The Ukrainian Navy suffered badly in the opening days of the Russian invasion. Now they are rebuilding and transforming. New boats are being supplied by the west, including riverine and coastal combat boats from the United States.
The newly delivered ‘Defiant’ patrol boats are already operating in the Black Sea.
The 40 foot (12.2 meters) long ‘40 Defiant’ is built by Metal Shark in Franklin, Louisiana. Two Cummins QSB 6.7 diesel engines, driving twin water jets, allow it to reach speeds of up to 40 knots. The welded aluminum monohull design includes ballistic protection to increase combat survivability.
In 2017 the U.S. Navy selected the Defiant, to be known as the 40 PB, to replace existing Coastal Riverine Forces (CRF) boats. Now 6 of these have been supplied to Ukraine as part of a package following the Russian invasion.
In U.S. Navy service they can be equipped with remote operated weapons stations. In Ukrainian service they have been shown with crew operated weapons. These include two M2 .50 Cal Browning heavy machine guns, a Mk.19 automatic grenade launcher and an M240 7.56mm medium machine gun. These weapons can be rapidly switched to other pedestal mounted systems.
Rebuilding The Ukrainian Navy
The rebuilding of Ukraine’s navy is timely. Even relatively small boats like the Defiant signal a growing readiness for possible next phases of the war.
The Ukrainian Navy went into the war with a single frigate and various small combatants, patrol boats and auxiliaries. Many were sunk or captured in the opening days of the invasion. And the frigate, Hetman Sahaidachny, was scuttled. A few Gunboats, patrol vessels, and coast guard vessels remained active. But these were no match for the Russian Navy at the time.
Within a few months the situation began to change. Ukraine was able to deal the Russians a massive blow by sinking the cruiser Moskva with locally developed Neptune anti-ship missiles. And soon they received Harpoon anti-ship missiles from the West. As Western weapons flowed in, Ukraine started switching to the offense. The Russian Navy started to back away.
The fact that Russia has so far appeared unable to eliminate the new navy is telling. Russia can launch cruise missiles and ‘kamikaze drones’ against military relevant and civilian targets in Ukraine, but they don’t appear to have the means to take the navy on. This is despite having the vastly superior naval force in terms of warships.
In fact Russian warships appear to have been deterred from doing anywhere near the Ukrainian coast. Principally this is because of the anti-ship missiles. And their air forces are similarly weakened. This has created space for Ukraine’s resurgent navy.
Outlook
On paper the Ukrainian Navy is still no match for their much larger Russian adversary. Russia still has a sizable fleet of frigates and smaller warships which individually out gun these new patrol boats. And of course, Russia has five submarines in the Black Sea which are unmatched.
But as Ukraine has a tendency of reminding us, it’s not what you have, it’s what you do with it. Ukraine’s naval strategy is asymmetric. If used smartly these new boats are ideal for this.
