Ukraine needs to negotiate the purchase or receipt from the United States of large Cyclone class patrol boats, which the United States will decommission next year. Kyiv needs these boats to “nightmare” the Russian military off the coast of Sevastopol.
The editor-in-chief of the Ukrainian Military Portal, Taras Chmut, stated this in his blog, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
According to Chmut, we are talking about the withdrawal from the American fleet of the USS Tempest, USS Typhoon, USS Squall, USS Firebolt and USS Whirlwind boats built in 1993-95. The United States plans to put them up for sale to foreign countries under the FMS - Foreign Military Sales program. (“Foreign Military Sales”).
“Five 330-ton boats are a full-fledged flotilla. “Cyclones” are an excellent platform that corresponds to the second stage of the Navy Development Concept - control of the 200-mile zone. Their dimensions, autonomy and seaworthiness allow them to operate confidently in any area of the Black Sea and even make transitions to the Mediterranean...
Ukraine could, for little money, get a permanent presence in the sea near Sevastopol or the Kerch Strait, keep the Russians and block any attempts by merchant ships flying “gray” flags to enter occupied ports", writes Chmut.
Earlier, Russian military experts, assessing Ukraine’s plans to “revive” its Navy, said that decommissioned American watercraft will not help restore the power of the Ukrainian fleet. According to retired captain II rank Alexander Danchenko, the armament and composition of the Russian Black Sea Fleet will allow everyone to be drowned, guaranteed and many times over.”