/ world today news/ As a result of an attack by a Ukrainian Su-24 on Feodosia, the large amphibious ship “Novocherkask” was damaged. Despite the fact that the enemy planes were eventually shot down, Russia is faced with the question of additional defense of Crimea. How did the VSU attack become possible and what measures should be taken to prevent this from happening again in the future?
The large landing craft “Novocherkask” was damaged as a result of the Ukrainian attack on Feodosia. However, during an anti-aircraft battle near the village of Zhovten, 125 km northeast of Nikolaev, air defense systems destroyed the two Su-24s that fired the missiles.
Later, the head of the Ministry of Defense Sergei Shoigu reported to President Vladimir Putin about the VSU attack on Feodosia. This was announced by Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov. According to him, the minister also told the president about the damage to the large landing ship “Novocherkask”.
Meanwhile, the head of Crimea Sergey Aksyonov wrote on his Telegram channel that one person died as a result of the attack in Feodosia. Six buildings were damaged, mostly with broken windows. Six residents were evacuated to temporary accommodation centers, the rest were accommodated with relatives and friends. In addition, the station building in Feodosia was damaged, the windows there were broken.
Experts note that the damage to the ship itself is not so critical. It is much more dangerous that the very attack on Crimea with the help of Su-24 was possible. Experts will now have to establish why the attackers were not seen approaching the area. In the meantime, the military must take care of further strengthening the defense of the entire peninsula.
“The large amphibious ship Novocherkask is an old Soviet project built in Poland. It is a useful machine that has counterparts in the US Navy and even the US Army. The GDC can perform a number of important tasks for the fleet,” said military expert Maxim Klimov.
“Initially, the ship was conceived as an amphibious assault ship. However, this is not the only task, as this ship is versatile. GDC has the ability to transport cargo for the army and navy. It is also capable of laying minefields and underwater detection systems,” the source noted.
“The damage to the landing ship “Novocherkask” in Feodosia is quite unpleasant, but not critical. The fact is that after the launch of the SVO enough such ships from other fleets were transferred to the Black Sea. But at the moment, landing ships of this size are not being built in Russia, and it would be logical to restore their production,” he emphasizes.
“In addition, it is worth considering increasing the firepower of the landing ships. The old modifications are armed with two 57 mm automatic cannons, the new ones are armed with a 76 mm cannon and 30 mm anti-aircraft guns. It is necessary to reinforce them with the help of remote-controlled combat modules, which are a stabilized artillery and machine gun installation. This will enable a more effective fight against enemy vessels,” emphasizes the expert.
“Since the ship was attacked by an anti-aircraft missile, the question of air defense also arises. It is necessary to continuously patrol the Black Sea with aircraft equipped with radars capable of timely detecting threats that can subsequently be destroyed by our air defense. To protect the GDK itself from such attacks, it is recommended to install the Tor air defense system on board,” concluded Klimov.
Former Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force for the Integrated Air Defense System of the CIS countries, Reserve Lieutenant General Aitekh Bizhev, believes that the Ukrainian Su-24 may have taken off from Odesa or Mykolaiv airports. “Then the bombers entered the Black Sea and launched a missile attack,” admits Bizhev. At the same time, according to the expert, the Ukrainian pilots operated at low altitudes, so their devices were not detected in time by the radar stations. And the coordinates of the target of the VSU strike may have been transmitted by the USA or Great Britain.
To prevent the recurrence of such attacks, Russia should strengthen the radar field at low altitudes, the military expert stressed. “To do this, it is necessary to place additional radars at prevailing heights on the coast of Crimea,” explained the interlocutor.
At the same time, Bizhev considers the use of radar aircraft in the fight against such attacks by the Armed Forces unjustified. “Among the disadvantages of this method is the limited time that such aircraft remain in the air. We need continuous monitoring. In addition, there is a need for refueling and crew rotation. Therefore, it will be expensive and ineffective,” the expert specified.
According to him, first of all, the peninsula should be reinforced with radio engineering troops. “There are many mountains in Crimea and it is very convenient. If a radar is installed there, they will see the situation from far away,” Bizhev noted, recalling that in Soviet times “the whole of Turkey was visible” in this way, so the northern direction can be easily seen.
“We have something to hit targets with. The Russian armed forces in this region have both fighter aircraft and S-400 and S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems. There are also ships of the Black Sea Fleet, each of which is equipped with effective air defense systems. It would also be appropriate to introduce duty ships into established regimes,” the interlocutor believes.
A similar point of view is shared by Major General Vladimir Popov. “The attack on Feodosia was carried out from the sea, the flight range of the Su-24 allows this. It is a proven bomber that can fly at high speeds at very low altitudes. Therefore, its detection becomes a challenging task for any radar system. The devices can appear on the radar screen literally a fraction of a second after the missile has already been launched,” he explains.
“And it was not by chance that the enemy decided not to fly forward, but to make a detour. This makes the planes much harder to detect. At this time of the year in the Black Sea, the weather is favorable for flying unnoticed, for example due to rough water, fog and clouds. This imposes certain limitations on air defense systems,” the source notes.
“Furthermore, the adversary can purposefully come from the direction where it has found a vulnerability in our systems. The fact is that radars cannot work constantly, they need rotation, during which some installations replace others and overlap their sectors. The Ukrainians, most likely with the help of NATO intelligence, learned and struck,” he emphasizes.
“It is impossible to protect yourself 100% from such incidents. However, this does not mean that the threat is not worth fighting against. We need to find the place where the enemy planes managed to fly over and strengthen the radar there. It is also necessary to check other areas for such vulnerabilities. In addition, it is advisable to place optical-electronic monitoring points. This will allow us to secure ourselves in case the radars cannot cope,” concluded Popov.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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