A Beriev Be-12 takes off. Photo by: Aviation-images.com/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
- Ukraine has attacked the Russian Black Sea Fleet with cruise missile strikes and naval drone strikes.
- To counter the new threat posed by naval drones, Russia is increasing its maritime air patrol operations.
- British intelligence said a “key asset” for these missions was the decades-old Be-12 amphibious aircraft.
Russia is most likely relying on a decades-old amphibious aircraft to track down a dangerous Ukrainian threat to its Black Sea fleet, according to Western intelligence agencies.
Kiev has no proper navy but has stepped up attacks on the Black Sea Fleet and other key targets around the occupied Crimean peninsula over the past two months as part of its ongoing counteroffensive. These include cruise missile strikes on a key shipyard and fleet headquarters, as well as attacks with unmanned surface vessels (USVs) – or maritime drones – on Russian ships.
Sea drones, which are inexpensive and can be filled with explosives, are a headache for Russia because the country doesn’t know how to consistently stop the systems. Experts say the naval drones give Ukraine an “asymmetric advantage,” prompting the leadership in Kyiv to prioritize the development of what they call “the formation of the world’s first naval fleet of drones.”
In early August, Ukraine used naval drones in two major attacks: the first damaged the landing ship Olenegorsky Gornyak in the Russian port of Novorossiysk, and the other damaged the landing ship “disabled” the Russian merchant tanker Sig near the Kerch Strait. In September, Ukraine claims Its drones scored hits on Russian patrol ships and other ships. The Russian Ministry of Defense denied these claims, saying its forces had thwarted these attacks, but the British Ministry of Defense said Moscow was still looking for solutions to the problem.
“In recent weeks, the naval aviation component of the Russian Black Sea Fleet has assumed a particularly important role in the fleet’s operations as it struggles to manage concurrent threats on the southern flank of the Ukraine war,” Britain’s Defense Ministry wrote on Monday Intelligence update.
“Naval Aviation places emphasis on maritime air patrol operations, the main task of which is most likely the early identification of unmanned surface vessels,” the UK Ministry of Defense said. “A key Russian asset in these operations is the Be-12 MAIL amphibious aircraft, developed in the 1950s and flying from bases in occupied Crimea.”
A Be-12 amphibious aircraft designed for anti-submarine warfare and maritime patrol duties is on display at the Museum of the World Ocean in Kaliningrad, Russia, Sept. 7, 2019. Photo by Michal Fludra/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The Beriev Be-12 is a Soviet-era turboprop aircraft developed in the 1950s and first flown in 1960. Capable of flying from both land bases and water, the Be-12 is designed for short-range anti-submarine and anti-ship operations. Thanks to a radar, a magnetic anomaly detector and sonobuoys, it can perform patrol duties and is armed with torpedoes and mines.
Typically flying with a crew of four — two pilots, a navigator and a radio and sensor operator — the Be-12 can reach speeds of nearly 330 miles per hour and fly at a maximum altitude of about 10,000 feet. Because the aircraft is so old, Russia has begun replacing it with the jet-powered Be-200ES.
Russia has long kept its Be-12 operational at the Kacha air base in Crimea, where the planes were spotted on patrols last year.
It remains to be seen whether the Be-12 will make a difference in curbing the Ukrainian naval drone threat. According to the British Ministry of Defense, Russia has not only carried out increased air patrol operations at sea, but also carried out maritime attack operations with its fighter jets. The Defense Ministry pointed to a likely shift of the Black Sea Fleet’s activities from Sevastopol to Novorossiysk, a process that was already underway in some ways following a naval drone attack last fall.
“With further naval activity likely to shift to Novorossiysk in light of threats to Sevastopol, Russia is seeking to use its naval air power to deploy troops over the northwestern Black Sea,” the British Ministry of Defense said on Monday.
Sevastopol, which lies on the southwestern edge of Crimea and is home to the Black Sea Fleet, was the victim of two major cruise missile attacks last month, one hitting a key shipyard and the other the fleet’s headquarters. Overall, these attacks damaged several ships and killed and injured numerous Russian personnel. Novorossiysk, on the other hand, is a port on the other side of the Black Sea in Russia’s internationally recognized territory, although Ukraine has proven that it can still reach Novorossiysk with its maritime drones and cause damage there.
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