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Correction ..... yesterday I posted Moskva was lobbing cruise missiles into Ukraine. From the British Defense Ministry this morning, Moskva was not equipped to launch the Caliber land attack cruise missile. But other ships in Russian's Black Sea Fleet so equipped were being shielded by Moskva's air defenses and supported C3 in land attacks from sea based platforms. What is notable is that most of Russia's Black Sea Fleet has moved further off-shore (Neptune has a 250 mile range and Moskva was 65 miles from Odessa's coastline) giving credence to Ukrainian claims they took out Moskva with a Neptune.
Moskva would have led and coordinated any amphibious assaults on Odessa. Its loss reduces that threat considerably, freeing Ukrainian forces fixed there to move north out of Odessa to join the fight for Kherson - a blocking move that would slow or prevent a Russian advances from Donbas, through Mariupol to link up with Russian forces within Crimea and take Odessa. Moskva, theoretically, cannot be replaced due to Turkey prohibiting movement of warships into but not out of the Blcak Sea via the Dardanelles, which are Turkish territorial waters that they legally control access to.
Yesterday I was researching Russia's and Ukraine's naval forces within the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. I was stunned with the numbers of ships on both sides. The Russian and Ukrainian naval assets are mostly Soviet era ships built in the 70s and 80s, a lot of them, including Moskva, built in Ukraine, some earlier. None of them are particularly technologically advanced compared to US naval assets. They're also high maintenance and spend a lot of time in port getting repaired rather than at sea. You may recall that Ukrainian aircraft attacked two Russian Amphibious Assault ships in the Ukrainian port of Berdyansk, sinking one in port and rendering another damaged.
Analysts don't see some kind of massive naval engagement between Russian and Ukrainian naval forces happening. That might be akin to disabled persons in wheel chairs going at it. Neither navy is particularly strong, Russia's >> than Ukraine's. Russia could still mount an amphibious assault on Odessa but those are highly complex operations requiring a degree of C3 and coordination of air, ground and sea units that the Russians have not demonstrated.
Putin made good on his threat to target Kiev with cruise missiles following the sinking of Moskva, hitting what they claim is the munitions plant that makes the Neptune anti-ship missiles. I'm waiting to hear about the Ukrainians engaging cruise missiles with S300 or Patriot missiles - exactly what these systems are capable of taking out. I've seen videos of what appear to be ground launched antiaircraft missiles that don't have the smoke trail of a shoulder fired air defense weapon (e.g., Stingers) taking out what was reportedly a cruise missile (the destroyed missile fell to the ground). From that I conclude these systems are deployed and operational. I'd imagine where and how they are integrated is secret squirrel stuff. Still, Russian doctrine suggests multiple cruise missiles will be launched at a high priority target with the purpose of overwhelming the tracking capability of the radars associated with launch platforms. Some videos may emerge of today's attack inside Kiev. Would not be at all surprised if a salvo was launched (air v ground launched, the later more likely) and less than the entire bunch made it to the intended target.
Moskva would have led and coordinated any amphibious assaults on Odessa. Its loss reduces that threat considerably, freeing Ukrainian forces fixed there to move north out of Odessa to join the fight for Kherson - a blocking move that would slow or prevent a Russian advances from Donbas, through Mariupol to link up with Russian forces within Crimea and take Odessa. Moskva, theoretically, cannot be replaced due to Turkey prohibiting movement of warships into but not out of the Blcak Sea via the Dardanelles, which are Turkish territorial waters that they legally control access to.
Yesterday I was researching Russia's and Ukraine's naval forces within the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. I was stunned with the numbers of ships on both sides. The Russian and Ukrainian naval assets are mostly Soviet era ships built in the 70s and 80s, a lot of them, including Moskva, built in Ukraine, some earlier. None of them are particularly technologically advanced compared to US naval assets. They're also high maintenance and spend a lot of time in port getting repaired rather than at sea. You may recall that Ukrainian aircraft attacked two Russian Amphibious Assault ships in the Ukrainian port of Berdyansk, sinking one in port and rendering another damaged.
Analysts don't see some kind of massive naval engagement between Russian and Ukrainian naval forces happening. That might be akin to disabled persons in wheel chairs going at it. Neither navy is particularly strong, Russia's >> than Ukraine's. Russia could still mount an amphibious assault on Odessa but those are highly complex operations requiring a degree of C3 and coordination of air, ground and sea units that the Russians have not demonstrated.
Putin made good on his threat to target Kiev with cruise missiles following the sinking of Moskva, hitting what they claim is the munitions plant that makes the Neptune anti-ship missiles. I'm waiting to hear about the Ukrainians engaging cruise missiles with S300 or Patriot missiles - exactly what these systems are capable of taking out. I've seen videos of what appear to be ground launched antiaircraft missiles that don't have the smoke trail of a shoulder fired air defense weapon (e.g., Stingers) taking out what was reportedly a cruise missile (the destroyed missile fell to the ground). From that I conclude these systems are deployed and operational. I'd imagine where and how they are integrated is secret squirrel stuff. Still, Russian doctrine suggests multiple cruise missiles will be launched at a high priority target with the purpose of overwhelming the tracking capability of the radars associated with launch platforms. Some videos may emerge of today's attack inside Kiev. Would not be at all surprised if a salvo was launched (air v ground launched, the later more likely) and less than the entire bunch made it to the intended target.
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