For the reason that deadly Sevastopol seaside assault on June 23 triggered open criticism of President Vladimir Putin’s army inhibitions, there was a Russian counter to the operation of US Air Drive (USAF) drones which direct the missile strikes from worldwide airspace over the Black Sea.
The June 23 missile salvo used US-made and US-crewed ATACMS missiles.
The US Secretary of Protection, Normal Lloyd Austin, then spoke by phone on June 25 along with his Russian counterpart, Protection Minister Andrei Belousov – their first dialog since Belousov changed Sergei Shoigu in Could. Within the Pentagon briefing, nothing was admitted besides that it had been the Pentagon which initiated the decision, not the Russian facet.
What occurred subsequent was that the Protection Ministry introduced Belousov had famous “the elevated depth of flights of strategic unmanned aerial automobiles of america over the Black Sea” and “instructed the Normal Workers of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to take measures of immediate response to provocations”. The Russian Air Drive started to assault the US Air Drive International Hawk ((Northrop Grumman RQ-4B) drones in a brand new means (lead picture, proper).
Their operation was transferred from Sigonella in Italy to the Kogălniceanu Air Base close to Constanta in Romania. The digital warfare operation to information Ukrainian missile assaults on Crimea was transferred from drones to fixed-wing plane, and from the US Air Drive (USAF) to the Royal Air Drive (RAF). British-made Storm Shadow missiles, fired by Ukrainian plane, then changed the ATACMS, and new assaults begun on Sevastopol.
The Russian response has been to destroy the Ukrainian airfields from which these launches started and the plane which fired them. On July 2, the Russian Protection Ministry reported, “on account of a gaggle strike with precision weapons on an airfield, 5 Su-27 plane of the enemy air power had been destroyed and two had been broken. Two extra Ukrainian plane, MiG-29 and Su-27, had been shot down by Russian air defence.” The airfield focused was Mirgorod, close to Poltava within the northeast.
Air evacuation of US floor casualties from the Nikolaev space of the ATACMS launches has been reported by Russian army bloggers by the Polish border hub of Rzeszów. https://t.me/infantmilitario/130094
That is how the struggle between the US, UK and Russia is being fought. The 2 main army bloggers, Boris Rozhin of Colonel Cassad and Mikhail Zvinchuk of Rybar, stay skeptical. “There may be each consciousness [of the Black Sea drone problem] within the decision-making facilities. However after all of the crossings of the crimson traces and regardless of the threatening statements to shoot down the American RQ-4, nobody has carried out so.”
Late on June 27, the Russian army weblog Militarist reported on the Royal Air Drive (RAF) operation over the Black Sea of the Rivet Joint digital warfare plane, escorted by Hurricane fighters. Yevgeny Krutikov’s Mudraya Ptitsa Telegram channel then reported that this RAF operation, often based mostly in Waddington, England, had been moved to Kogălniceanu Air Base base, close to Constanta, Romania. NATO and RAF press releases name this Romanian operation “enhanced air policing”. In earlier operations the Rivet Joint plane remained contained in the Romanian flight data area and had been with out fighter escorts; because the vary has been prolonged nearer to Crimea, the Typhoons have been added.
Throughout Monday July 1, there have been two new missile assaults on the Sevastopol space. Though the incoming missiles had been intercepted and destroyed within the air, Boris Rozhin, director of the Colonel Cassad army weblog, claimed “in the intervening time the struggle between the taking pictures of the air defence and the incoming [missiles] is unsatisfactory.”
In line with Rozhin’s stories, there have been two waves of Ukrainian missiles on Monday, the primary simply after 2 within the afternoon, and a second simply earlier than 7 within the night. The every day briefing by the Protection Ministry in Moscow had already introduced that eight British-made and directed Storm Shadow missiles had been shot down.
The Italian army monitoring web site Itamilradar has gone silent on monitoring each US and different NATO drones and digital warfare plane over the Black Sea since this report of June 25; that categorically denied hypothesis that Russian fighter plane had shot down a USAF International Hawk over the evening and early morning of June 23-24.
The International Hawk observe June 23-24. See an earlier Black Sea monitoring report on June 14.
On this report by Tsargrad on July 1, the army author Vladislav Schlepchenko stories that the Russian Air Drive has devised a tactic of intercepting the US drones with bursts of air turbulence so intense as to power their operators to retreat. The primary take a look at of the tactic was on June 24.
