The sinking of the Black Sea fleet’s flagship is certainly a coup for Ukrainian morale and a symbolic blow to Russia. Naval vessels also have a higher level of firefighting capability than civilian counterparts. Bulkhead doors connecting different sections are intended to control the spread of fire and hull breaches can be isolated. Naval vessels are designed to survive attack as much as possible. Whatever the cause of the sinking, it is hard to see this as anything short of a pretty catastrophic incident for Russia. How big a deal is the loss of the Moskva? One claim is that the missile or missiles were fired from a hidden battery close to Odesa while the Moskva’s crew was distracted by two Turkish-supplied drones operating nearby. Modern naval forces would also be expected to be equipped with some kind of radar warning receiver system to alert it to the presence of enemy radar systems, although both are far from foolproof. Slava class ships like the Moskva were designed to be equipped with with S-300F Fort long-range air defence system, a naval version of the S300, which has some utility against ballistic missiles. If the damage was caused by a Neptune missile, the Russians appear not to have been aware of it until too late.ĭuring the Falklands war in 1982, the British lost six ships, underlining to navies around the world the vulnerability of ships to missile attack. The Neptune system is designed to be deployed from coastal areas, which in this case would mean it was being operated close to an area of intense Russian military activity. If it was a missile, why didn’t Russia detect it? It is designed to fly close to the surface of the sea to avoid detection. First coming into service in Ukraine last year, the whole system comprises a truck-based mobile launcher, four missiles, a reload vehicle, and a command and control vehicle. The subsonic Neptune is based on the old Soviet Kh-35 anti-ship missile with improved range and electronics, and has a range of almost 200 miles.
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