Analysis: Ukraine Strikes With Kamikaze USVs – Russian Bases Are Not Safe Anymore

Ukraine conducted a new surprise attack on the Russian Black Sea Fleet on October 29, 2022. This time, it targeted naval combatants at the Russian naval base of Sevastopol, opening a new era of naval warfare by using unmanned surface vessels (USV) as suicide drones.

Minutes before the USV attacks on Admiral Grigorovich-class frigate.

Photo: Screenshot from social media

The Russian Black Sea Fleet (BSF) was awakened by a shocking drone attack on Saturday morning. Ukraine targeted naval units in and around the main Russian base in the region, the Sevastopol naval base.

According to the footage circulating on social media, Ukrainian unmanned surface vessels (USVs) carried out kamikaze attacks on the BSF units. An Admiral Grigorovich-class frigate, possibly the flagship Admiral Makarov, and a mine countermeasure (MCM) ship were reportedly hit by the Ukrainian USVs.

The reports suggest that Ukraine attacked the base simultaneously with UAVs and USVs. According to a Russian Defense Ministry statement, 8 UAVs (Unmanned Aerial vehicles) and 7 USVs were involved in the attack. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that all UAVs and four USVs were repelled by the BSF units, and three USVs were destroyed on land.

The Russian Defense Ministry stated on its official Telegram account that only one MCM vessel, Ivan Golubets, was slightly damaged in the attack. But according to the footage, the reality looks different. The USV targeted the Admiral Grigorovich-class frigate which didn’t seem to apply countermeasures against the drone.

In the same statement, Russian MoD said that the naval units attacked by the drones were providing security for the merchant ships carrying grain at the grain corridor for months. A few hours later, Russia suspended its participation in the grain deal, which was considered to ease a possible food crisis due to the Russo-Ukrainian war.

The Russian Ministry of Defence has stated “It should be emphasized that the ships of the Black Sea Fleet that were subjected to a terrorist attack are involved in ensuring the security of the “grain corridor” as part of an international initiative to export agricultural products from Ukrainian ports.”

USS Cole with a huge hole at the port side after being attacked by terrorists.

U.S. Navy Photo

Though the asymmetric assault threat has been a part of the battle tactics in every domain for decades, the importance of force protection was better understood by the navies after the USS Cole incident, which was attacked by the terrorist group al-Qaeda while she was refueling in the Yemeni port of Aden on October 12, 2000.

This incident has shown the significance of such threats, and in particular, NATO allied naval forces have begun to develop additional measures against such threats from the air, surface, and subsurface. This is because such attacks can occur at the ships’ weakest times, such as when warships are resting or replenishing and not as ready as when they are deployed at sea, or when they are operating close to shore, passing through a strait, and so on.

These low-cost solutions have also led several navies to develop small boats to take on larger navies, such as Iran, which has hundreds of manned/unmanned armed boats to defend the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf. This is because it is not easy for even a destroyer to deal with a swarm of drones, as they are usually designed to engage combatants. Warships have firing channels for cannons and missiles. Although they can destroy some of the drones with these weapons, their firing channels would not be enough if they were attacked by dozens of boats or ammunition lying around. Therefore, fighting these boats is still a problem for large naval units.

Ukraine took the asymmetric threat to a new level by attacking Russian ships at their mother base with the kamikaze USVs. This attacking style was quite unfamiliar in naval warfare, though the navies have been working on the CONOPS (concept of operations) to use these assets as a part of the manned fleets. 3

Artist’s Impression of the Ukrainian drone boat approaching a Russian vessel outside Sevastopol

Ukrainian forces are skillfully using the means at their disposal to optimize the timing of the asymmetric operation. First of all, it should be underlined that the Ukrainian Army, trained in the doctrines of NATO by the U.S. Navy during Sea Breeze exercises, unlike the Russian Army, can effectively use its air, land, and limited sea power to neutralize both strategic and asymmetric targets in joint operations.

As in the case of the striking of the Crimean bridge, which is strategically important for the Russians, the Ukrainian forces attacks critical targets in order to gain psychological superiority and damage the reputation of the Russian Armed Forces.

The sinking of the Black Sea Fleet’s flagship, the Moskva, also psychologically destroyed the Russian Navy. After this incident, Admiral Makarov was appointed as the new flagship. Ukraine, a country without naval forces, fired twice within a few months at the flagship of a powerful naval force.

The damage to the new flagship Makarov, as a result of a plan developed with a common understanding of operations and the product of very good intelligence work within the logic of the network-centric operation, is a great success for Ukraine and a reason for failure and shame for Russia. Source: NavalNews

Commentary.  The Russian claims beggar belief! What threat are they protecting the grain ships against other than their own? They were the reason the grain exports were stopped and are now stopped again.