There are many such devices in the Russian Navy
For the first time during the NMD, Russia used a naval kamikaze drone. A remote-controlled boat packed with explosives blew up a support of a bridge near Odessa, along whose railway tracks the APU group was supplying supplies. A video on the site shows the unknown device moving at high speed across the water to a bridge in the Zatoka area and exploding once it detonates underneath.
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Photo: Video clip
Previously, the use of similar British drones was demonstrated by the armed forces of Ukraine. And what happened this time? A unique example of the use of a Russian kamikaze boat, or are we able to massively use such drones in the future? This was said by MK military expert, captain of the 1st position in reserve Vladimir Gundarov.
I would like to note right away that the topic of naval drones for the Russian fleet is not absolutely new. In particular, the American edition of The National Interest wrote in October 2021 that the Russian fleet is rapidly increasing the number of unmanned vehicles that will change the face and “give another shape” to the Russian Navy. But there was talk of unmanned underwater vehicles.
Naval drones have been repeatedly demonstrated by the Russian defense industry and at various arms exhibitions. In particular, various modifications of such devices were seen at the last Army Forum: Surrogat-V, Slave, Amulet …
And about the biggest development in the field of naval drones – the nuclear drone “Poseidon” – President Putin personally told the whole the world.
“It would be surprising if our unmanned surface and underwater vehicles did not appear in a military special operation in Ukraine,” believes Vladimir Gundarov. – The annual all-Russian competitions in underwater robotics are only the surface part of the iceberg that protrudes from the “ocean of secrets”. The underwater part is not unknown to any of the uninitiated. Since 2017, Vladimir Putin has repeatedly attended meetings with the military, specifically about the creation of such facilities. Moreover, these meetings did not take place even once a year. In November 2019, this issue was also raised at a meeting of the Security Council of the Russian Federation. Only few people know about these facilities because any information about them is classified, perhaps even more so than the information about strategic nuclear forces that we must share with the Americans under the START-2 treaty.
– These devices are available for special intelligence services and special forces. They are usually released from the ship. On the water, its electric motors and control system are switched on. It can be induced either with GLONASS or in TV mode. Just as a torpedo is aimed. In fact, such a device is the same torpedo, for which the course and speed are calculated taking into account the current, density, water temperature… All these data are entered into its “brains”, and then this torpedo moves independently to the designated target.
– Yes, it's a car and a railway. All the time, there were trains with weapons for the armed forces of Ukraine on it. We fired missiles at this bridge, but the problem is that, firstly, it is quite difficult to direct the missile to the target, and secondly, if it explodes in the area of the bridge, then the main shock wave and salient elements go up. This leaves a hole in the bridge that can be easily repaired. With approximately such a result, the Armed Forces of Ukraine shelled the Antonovsky bridge over the Dnieper in the Kherson region with HIMARS missiles, when there were many holes, but the bridge was still standing and could still be used.
Therefore, in this case, in order to destroy the bridge in Zatoka, we needed a powerful charge that had to be applied from below. Of course, it is difficult to destroy a bridge support. These bridges were built in Soviet times with a huge margin of safety, as they say, in case of a nuclear war. However, judging by the footage on the website, our device was able to detonate such a powerful charge under the bridge that it resulted in very extensive destruction. Movement of goods on this bridge is currently impossible.
– Most likely it was radio-controlled, as the device was not only clearly aimed at the target, but was also quite accurately dropped directly under the bridge deck. This means that drone operators visually observed the entire process using a video camera installed on the device. They watched on camera as the device went under the arch of the bridge, whereupon they pressed a button and it exploded upwards. The charge was apparently very strong. Maybe half a ton or even a ton.
– It could have been done from Crimea. And follow the progress of the drone on the video camera.
– Of course not. Such devices belong to sabotage squads that are part of fleet control. In this case, the Black Sea. By the way, the saboteurs of the Black Sea Fleet have a very long tradition since Soviet times. They were once active in Africa and other places. They have such a division. These same units once belonged to the Combat Saboteur Dolphins. These units also have a variety of underwater equipment for transporting divers. There is plenty of everything, including the same naval vehicles whose British counterparts were previously used by the Ukrainians against our bases in Crimea.
– Such means are, broadly speaking, the next generation fleet. For example, the Americans clearly stated that in 2035 they will have about 25% of the entire fleet – it will be unmanned means – ships and submarines. We are planning roughly the same thing. That is, it will be built as the main apparatus of a surface ship or submarine, around which these most unmanned, “non-human” vehicles will begin to flash. Today we are witnessing the development of this process. The same direction is being developed in aviation and in the ground weapons sector, where, for example, the task of producing the same unmanned Terminator is now being solved.
– I do not think that it is now necessary to reveal all the cards to the enemy on the pages of newspapers. There is fighting going on and it is better to keep the information about which particular device blew up the bridge a secret. Moreover, such a device is not the only one in our fleet.