This can be a variation of the fuel-dumping tactic by two Su-27s which compelled the drone, an MQ-9 Reaper, into the Black Sea on March 14, 2023. On its second move, one of many Russian plane reportedly struck the drone.
Supply: https://www.pbs.org/
That Russian success triggered a phone name to Moscow by Normal Austin. The Russian Protection Ministry responded on the time that the motion was in response to “the intensification of intelligence actions in opposition to the pursuits of the Russian Federation,” and that Russia “will reply in form to all provocations.”
That language was repeated phrase for phrase final week. In line with this Tsargrad report the interception tactic has modified. So has the Pentagon’s response, and the shift in the interim to British goal steerage for Storm Shadow missile assaults. Tsargrad is a Moscow-based web and video channel directed by Konstantin Malofeyev. A monarchist and Orthodox believer, Malofeyev has been sanctioned, then indicted by the US as “one of many important sources of financing for Russians selling separatism in Crimea.” He’s vital of the army restraint of the Kremlin with out naming Putin.
Supply: https://tsargrad.television/
The American bought airsick over the Black Sea. The Russians have introduced out “marine predators”The deployment of NATO reconnaissance plane has intensified close to Crimea. [Russian] Fighter bombers have hinted on the response. The army observer explains why the American drone bought airsick and why Russia has introduced out “marine predators” [морских хищников].
NATO reconnaissance plane have begun to pay attention within the space of Crimea. Spy drones have been changed by reconnaissance plane. The state of affairs was commented on by the army correspondent of Tsargrad, Vladislav Shlepchenko.
They’re afraid to fly one by one
On the afternoon of July 1, it turned identified that the US Boeing P-8A Poseidon reconnaissance plane is circling within the sky over Romania within the firm of the Boeing KC-135R flying tanker, which refuels the plane. It was famous that as quickly as the method is accomplished, the machine will start to carry out the duty of digital reconnaissance of the territory of the Russian peninsula.
Tsargrad: picture: screenshot of the Flightradar24 Telegram channel.
Nonetheless, apparently, this didn’t appear sufficient to the NATO command. Subsequently, a British RC-135W Rivet Joint reconnaissance plane was transferred to Sevastopol from Waddington Air Base. There are suspicions that after the “incidents” with drones, the NATO air spies are afraid to fly close to the Russian border one by one.
Tsargrad: picture: screenshot of the Army Chronicle Telegram channel.
In the meantime, a Russian fighter-bomber pilot has once more posted a mysterious message on his Telegram channel. The pilot hints that [Russian Air Force] fighters have taken the required measures in opposition to American UAVs.
“There may be unrest within the sky of the Black Sea in the present day. The bourgeois stopped turning on the transponder, which didn’t assist them to go unnoticed in any means. We’re ready for particulars. The fighters have labored out the management goal. Who it was, what and the way, we’ll discover out somewhat later. However this isn’t correct”, wrote the writer of the Telegram channel Fighterbomber.
The Tsargrad army observer Vlad Shlepchenko believes that this data must be thought of within the context of an incident on the 24th. If we depend on data from Fighterbomber, then on that day a Russian MiG-31 made two passes on the American International Hawk reconnaissance drone, together with a move at a velocity of Mach 2 or 3, after which the American drone bought airsick.
In line with the monitoring providers of Flightradar 24, American drones didn’t seem over the Black Sea after the twenty fourth.
However now this exercise with airplanes — what does it imply? The very fact is that the People – I hate this expression – had been scared, however on this case it’s appropriate, Shlepchenko factors out. That’s, the People realized that it was now not essential to ship drones – in the event that they did, “disagreeable turbulence” would occur to them. That’s why they’re now sending manned planes as an alternative of drones. Furthermore, it’s not even the People who’re sending them, however the British.
“On the finish of final week, on Friday, there was a flight of a long-range digital surveillance plane, a British escort of two Eurofighter Hurricane fighters. There are a number of planes flying proper now. If that is an RC-135V Rivet Joint, that is an plane that’s designed for radar detection and monitoring of our territory,” Shlepchenko notes.
