Russian Navy USS Moscow cruiser
On April 14, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that the Black Sea Fleet flagship USS Moscow cruiser exploded and caught fire, and the crew had evacuated. Ukraine has paid news that the USS Moscow cruiser was hit by two Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missiles and exploded and caught fire, causing the warship to be severely damaged.
However, Ukrainian officials have not officially confirmed the news. Ukrainian President's adviser Olexi Arestovic said he has learned that the cruiser (Moscow) is on fire, but the specific reason is not clear. Previously, Ukraine announced that it would "sink" many Russian ships, , but it turned out that they were all false, which made Ukraine lose all its face, so this time Ukraine officials also adopted a cautious attitude.
At that time, the USS Moscow Ko may be located outside Odessa, within the range of Neptune missile strike
The USS Moscow cruiser was the first Russian Glory-class cruiser. In 2000, the name Glory-Glory was changed to Moscow . Construction started in 1976, launched in 1979, and put into service in 1982. It is the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet . After 2010, Moscow made a large-scale improvement, replacing the P-500 long-range anti-ship missile with the P-1000 long-range anti-ship missile. The P-1000 has a range of up to 1,000 kilometers and is known as the 21st century aircraft carrier killer . In addition, the USS Moscow cruiser has also updated electronic equipment and renovated cables and auxiliary facilities, and its overall combat capability has been improved to a certain extent.
Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missile
It is the Ukrainian version of KH35 Uranus missile
The outside world may be relatively unfamiliar with the Ukrainian Neptune missile, but in fact it is Ukrainian itself improved KH-35 Uranus anti-ship missile. As we all know, Ukraine was a major military center during the Soviet era. The military enterprise in Ukraine participated in the development and production of the KH-35 Uranus anti-ship missile. Therefore, Ukraine has drawings of the KH-35 Uranus anti-ship missile in its hands, and also has the ability to produce this missile , and the outside world has also listed it as a KH-35 derivative model. According to relevant information, Neptune mainly replaced Russian equipment and components with Ukrainian products, for example, it replaced the R95TP-300 with an MS-400 turbofan engine. Neptune's anti-ship missile size and weight are larger than Uranus. The former is 5 meters long, the latter is only 4.4 meters, and the launch weight is 670 kilograms and the latter is 800 kilograms. Of course, Neptune is farther in terms of range, its maximum range is 300 kilometers, while the latest KH-35 model KH-35U is 260 kilometers.
Neptune missile can be launched from Odessa to strike Sevastopol
The outside world believes that Ukraine requires such a large range of Neptune to blockade Crimean Neptune missile's 300 kilometers range can allow it to launch from Odessa to strike targets near Sevastopol. Sevastopol is the home port of the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet, which means that the Black Sea Fleet ships were within the range of the Ukrainian Neptune missile strike soon after they left the port. After the Neptune anti-ship missile is upgraded, it can even attack Russian warships in the port. If Neptune is deployed to Mariupol , calculated as Azov Sea length is 340 kilometers, then it can almost block the entire Azov Sea. This is also one of the reasons why Russia took over Mariupol, expelling Ukraine from the coast of Azov and turning the Sea of Azov into an inner lake in Russia.
Judging from the range of Neptune missiles, the Moscow cruiser is within its range of activities in the northern waters of Black Sea . Of course, enough range is just the first step, target detection and indication are just as important. For Neptune, the shore-based radar cannot support its maximum range. Affected by the curvature of the earth, it is difficult for the detection distance of shore-based radar to exceed 50 kilometers of maritime targets. If the target cannot be detected, it will not be possible to bind the target coordinates for the missile. To increase the detection distance, you need over-visual radar . As mentioned earlier, Ukraine is the Soviet military center and has the ability to develop and produce over-visual radar. For example, the music station radar we are familiar with. It exceeds the horizon detection target, with a maximum detection distance of 300 kilometers.In addition, radar also needs to continuously grasp the target information in order to update the missile guidance information to ensure that after the missile reaches the target area, the last guided radar will be turned on and the target is within the radar range.
Ukraine-equipped Neptune shore missile system
It may use TB-2 drones to detect and instruct maritime targets and indicate
Air platform is another solution, such as maritime patrol aircraft, air early warning aircraft . They are far away from sea target detection in the air and can continuously grasp the target trends. However, Ukraine does not have air supremacy now, nor does it have maritime patrol aircraft or air early warning aircraft, so it cannot provide target detection and instructions for Neptune missiles. The outside world speculates that Ukraine may use TB-2 drones to monitor Russian maritime targets. Not long ago, Russia announced that the frigate of the Black Sea Fleet Admiral Essen had shot down the Ukrainian TB-2 drone. The drone is sure to be detecting and tracking the Russian surface ship .
Of course, Ukraine may still obtain foreign aid. After the Ukrainian War, NATO has been strengthening surveillance of the Black Sea. If the information exchange channel between Ukraine and NATO is opened, the Neptune-Shaan missile can receive the target information provided by NATO and attack the target accordingly.
Of course, Neptune missiles have been supported by NATO information and can launch attacks, and must also break through the USS Moscow cruiser air defense system. Due to fund restrictions, the USS Moscow cruiser did not involve the air defense system this time, so its air defense system was not updated. Long-range air defense missiles are still S-300F, launching 5V55RM missiles with a maximum range of 75 kilometers. Short-range air defense is OSA ship-to-air missile with a maximum range of 15 kilometers. The latest model OSA-MA-2 was put into use in the mid-to-late 1980s, mainly improving the ability to intercept sea-sweeping anti-ship missiles. The Moscow cruiser's short-range anti-missile gun is 6 AK-630 6-barrel 30mm Green guns, with a rate of fire of 4,000 rounds per minute. In addition, the USS Moscow cruiser is equipped with foil/flare drop racks, electronic reconnaissance and interference equipment. These missiles, artillery and electronic warfare devices form the USS Moscow cruiser's integrated maritime defense system, which can fight incoming aircraft, cruise missiles and anti-ship missiles . After the upgrade of
, it can be seen that its air defense system has not been upgraded
is also affected by the curvature of the earth. The Moscow cruiser has poor detection performance for ultra-low-altitude targets. Based on the height of Neptune's last sea-skipping height of 5 meters, it can only detect incoming missiles at 30 kilometers, and the reaction time left for it is quite limited. Therefore, it is not ruled out that the Moscow cruiser was hit by a sneak attack by Neptune missile. Of course, this ship has been in service for 40 years and has been in disrepair for a long time, and it may be that the equipment inside the ship has caught fire.
In any case, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet has lost its combat capability, which is a painful loss for the Black Sea Fleet and will seriously affect Russia's maritime operations in the next stage.
