Surface Forces: Russian Black Sea Fleet Disappears
27th March 2024
The Russian Black Sea fleet has disappeared from the Black Sea. Russian warships are still in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov extension in the northeast, and the more distant naval base at Novorossiysk, but rarely move out of port, even for a few days. Current ships in the Black Sea Fleet include six guided missile cruisers, one corvette, seven diesel attack submarines, seven landing ships and dozens of High-speed landing craft. sea-going minesweepers, anti-saboteur boats, missile boats and anti-submarine ships.
What keeps these Russian Navy ships from going to sea is the very real threat of attack by Ukrainian USVs (Unmanned Surface Vehicles), also known as drones. There are several models, including Sea Baby (Malyuk in Ukrainian), Mother (Mamai), and MAGURA which means Maritime Autonomous Guard Unmanned Robotic Apparatus. Sea Baby and Mother were developed by the SBU (Ukrainian secret service) and the navy. They are used by the 385th Separate Brigade which specializes in naval warfare. MAGURA was developed by GUR (translated as, Main Intelligence Directorate project) and SpetsTechnoExport, a state-owned enterprise. At the end of 2023 SBU unveiled an updated Cossack Mamai with a claimed top speed of 100 kilometers an hour. Manufacture of these drones is done in underground production facilities to avoid Russian missile and guided bomb attacks.