The army correspondent attracts consideration to the truth that this time a P-8 Poseidon anti-submarine plane was additionally despatched to the shores of Crimea. It’s wanted with a purpose to observe the exercise of “marine predators” – submarines. “This lively patrolling over the Black Sea could point out that our submarines have turn out to be extra lively and they’re doing one thing. In any other case, it wouldn’t make a lot sense to drive the Poseidon backwards and forwards,” Shlepchenko defined. He believes that every one this exercise exhibits that measures have certainly been taken to neutralize the American drones. And these measures have proved to be fairly efficient, which is why People now do not likely know what to do about it. “That’s to say, the response has been chosen in precisely the best way it must be,” Shlepchenko emphasizes.
The army observer recalled that, on the one hand, Russia will not be all in favour of dragging the armed wrestle into worldwide airspace and worldwide maritime house. As a result of the nation could be very depending on the flexibility to export oil and purchase electronics for the military-industrial complicated. “We don’t have to develop the struggle to worldwide waters in any respect, as a result of then it will likely be an enormous downside with commerce,” Shlepchenko defined.
“However,” he factors out, “it’s also now not doable to tolerate the complicity of People in terrorist assaults alongside our coast. Subsequently, the choice was discovered which satisfies the required necessities. And, apparently, this feature turned out to be, on the one hand, fairly deniable, and alternatively, impartial sufficient that the People now can’t use it to escalate the state of affairs with a few of their actions or statements.”
What are the results?
The professional remembers that the International Hawk reconnaissance drone can patrol for greater than 30 hours. Accordingly, “it could possibly loiter in the course of the Black Sea, so it could possibly observe exercise within the area for greater than a day. It sees ballistic missile launches, it sees anti-aircraft missile launches, it detects the exercise of digital warfare stations, radars, takeoffs and landings of plane. For the drone, the truth is your complete Crimea, Krasnodar Krai, and all the best way to the north, about 250 kilometers away, all of that is seen,” Shlepchenko defined.
“And all this data is poured into the NATO headquarters in actual time by the drone, they usually instantly pour it over the Ukrainian army forces. And so they have the flexibility to flexibly and immediately reply to air defence exercise. For instance, if the Ukrainian army sees that some Russian air defence system has fired its anti-aircraft missiles, they’ll instantly strike at it. Equally, the Ukrainians can perform a large strike on the Russian digital warfare complicated, if they’ve detected it. However proper now these eyes, which offer such a relentless benefit in situational consciousness, aren’t there,” Shlepchenko factors out.
Now, in accordance with Flightradar24, the reconnaissance plane function both from the territory of Romania, or make small sorties into the Black Sea, into impartial waters. However once more, they’re making an attempt to hug near Turkish territorial waters. And their flights are restricted, firstly by the gas provide within the plane itself whose vary and time within the air are lower than that of the International Hawk; and secondly, they’re additionally making an attempt to cowl them with fighters. In consequence, the time in motion is lowered.
That’s, they can not now conduct fixed reconnaissance, however solely in small episodes. Accordingly, there are home windows of alternative when our programs can relocate, conceal, bounce from one shelter to a different, and so forth.
What to do with airplanes
In following up, this recent query arises. How can we counteract enemy reconnaissance plane within the Black Sea now? “If we have now pushed out their drones, now we want to consider learn how to squeeze out the manned plane with out bringing the matter to a direct conflict”, Shlepchenko believes. In his view, NATO has deployed planes with dwell crews exactly as a result of they perceive that Russia doesn’t intend to shoot them down.
One doable answer to this downside often is the announcement of army workouts within the worldwide waters of the Black Sea with missile firing and testing of digital warfare programs. After which these warning notices can merely be repeated and up to date time and again. In order that “if somebody bought into worldwide waters the place we’re conducting workouts, it’s their very own fault. If somebody was flying and making an attempt to spy out one thing, and bumped into, say, the beam of our digital warfare complicated, the radiation of our digital warfare, it’s additionally his personal fault,” Shlepchenko explains the logic.
“If the enemy will bend, we have to put the squeeze on,” the army observer believes. So simply because it was doable to push out the NATO drones, then we should now get to work on the manned plane. However once more, this must be carried out with out bringing the matter to a direct battle, to conditions which can be utilized by the West to start out taking direct aggressive actions,” Shlepchenko concluded.
