“The new coalition will provide long-term support to Ukraine, including the training of naval personnel, the supply of weapons and military equipment, and the creation of appropriate infrastructure to strengthen security in the Black Sea,” the UK Ministry of Defense said. expression.
The British Ministry of Defense believes that the coalition will cooperate with Kiev on the reconstruction of the Navy, training of fleet personnel, increasing the combat readiness of coastal missile and artillery forces and the Marine Corps, and generally strengthening the country’s defense from maritime directions. Finally, it is planned to make the Ukrainian Navy more compatible with OVMS. (combined naval forces) NATO. Similar agreements were reached at the November meeting of the contact group on Ukraine’s defense.
minesweepers (ships for searching, detecting and destroying naval mines and guiding ships through minefields. – socialbites.ca) It will be purchased by Kiev with the help of the UK Export Credit Agency. The transfer of the ships will be officially announced by UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps earlier this week.
According to him, the application to strengthen the Ukrainian Navy “marks the beginning of new focused efforts by the United Kingdom, Norway and our allies to strengthen Ukraine’s maritime capabilities, increasing their ability to act in the direction of protecting their own sovereign waters and strengthening security in the Land Forces of the Navy.”
Which ships will Kyiv buy?
Sandown minesweepers are a type of British-built, mine-resistant ship in service in the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and Estonia. They were designed to search for and destroy sea mines with remotely controlled search vehicles.
This is a relatively small ship with a standard displacement of 465 tonnes (484 tonnes overall). The minesweeper PAP-104 (2) is equipped with anti-mine search devices, 30 mm KCB assault rifles and heavy machine guns. Speed - up to 15 knots (about 28 km/h). The crew of the ship is 34 people.
Britain and Ukraine reached an agreement in 2021 on the transfer of the minesweeper. UK will supply Kiev HMS Ramsy (in service since 2000) And HMS Blyth (in service since 2001)Already renamed mine defense ships of the Ukrainian Navy M310 Chernigov and M311 Cherkasy.
If we compare the technical characteristics of the Sandown minesweeper with similar ships of the Russian Navy Project 12700 “Alexandrite”, our minesweeper is slightly larger (standard displacement 800 tons, full displacement 890 tons). Its speed is 16.5 knots and its crew is 44 people. The ship is armed with a six-barreled AK-306 30 mm artillery mount, eight 9K38 Igla-1 or 9K333 Verba man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems, and BL-680-based Skanda unmanned boats.
Ukrainian mosquito fleet
United Kingdom for a long time makes an effort To strengthen the combat capabilities of the Ukrainian Navy. It was reported that the British shipbuilding industry would design new missile boats within the scope of the memorandum of understanding signed between the two countries in March 2021. At that time, London was ready to help Kiev gain a foothold on the coasts of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. (last question no longer valid)Provide ammunition to the Ukrainian Navy, prepare the country’s fleet to confront Russia.
In 2021, the United Kingdom and Ukraine signed an Agreement of Intent to develop and strengthen the Ukrainian Navy. Two years ago, the issue of restoration and modernization of infrastructure was discussed in Berdyansk and Ochakov on the Sea of Azov. (today the first point has already disappeared and Ochakov is under constant attack by the Aerospace Forces and the Russian Navy)Missile and ammunition supply opportunities were investigated.
At that time, we were talking about naval infrastructure facilities that would enable Ukraine to have modern naval bases. It was stated that fuel and ammunition depots and repair bases should be located in appropriate places, and the docking front should have the appropriate energy structure. Some companies in the UK are currently working with the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense on what the infrastructure of such bases should look like.
At the same time, Kiev has a strategy for the construction and development of the Navy. by 2035Developed jointly with the USA and the UK. And the first part of this is creating navy of small warships.
It was assumed that these would be small, high-speed ships equipped with artillery systems and missiles, capable of operating in the shallow waters of the Black Sea, as well as the Sea of Azov. They will be fast, maneuverable and difficult to detect and hit.
The missile boats are being designed specifically for Ukraine: they will be original, will be around 50 to 65 meters long and their speed will be around 40 knots. They will install artillery systems, short- or long-range missiles. These ships are planned to be in the Black Sea already in 2025.
Kiev hopes that thanks to bilateral military-technical cooperation, Ukraine will sooner or later be able to build ships of a class capable of independently entering the Mediterranean and the World Ocean together with British ships.
How is Türkiye building corvettes for Ukraine?
But strengthening the capabilities of the Ukrainian Navy is not limited to boats. 2 October 2022 at RMK Marine shipyard in Tuzla, Turkey (southern outskirts of the Asian part of Istanbul) The launching ceremony of the lead ship, which is under construction for the Ukrainian naval forces, took place. corvette F 211 “Hetman Ivan Mazepa” Write (MİLGEM) to the name. This is the first of two ships ordered by Kiev under a contract dated December 2020. Simultaneously with the launch of this corvette, the first steel cutting ceremony was held at the shipyard for the construction of the second ship of the same type ordered by Ukraine.
The main contractor for the construction of the corvette for Kiev is the Turkish state design company Defense Technologies Engineering and Trade Inc. (STM). The cost of the leading ship in 2020 is estimated at approximately 8 billion hryvnia (approximately 265 million Euros at the then exchange rate) – apparently without taking into account the cost of weapons.
Two or three more corvettes were to be built under license at Ukraine’s Okean factory in Nikolaev, which signed an agreement with the Turkish Defense Industry Corporation (SSB) in December 2020. The framework value of the contract was over 1 billion dollars.
Leading corvette “Hetman Ivan Mazepa” will join the Ukrainian Navy in 2024. However, given the current conditions, it seems unlikely that this program will be fully implemented. Most likely, “Hetman Ivan Mazepa” will be fully completed and delivered to the Ukrainian fleet in Turkey.
Corvettes of the MİLGEM project (Ada type), Boeing Harpoon Block 2 anti-ship missile system (eight missiles), MBDA VL MICA short-range anti-aircraft missile system with 16 vertical launchers, Super Fast universal artillery mount to be equipped with 76 mm Leonardo, 35 mm anti-aircraft artillery complex, two 12.7 mm remote-controlled Aselsan STAMP machine gun mounts and 324 mm torpedo tubes with MU90 anti-submarine torpedoes. The ship must carry a permanently onboard helicopter.
It seems that Kiev’s plans to rebuild a combat-ready naval force should not be taken lightly.
Ukrainian officials will start with a mosquito fleet, followed by corvette-class ships and, in the near future, destroyers. At first these will be ships from the navies of some NATO countries (this confirms that another naval coalition has now been formed). It cannot be excluded that the recreated Ukrainian fleet may sooner or later lead to a certain change in the balance of power and assets in the Black Sea region.
The author’s opinion may not coincide with the editors’ opinion.
Author biography:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for socialbites.ca, a retired colonel.
Graduated from Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976),
Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980–1983).
Deputy commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986–1988).
Senior officer of the Main Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988–1992).
Officer of the General Staff Main Operations Department (1992–2000).
Graduate of the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (1998).
Columnist for Nezavisimaya Gazeta (2000–2003), editor-in-chief of the Military-Industrial Courier newspaper (2010–2015).