The current assault launched by a cluster of Ukrainian kamikaze drones led to the sinking of a Russian missile warship named Ivanovets from the Black Sea Fleet. Tragically, all 44 crew members on board went down with the ship. Some speculate that US P-8A Poseidon know-how might have aided the Ukrainian aspect on this operation. The Ivanovets has been liable for a collection of missile assaults on Ukraine. Due to this fact, its loss gives momentary aid for the residents of southern Ukraine.
On February 1st, the Ukrainian Armed Forces retaliated by focusing on the Russian Black Sea Fleet. They achieved this by way of a battalion of naval drones flying over Lake Donuzlav in Crimea. Impressively, one in all these drones managed to beat the ship’s protection mechanisms, resulting in a large explosion after it struck the port aspect.
For those who study the footage launched by Ukraine, you’ll discover that the possibilities of the Russian warship surviving the assault are nearly nil. Close to the tip of the recording, you’ll be able to see the rear of the vessel sinking underwater, spiraling downwards with the 44 Russian sailors on board.
Ukraine’s elite “Group 13”, a a part of their Army Intelligence, has taken credit score for this achievement. The unit deployed roughly 9 drones from the Black Sea port of Odesa to hold out this operation. Curiously, when the Ukrainian forces launched their assault on the Russian warship, an American Boeing P-8A Poseidon aircraft was flying over the western a part of the Black Sea.
There’s media hypothesis that this plane performed a half in monitoring the actions of the Russian warship squadron within the Black Sea. The intel collected might need performed a essential function in efficiently executing this assault with impeccable precision and timing. It’s additionally value noting that both a Poseidon aircraft or an MQ-9 Reaper has coincidentally or in any other case, been close by each time Russia has misplaced a ship following the Ukraine invasion.
Whereas the Russian Ministry of Defence has not but confirmed the assault, a number of navy channels on Telegram assist the Ukrainian assertions. As reported by the Army Informant Telegram channel, “Direct hits to the ship’s physique induced vital harm to the Ivanovets, rendering it immobile. The warship began to tilt at its stern earlier than submerging. Even after three strikes, you’ll be able to see the ship returning fireplace on the naval drone.”
The Ivanovets missile boats are a part of the 1241 ‘Molnia’ venture. The warship, launched in 1989, is armed with highly effective R-270 ‘Moskit’ anti-ship missiles with a launch vary of 90-120 kilometers. Solely two missile boats of this class stay in service with the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
P-8 A Poseidon Coming to Support
The Russian cruiser Moskva was hit and capsized on April 13, 2022, in keeping with confirmed reviews, after being struck by Ukrainian Neptune missiles. Initially, Russian authorities claimed the ship had been sunk resulting from storm harm whereas being tugged. They talked about that the hull had been compromised due to inner ammunition detonations. Nonetheless, they later conceded that the harm resulted from enemy exercise.
The Every day Mail reported on April 20, 2022, {that a} P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol plane from the US Navy was dispatched to assist the Ukrainian strikes. As said by The Instances, the Moskva was being tracked by the P-8 earlier than the assault, after which the plane relayed its place to the Ukrainian Army.
In a fight zone, clear situational consciousness is vital, and the P-8 assumed this function for the Ukrainian forces. Regardless of being stationed properly past the attain of Ukrainian radars, the Moskva was recognized and tracked by the maritime patrol plane, which then relayed its place.
The P-8A reportedly took off from Italy for this operation, turning off its trackers en path to keep away from being monitored on-line because it approached the Black Coastline. For 3 hours, it remained off the radar earlier than reappearing on Flight Radar 24.
After reappearing, it stationed itself alongside the Romanian coast of the Black Sea. That is the place the exploration of the Russian Black Sea fleet started.
Whereas the US has but to formally acknowledge involvement within the strikes, the presence of NATO surveillance platforms and drones observing Russian actions—from the Polish shoreline, throughout the Ukrainian border, and into the Black Sea—has been obvious because the starting of the warfare.
The Boeing P-8 Poseidon, named after the Greek sea god, is an American maritime patrol plane. This modified Boeing-737 transport is outfitted with state-of-the-art radar, cameras, and sonar buoys particularly designed to trace submarines, in addition to a number of weapons, together with cruise missiles and depth expenses to take them out.
Able to conducting varied missions—together with anti-submarine warfare [ASW], anti-surface warfare [ASUW], and transport interdiction roles—the P-8 comes geared up with torpedoes, Harpoon anti-ship missiles, and different weapons. It could additionally launch and monitor sonobuoys and may function in tandem with different belongings just like the Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton, a maritime surveillance drone.
A Russian MiG-31 fighter jet was prompted to take motion in 2023 when it detected a US P-8A aircraft approaching Russian territorial limits through its air protection radars. Nonetheless, the US plane retreated earlier than violating the Russian border. Based on a TASS report dated January 31, 2024, reconnaissance plane from the UK, Italy, and the US had been noticed close to Crimea only a couple of hours earlier than the peninsula was air-attacked.
Flight Radar 24 information cited within the report famous {that a} US Navy P-8A, a Rivet Joint digital reconnaissance plane from the UK, and an E-550A [based on the Gulfstream G550] long-range radar-detection plane flown by the Italian Air Power, had been all recorded flying close to the Black Coastline over Romania simply two hours earlier than the assault. Shortly earlier than this, an American RQ-4B World Hawk strategic reconnaissance drone had been noticed in that neighborhood.
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