russian occupiers decided to return one of their missile boats of the Black Sea Fleet to the dock for repairs, which they had decommissioned. russians took this step to compensate the loss of Ivanovets missile corvette. It was sunk on February 4, 2024, by maritime drones of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine.
At first glance, such russians actions may look logical in some ways. Only two missile boats of Black Sea Fleet left after the sinking of Ivanovets. But on the other hand, the question arises: what ship russian occupiers decommissioned but then changed their minds and brought it back.
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The spokesman of the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Captain 3rd rank Dmytro Pletenchuk did not specify which missile boat he was talking about in his commentary.
But if we examine open sources, we can conclude that it is R-71 Shuya missile boat of the project 12417 Molniya-1. A number of questions arise: what weapons did this boat have, and why did russians not hesitate to decommission this boat in 2023?
Shuya was the last boat in russian Black Sea Fleet that was armed with outdated P-15M Termit anti-ship missiles (four launchers, maximum range up to 80 kilometers), while the sunken Ivanovets was armed with supersonic P-270 Moskit anti-ship missiles (with a maximum range of 90 to 250 kilometers).
According to russians, the Shuya boat was useful to the Black Sea Fleet for some time as a floating launcher for P-15M Termite missiles. They were used as target missiles during various exercises. In addition, the Shuya was used as a platform for testing the naval version of the Pantsir SAM system in 2021.
It should be noted that the Shuya boat was commissioned in 1985, as wellas the sunken Ivanivets in 1989. In addition, even if both of them formally belong to similar projects, the difference in the main caliber of weapons, i.e. the type of anti-ship missiles is quite significant.
However, it is possible that russian occupiers will replenish the fleet losses at any cost, especially when the production of new ships is difficult. In this case, the return to service a boat with a service life dating back to 1985 and equipped with the P-15M Termite missiles looks good.
Earlier Defense Express reported that laid down in 2013, russian Admiral Isakov frigate still hadn`t reached the water.
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