine were four launchers for Kalibr cruise missiles, which the enemy uses to strike the territory of Ukraine.
This was a joint operation conducted by the 13th Main Directorate of Military Counterintelligence of the Security Service of Ukraine and the Naval Forces of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s special service recalled that the destroyed submarine had been forced to remain in the port of Novorossiysk due to successful special operations by Sea Baby surface maritime drones, which pushed Russian ships and submarines out of Sevastopol Bay in the temporarily occupied Crimea.
Photo: UNITED24 / SSU