A Russian submarine’s Kalibr SLCM launch exercise was held in the East Sea on the 13th.▶ Click here for a larger view
It has been observed that the Russian military is carrying out a “submarine-launched cruise missile” (SLCM) attack on a Ukrainian ground target in the Black Sea.
It is analyzed that the Russian military is choosing the most ‘safe attack method’ following losing the ‘Moscow’, the strongest force in the Black Sea Fleet.
HI Sutton, a writer specializing in submarines, told The Times on the 22nd (local time) that “there is strong circumstantial evidence that Russian submarines are playing an important role in the war, including striking Ukrainian ground targets.”
Sutton said Russian submarines were caught loading Kalibr cruise missiles from a Russian port just before the invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
The Russian Navy operates four Kilo-class submarines in the Black Sea. The Kilo-class is a conventional diesel-electrically powered submarine, armed with a relatively small but powerful Kalibr cruise missile.
The Kalibr cruise missile is rated on the same level as the US-made Tomahawk missile. Can be launched through torpedo tubes. There are various derivatives, and the maximum range is regarding 2,500 km.
Russian Kilo-class submarine at a naval event in the Black Sea last year▶ Click here for a larger view
In particular, if launched from a submarine, it can be launched from 50 meters below the sea level. A submarine’s greatest strength is its confidentiality, which is difficult to detect even by military satellites directly overhead.
Russia’s defense ministry is touting that its frigates are aiming at Ukrainian targets in the Ukraine war.
On the same day, it released a video of firing four Kalibr missiles from a ship in the Black Sea, claiming that the attack destroyed an entire unit along with weapons and equipment at a train station in the Dnipro region of Ukraine.
“The Kalibr missile has such a long range that the launch location is rarely detected,” Sutton said.
Earlier, the Russian military had sunk the Black Sea Fleet’s flagship, the Moscow, in a surface-to-ship missile attack by Ukrainian forces. The sinking of the Moscow warship, which was responsible for the anti-aircraft defenses of the fleet, has made the Black Sea Fleet very vulnerable to attacks by Ukrainian forces.
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