In the Black Sea, the Russian army had created superior numbers when the war broke out. President Vladimir Putin (70), among others, sent a number of his feared nuclear submarines off the coast of Ukraine.
Thanks in part to arms deliveries from the West, Ukraine has been able to further reduce the Russian navy in recent months. Now six more boats should help Ukraine further expand its maritime supremacy. As US naval expert HI Sutton writes on Twitter, state-of-the-art US “Defiant” boats are already sailing through the Black Sea.
The battleships, which are only 12.2 meters long, have a special design and can reach speeds of up to 75 kilometers per hour. They are extremely manoeuvrable and therefore have an advantage over the large but also much slower boats of the Russian navy. They are also equipped with the latest radar technologies to detect hidden threats beneath the sea’s surface.
machine guns and grenade launchers
The hull of specially welded aluminum is also equipped with ballistic protection. This allows the ship to “survive long gun battles,” as the developer’s website says. The wheelhouse was also specially armored. It must also be possible to repel swarm attacks from different sides at the same time.
In addition to the defense mechanisms, “Defiant” can also come with various weapons. These can be individually configured during production depending on the order. According to Sutton, the Ukrainian version has two Browning M2 heavy machine guns installed on the bow and on the port side, ie on the left. These can fire between 600 and 1000 rounds per minute, depending on the type. Switzerland also uses a variant of the M2.
A machine gun is also mounted on the stern of the Ukrainian «Defiant». However, according to Sutton, it is “only” a medium-weight M240 machine gun, which is intended for smaller projectiles than the M2.
Ukraine stops Russia
Particularly heavy artillery can be shot down with the MK19 grenade launcher to starboard (right). The MK19 fires up to five rounds per second and has a range of up to 1600 meters. The small grenades have great destructive power.
According to Sutton, the mounted weapons can be exchanged relatively quickly. This gives the Ukrainian army great unpredictability in naval combat – Russia never knows what weapons are actually installed on Ukraine’s small boats.
After the devastating setbacks and sinking of the Russian «Moskva», Putin’s army has largely retreated in recent months to safe waters around the annexed Crimean peninsula. On paper, the Russian navy is significantly stronger than Ukraine’s, mainly because of its nuclear submarines. But because the Ukrainian military is tactically astute, it has so far been largely able to fend off the Russian attacks.