For the first time in the history of world wars, as a result of a group strike by naval drones directed through a space satellite, a warship that was on the move and in full combat readiness was destroyed.
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The Ukrainian Navy called the destruction of the Ivanovets missile boat a significant loss for Russia. The Black Sea Fleet had only three such boats of Project 12411 with Moskit anti-ship missiles, which are capable of hitting 130 km. The crew of such a boat is 40 sailors. Since the GUR speaks of an unsuccessful rescue operation, losses among the crew could be very significant.
Journalist Yuri Butusov spoke about the successful attack on February 1 by naval drones of the Group 13 unit of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, which destroyed a Russian Project 12411 missile boat at a protected naval base on Lake Donuzlav in temporarily occupied Crimea.
Butusov writes that the Project 12411 missile boat displaces up to 500 tons with a crew of 40 people. It is armed with P-270 Moskit supersonic anti-ship missiles.
Butusov writes that, judging by the video, a group of at least five naval drones from the Main Directorate of the MOU penetrated undetected through a canal from the sea into Lake Donuzlav and the drones attacked the missile boat one after another. The Donuzlav guards did not notice the drone attack, and they penetrated the channel without interference.
The crew of the Ivanovets missile boat, judging by the video, noticed the approach of the drones visually, and the boat immediately took off and began to run.
The missile boat can reach speeds of over 30 knots and simply get away from the drones. But “Ivanovets” did not have time to gain momentum, writes Butusov.
The bow 76 mm AK-176 anti-aircraft artillery mount, apparently, was in the stowed position, that is, it did not turn on and did not open fire. It is also not noticeable that the Russians had time to bring into battle two 30 mm AK-630 anti-aircraft artillery mounts, which are capable of delivering dense fire at moving targets at close ranges. But apparently machine-gun fire was opened on the drones at close range by another watch. However, due to the small size, speed and maneuverability of the drones, the Russians were unable to hit them.
The well-chosen attack tactics of the Group 13 commanders is admirable – the first drone hit the stern of the boat in order to disable the propellers. The boat was unable to reach full speed, but did not stop. Then the second drone also hit the propellers, but from the left side. With these two blows, the boat was reliably deprived of movement and maneuver.
After this, the ship was successfully finished off: the third drone struck the inside of the hull under the Mosquito missile launchers and caused a large crater on the port side. Video from this drone is not shown.
But the results of the hit are visible from the camera of the fourth drone, which the operator directed directly into the crater from the third drone in the same place.
The explosion from the fourth drone was fatal for Ivanovets. As a result of the impact, four Mosquito missiles detonated, each with a total mass of 4 tons. The Ivanovets missile boat was literally shattered into pieces; there was almost no chance for rescue among the crew.
Butusov writes that the goal of the attack was not defeat, but the complete destruction of the ship, so a whole group of drones was sent to reliably complete the task, which made it possible to inflict maximum losses on the enemy.
By the way, on July 21, 2023, during training firing, it was the Ivanovets that sank the Ukrainian corvette Ternopil captured in 2014 with an anti-ship cruise missile.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.