“Only a fighter jet could reach the saboteur in 10 minutes”
A unique operation was successfully carried out by the crew of the Su-30SM aircraft of the Black Sea Fleet naval aviation in the area of Russian gas production facilities. At night, the fighter discovered and destroyed a reconnaissance boat of the armed forces of Ukraine, thereby preventing significant sabotage in the Black Sea. Honored military pilot of the Russian Federation, retired Major General Vladimir Popov told how such an operation was possible and why a fighter was chosen to destroy the enemy ship.
Photo: wikipedia.org/Alex Beltyukov/CC BY-SA 3.0
On the night of August 22, the armed forces of Ukraine attempted sabotage in the waters of the Black Sea Fleet. An enemy boat, most likely packed with explosives, was destroyed by our fighter jet. The use of the Su-30SM for such purposes was perhaps the first in the entire period of the NWO. The aviation community unanimously agreed that destroying a ship at night for the Su-30SM is a very non-trivial task.
“To find a ship at night, you have to see it. On the Su-30SM, you can only see it at night with a radar sight, and if you're very lucky, you can also see it visually, as there are no TV, night or thermal sights on the Su-30SM. Of course, there is a heat gun, but it is aimed at ships… “- wrote the channel Fighterbomber.
MK turned to the respected military pilot of the Russian Federation, retired Major General Vladimir Popov. According to the expert, the enemy boat was most likely to carry out sabotage, and the use of a fighter jet to prevent a terrorist attack is, to put it mildly, a rarity.
– Of course, such a variant of the operational-tactical use of military aviation is not common. About two months ago, we already repelled a marine drone attack with naval helicopters and quite successfully.
A lot depends on the operational situation, especially on the amount of time our command posts have to make a decision and prevent an attack. In this case, the situation required the emergency use of front-line aviation (the Su-30SM fighter operated as a fighter-bomber), otherwise sabotage could lead to serious damage or fire to the mining station on the coastal platform.
– In general, before the fight against such enemy objects was carried out by coast guard ships, for example FSB of Russia, warships or combat boats of the Black Sea Fleet. This time, most likely, it was simply not possible to use these means, and therefore a fighter was used to speed up the action.
Time is the main criterion for approaching a particular sea or air space intruder. If there were coast guard ships or a speedboat, say from Novorossiysk or Kerch, then it would take hours, maybe ten hours to approach the enemy ship.
Most likely they calculated that the helicopter flight took 30-40 minutes . That's not a way out either. But it was easier for the Su-30SM fighter in service to take to the sky.
If the helicopter reaches a speed of up to 300 kilometers per hour, then the Su-30MS – up to 1200 kilometers per hour. If necessary, it can also switch to supersonic flight. Anyway, 10 minutes was enough for the fighter to reach the target.
– In summer, the early dawn hours are quite bright. The ship could therefore also be counted visually. They could find it on the trail – they are breakers from the ship's screws, from movement at sea. I have flown over the sea and I know these moments. If there were no clouds, the reflections of the water would allow the object to be identified. In addition, the aircraft carrier was moving at low speed. When the pilots saw the ship, they placed a targeting marker on the object and escorted it.
– The Su-30SM aircraft has two pilots on board. This is the pilot who controls the aircraft and the pilot-operator. The pilot-operator controls the inclusion of target selection, finding it, and just chooses which weapon to destroy it with – which ammunition to fire or which bomb to drop, depending on what's on board.
Most likely. , an air-to-ground missile was fired at the boat. It can work on ships, ground targets, armored vehicles, fortified areas. It is comparable to the OFAB-250-270 bomb (high-explosive fragmentation bomb. – “MK”). It is a medium to long range guided missile. And they could destroy them with cannons. But in this case, they most likely still worked like a rocket.
– This is a truly unique operation. Its implementation suggests that we have various opportunities for destroying naval targets. I've already listed them – coast guard ships, navy, helicopters. And now the fighters. Everything depends on the operational situation and the lack of time for a decision and its implementation.