Disarming Russian submarines should be the next step in the war, said the expert

The expert assessed the prospects of confrontation between Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea. In particular, an important goal is the neutralization of submarines of the Russian Federation.

This is written by retired US Navy colonel and senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies Mark Kanchian in Foreign Affairs.

According to him, the Russians can now operate in the Black Sea in only two ways – mining the water area and launching underwater missiles from submarines.

“Foreign partners can help Ukraine cope with sea demining – both with technical means and with its own resources. The Russians have not particularly used submarines so far – Ukraine currently has no military goals that would be worth spending their resources on. The Russians do not dare to attack civilian ships carrying grain and other goods. When, for one reason or another, they decide to use submarines, Western partners should help Ukraine with intelligence and technology in order to neutralize them as soon as possible, as soon as they are in the range of Ukrainian weapons,” says Mark Kanchyan.

Read also: Three surface drones — Sea Baby, Magura V5 and Mamai — are used for operations in the Black Sea.

According to the expert, Ukraine does not need to spend time and money on building a network of radars, aircraft and submarines to detect and destroy Russian submarines, considering that there are only five of them.

“Kiev only needs the Russians to be afraid to withdraw their submarines from their bases because of the real risk of their destruction. This is much easier to achieve,” emphasizes the colonel of the US Navy.

As USM previously reported, by the end of 2023, 20% of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet had already been destroyed.