[Military Martial Plane] Author: Lele
In the early morning of October 29, the Ukrainian army used drone and unmanned boats to launch a long-range suicide attack on the Russian Black Sea Fleet ships that were berthing. As the Ukrainian General Staff mentioned the new flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, "Admiral Makarov", in the results announced to the public, and released video information about the suspected unmanned boat shooting before the explosion and was rushing towards the Russian warship . There was news that the new flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet was "sinked by the Ukrainian army" and "exploded and fired." For a time, public opinion was full of discussion. After the frequent attacks of Russian long-range drones, the Ukrainian army repeatedly discussed the tactical counterattacks of unmanned boats, and the final result was thought-provoking.
▲The scene of the unmanned boat rushing towards the suspected Russian frigate target
According to the Ukrainian General Staff, the frigate "Admiral Makarov" and an landing ship were injured by the unmanned boat. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Ukrainian army dispatched 9 drones and 7 unmanned boats on the same day to launch a strike against the military targets of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. All nine drones were shot down, four of the seven unmanned boats were destroyed on the periphery, and three were intercepted in the inner area. The attack eventually only damaged one of the Russian minesweepers, and isolation belts. As of now, the Russian side has not provided tangible evidence to prove its statement, which seems unconvincing compared to the unmanned boat video released by Ukraine. However, judging from the unmanned boat tactics and on-site explosion videos, it can be confirmed that the "Admiral Makarov" has definitely not been "sinked" as described in some materials, and it is still a matter of whether it was severely damaged. However, the Ukrainian army's concentrated use of unmanned equipment to counterattack this time also indicates that the fight between the two sides will develop to a new stage.
▲The frigate of Admiral Makarov
On October 12, 2000, the U.S. Navy "Kor" destroyer was parked in Yemen to replenish supplies, and was attacked by an motorboat loaded with explosives. The "Aegis" ship, with a displacement of nearly 9,000 tons, was blown out of the middle of the hull, a large hole about 15 meters square, and 17 people were killed in the explosion. The Ukrainian army used unmanned boats to attack Russian warships. Although the time, location and operation methods were different, there was no essential difference in the attack concept. According to the post-simulation of the US military, the motorboat that attacked the USS Cole should have carried about 300-320 kilograms of explosives. In the end, it was only seriously injured the USS Cole without sank. As a 4,000-ton frigate, the "Admiral Makarov" refers to the damage resistance of the "Kor", even about 150 kilograms of explosives can only be severely damaged. Only 180-200 kilograms of explosives can truly achieve the blow-down and sinking, which is very difficult for unmanned boats.
▲The US Navy's "Cole" destroyer
After being attacked, the scene explosion scene has been added to the live video released by the Ukrainian army. The explosion with obvious energy-concentrating effect is very visually impactful, but judging from the impacts suffered by other reference objects around the explosion, the Ukrainian unmanned boats are only 100 kilograms of explosives, which is not as good as blowing up a 4,000-ton frigate (unmanned boats that explode directly outside have a large difference in the killing effect compared to the anti-ship missile that can explode internally). As for whether the explosion is injured, it is hard to say. After all, the standard for explosion is very low. In the video released by the Ukrainian army, the unmanned boat has rushed to a place very close to the warship. Even if the explosion is affected, it may cause some damage to the warship. What is more interesting is that the Russian Navy has already shoveled off the hull number on the main ship in accordance with the wartime management rules. The external differences between the three 11356M frigates are also very small. It is not easy to accurately distinguish the "Admiral Makarov". Perhaps the Russian newspaper published an article afterwards saying that a US military "Global Hawk" drone operating over neutral seas did play a certain role in this.
▲The famous American "Global Hawk" drone
Generally speaking, the Ukrainian Army's joint unmanned equipment operation did not achieve real decisive results, but this does not mean that the attack is meaningless. In fact, this attack is of great significance. Tactically speaking, the Ukrainian army first used nine drones to attract the attention of the Russian army, and then used darkness to cover the unmanned boats to raid. Even according to the news released by the Russian army, the effect of injuring Russian warships was achieved, which means that the Ukrainian unmanned boats truly have the ability to cause harm to Russian warships, rather than paper PPTs, projects that are only used to defraud funds. After the Russian army experienced its threat personally, it is bound to spend a lot of resources and energy to deal with the potential threat of Ukrainian unmanned boats in the future.
▲Ukrainian unmanned boats that were discovered by the Russian army before. For example, after 1944, the German submarine no longer had the wonderful hunting time before. The British and American anti-submarine frigates, escort aircraft carriers , and anti-submarine patrol aircraft gradually grew into a fatal threat to the German U boat . In response, several German submarine generals at that time believed that U-boat activities should be reduced or even stopped because this was already meaningless in tactical terms. But German military senior management, even the commander-in-chief of submarine force, Denitz, rejected this suggestion and even continued to expand the scale of U-boats. The reason is that although the activities of a large number of U-boats have not achieved significant results, the materials and manpower consumed by Britain and the United States to form an anti-submarine system are several times or even dozens of times that of the German U-boat troops. Germany cannot accept it. These war materials were invested by Britain and the United States in the army or air force. The Ukrainian unmanned boat project itself does not consume much resources, but it ultimately achieves certain results in actual combat. The Russian army must invest a lot of resources to prevent Ukrainian unmanned boats. This strategic value of "making big with small profits" is the most important significance of unmanned boats.
▲The strategic significance of the German U boat is very critical
In fact, after this attack, the next time the Ukrainian army attacks with unmanned boats will be doomed to be far away. After all, the shortcomings of unmanned boats are very obvious. The Russian army can avoid danger by building a stable protective line. In order to attract the Russian army to invest long-term resources to prevent unmanned boats, the Ukrainian army will inevitably attract but not issue any deterrent. What will truly become the main force of the Ukrainian army's counterattack in the future is actually the 9 drones that did not attract much attention this time. After all, the manufacturing technology similar to Iran's Shahed-136 drone is really simple. Since the Ukrainian army has experienced its effect personally, it can even concentrate nine long-range drones to launch attacks this time, it is actually only a matter of time before large-scale use of drones in the future. Just like in the Iran-Iraq War more than 30 years ago, when Iraqi and Iran launched " Scud " to attack opponents' big cities, Russia and Ukraine's battle is about to enter the stage of long-range drones shooting each other, which is a very cruel thing for the people on both sides.
