Our response to Curzon: The Russian Ministry of Defense is accelerating the transfer of the latest ships to the Black Sea Fleet
The Ministry of Defense will accelerate the transfer of two new Project 12700 Alexandrite ships to the Black Sea Fleet. Already this year, the minesweepers “Vladimir Emelyanov” and “Georgy Kurbatov” will begin service in Sevastopol.
A PolitNavigator correspondent reports this, citing sources in the defense department, Izvestia reports.
The minesweepers will be part of the 68th brigade of water area security ships. It is noted that both ships are still in the Baltic waters, but after July 25, Vladimir Emelyanov will be transferred to the Black Sea. According to the plan, “Georgy Kurbatov” should be in operation before the New Year, but this could happen earlier.
“Project 12700 Alexandrite sea minesweepers belong to a new generation of ships. They are equipped with modern means of detecting and destroying mines, and underwater robots. Previously, the work of such a ship was that it released the trawl and followed it. All ammunition in the path of the trawl explodes, but the ship itself can also be affected. Robots search new minesweepers for mines, but they themselves are not in danger,” military expert Dmitry Boltenkov told the publication.
According to the head of the Department of Management and Social Technologies of the North-Western Institute of RANEPA Inna Vetrenko, strengthening the Black Sea Fleet was planned quite a long time ago, but in light of recent events the deadlines were adjusted.
“Russian maneuvers and the commissioning of new ships may look like a kind of informational response, soft power. But strengthening the fleet is Russia’s long-standing long-term strategy. This is especially important given the fact that the Black Sea Fleet has recently been operating in a much wider area, in particular in the Mediterranean,” Vetrenko said.
The Alexandrite hulls are made of fiberglass, which mine fuses do not respond to. To search for and destroy explosive objects, minesweepers have the Diamant system on board. It includes two light boats equipped with special underwater robots. Thanks to the plastic hull and low-noise engine, the boats are not afraid of sea mines, and they can search using sonar and magnetometers.
The publication indicates that minesweepers can find deep-sea objects using the Alexandrite-ISPUM integrated mine search and destruction system.
It includes a remote-controlled underwater vehicle capable of detecting suspicious objects within a radius of 500 m and at a depth of up to 300 m.
After detecting dangerous objects, underwater drones are sent to them and install demolition charges. If necessary, they can tow the mine to shallow water and destroy it there.
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