Ngrgurdiannews

As Ukraine and the West focus on building up Ukrainian ground forces and getting modern aircraft into Ukrainian hands, the Ukrainian Navy risks being forgotten. A Navy receiving only a few surplus mine-hunters, inshore patrol boats and a few unmanned patrols is a priority for nobody.

It is a mistake. The fundamental building blocks of Ukraine’s next navy—before Russia’s 2022 invasion—will arrive earlier than most outside observers expect.

with the future of Ukraine Hetman Ivan MazepaThe first of two Turkish-built, 326-ft. ada class corvettes, set to arrive in Ukrainian waters in only nineteen months, Ukraine’s friends must join the mammoth task of training the crew, preparing the new ship for combat, and leading the Ukrainian Navy to the point where He could hold himself. against the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine has only escalated Utility of the Black Sea Naval ForceS. Russia, well aware of the importance of dominating the Black Sea, has for years been chipping away at Ukraine’s creaking, underfunded Soviet-era navy, first sinking and seizing Ukrainian ships during its 2014 annexation of Crimea .

Ukraine’s few remaining large ships were lost in the days before Russia’s full-scale 2022 invasion.

Little is left.

The Ukrainian Navy needs a complete reboot. But how? The incremental increase of separate combat units will not survive in the disputed Black Sea.

And, regardless of how Ukraine’s defense progresses over the next year, the Black Sea will be no place for untrained, pre-prepared sailors to go and learn their craft. The eastern Mediterranean, often filled with Russian ships and submarines, is no safe haven either.

Ukraine’s next navy will survive only if it is protected, trained, and then flown into the Black Sea as a cohesive multi-unit fleet ready for battle.

What awaits the mighty MILGEM vessels of Ukraine?

ada The class corvette, the first product of Türkiye’s “MILGEM” family of surface warships, is not lacking. Designed to perform a comprehensive underwater attack vehicle and surface patrol role, Ukraine’s two new vessels will carry an impressive array of sensors and weapons.

Built around a 76 mm main gun, the ships carry a mix of anti-ship missiles, torpedoes, a close-in anti-aircraft defense system and a helicopter along with other airborne vehicles. However, it is not like that earle burke (DDG-51) destroyer, the light, 2,300 ton corvette is a good, workable design for places like the Black Sea.

Four ada class corvettes are already in service with the Turkish Navy. Pakistan is building two of its own, and Ukraine has bought two. now apart from launch Hetman Ivan MazepaTürkiye begins construction of second Ukrainian corvette in mid March,

In the original plan, Türkiye was to manufacture the basic hull, mechanical and electrical systems for the vessel, and by the end of 2023, deliver the ship to Ukraine to install the weapon systems and integrate the vessel. Given Russia’s 2022 invasion, the shipyard is unlikely to function during an attack on Ukraine. Information on how the ship will eventually be completed is difficult to find.

What seems clear is that the ship will either be delivered from Turkey, virtually complete, or the ship will go to another country—outside the current war zone—for final fittings. The final location of the Ukrainian ship’s fit-out and the location and extent of the Ukrainian crew’s training regime are unknown.

The plan to build a navy is overdue:

While Ukraine is putting together some basic future operational pieces, piloting RGM-84 Harpoon missiles and conducting exercises with UH-60A Blackhawk helicopters, the Ukrainian Navy still needs to operate and maintain its new ship. Keeping it alive in the Black Sea would face a real challenge.

To keep Ukraine’s “next navy” above the waves, Ukraine’s friends will need to either put Ukraine’s waters under some sort of protective NATO-type mechanism, or help NATO countries train Ukraine. Will need to — and then deliver — a credible Marine force. Once, I.

To put it bluntly, Ukraine’s navy will sink unless it is under air cover in sufficient numbers to resist an onslaught of Russian air and sea units. The second Ukraine takes ownership of a major vessel, sinking the new Ukrainian fighter will be a Russian priority.

To start the process immediately, the US Navy has the opportunity to begin training Ukrainian sailors on either a freedom class littoral combat ship or initial flight earle burke Destroyer – or both.

First with LCS-1, former USS freedom already decommissioned and stricken from the Navy’s rolls, and with many freedom class littoral combat ship is already slated for decommissioning in the future, the LCS-1 should be somewhat easier to turn over and begin training Ukrainian crews immediately.

On the other hand, many early earle burke The destroyers are nearing the end of their expected 35-year service life. while the Navy plans to keep some early earle burke Destroyers have been in service for 40 years, others will probably be sent to the junkyard. One or two of those ships, if scheduled for operational duty in the Black Sea, will no longer suffer the operational wear and tear of long ocean transits, and may be able to remain in service, for a good Could shut down Russian aircraft for. Whereas.

freedom Class Littoral Combat Ship much loved ada class corvette, and would be a logical starting point for Ukraine. But an early flight may be a better option for Ukraine, which is almost ready to decommission the DDG-51. The original Aegis radar, offering a protective aerospace bubble, may not be of much use in the Pacific, but it is formidable enough to give breathing space to Ukraine, which needs a ready, modern and survivable force in the Black Sea. There is a need to develop a naval force.