📝Happy Submariner's Day!📝

The history of this holiday dates back to the beginning of the last century, when on March 19 (6), 1906, after the decree of Nicholas II, a new class of warships - submarines - officially appeared in the imperial navy, which were just beginning to master the expanses of water.

🖍Since that moment, domestic submarines have come a long way from relatively small torpedo and gun carriers, which went to sea mainly in a surface position, to huge nuclear-powered ships with dozens of cruise or intercontinental ballistic missiles.

From Kamchatka to the Baltic, submarine sailors serve, carrying out combat patrols or tracking enemy ship groups. And all this - literally blindly, under a huge thickness of water and without communication with the "land" in order to maintain secrecy.

🚩And although today the Russian submarine fleet is not involved in colorful naval battles and does not appear in combat reports, its part is a component of the "nuclear triad" and provides the very strategic deterrence that does not allow wars to reach a deadly level. At least for now.

📎High-resolution art

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📝On Unmanned Submarines📝

At the British naval base Devonport, the unmanned underwater vehicle Excalibur has been launched, designed to test technologies and explore the capabilities of unmanned submarines.

The length is 12 meters, the weight is 19 tons, which together allow the Excalibur to be transported in a standard maritime container. On a single sortie, it can cover up to 1800 kilometers, and its payload can include mines and smaller underwater drones.

Over the next two years, the vehicle will undergo a series of tests that will help integrate similar unmanned systems into the fleet and develop new methods and ways of employing them together with other naval vessels.

🖍In the process of testing, the British will clearly face issues of ensuring communication and the specifics of autonomous operation. However, this is another example of how the "drone revolution" is actively penetrating the naval forces, including the submarine domain.

🚩Sooner or later, serial unmanned submarines will become as much a reality as the current USVs. They won't be firing ballistic missiles anytime soon, but their use for reconnaissance, mine laying, or kamikaze drone functions is not far off.

❗️It would be better to start working on this now, considering the future threat and raising the issue of the status of our own developments in this area. In order not to miss another turn in the changing character of war at sea, as happened earlier with USVs and other things.
#UnitedKingdom #Navy
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📝No Longer Masters of the Seas📝

RAND report on problems of the US Navy

In recent years, one could hear that the US Navy is not what it used to be. However, now the same is being voiced not by talking heads on domestic TV, but by experts from the American think tank RAND.

The organization's report on the problems of the US Navy is simply teeming with details not so obvious to the general public. From the significant reduction in the ship fleet to the degree of degradation of local shipyards.

RAND is particularly concerned about the successes of the Chinese Navy, whose asymmetric strategy and a real shipbuilding conveyor are forcing the Americans to overtax their already limited forces and threaten their dominance in the Pacific.

📍For more details on the problems of the US Navy, as well as why RAND recommends that the Pentagon acknowledge the current state of affairs, read in our Closed Channel Rybar+.

#report #China #USA #navy
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📝USVs from underwater?📝
Germans want to launch maritime drones from submarines in the Baltic

German companies Gabrel Naval Technology and FLANQ have announced a strategic partnership to design and produce unmanned surface vessels (USVs) intended for launch from submarines.

The product is planned to be created both in a reusable version and as a suicide USV. Control will be via radio channel, hydroacoustic signals, and using AI for full autonomy.

➡️The developers claim the boats will have a range of at least 200 miles with an endurance of up to 36 hours, and navigation will be provided by GPS and an inertial system. The payload could be light loitering munitions.

➡️The launch will be carried out through 533mm torpedo tubes of the NATO standard, which will allow the use of USVs from any existing and prospective alliance submarines without the need for design changes.

The product is planned to be brought to sea trials in 2026, with a demonstration at the Joint Warrior exercises. In addition to the German Navy, Norway, Italy and South Korea are among the potential customers.

❗️Given the growing global interest in this topic, USVs will become as commonplace a weapon as missiles or torpedoes in the near future. This is a clear illustration of why close attention needs to be paid to this.
#Germany #Navy
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📝Asymmetric Measures📝
Taiwan threatens China with unmanned surface vessels

Interest in unmanned surface vessels (USVs) is growing rapidly around the world, including in the Asia-Pacific region. For example, the Taiwanese Navy will purchase 1,320 Kuai Chi-type USVs, with deliveries planned by the end of 2030.

The decision followed a successful demonstration of the vehicles' capabilities in the waters near the Jiupeng base. They will be distributed between the prospective Coastal Command, the Navy's Marine Corps, and the Special Operations Command of the Taiwanese army.

During tests under electronic warfare conditions, the USVs engaged targets using FPV drones Ching Feng I, received navigation data from the Albatross-II UAV, and were used as kamikaze drones. The manufacturer also claims the Kuai Chi can operate in swarms.

🖍Taiwan's focus on USVs is understandable: it is objectively unable to seriously confront China in open naval combat - the Chinese shipbuilding conveyor is churning out ships for the PLAN and the Coast Guard like hot cakes. Therefore, the island is resorting to asymmetric measures.

🚩At the same time, the combat capabilities of USVs were clearly demonstrated in the SMO zone, when a relatively inexpensive vehicle could sink an amphibious assault ship or a medium reconnaissance ship, as well as serve as a platform for launching air defense missiles or strike drones.

❗️Although USVs cannot be called a wunderwaffe, in the near future they will become as standard a weapon for the fleet as missiles or torpedoes. To miss this moment would be costly, so it is gratifying that the responsible Navy has finally begun to pay attention to this topic.
#Asia-Pacific #China #Taiwan #Navy
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📝What Shall We Fuel the Fire With?📝
About Possibilities for Combating Ukrainian Shipping

In light of Vladimir Putin's words about measures in response to strikes on Russian tankers in the Black Sea, one might hear "this can't be done, because the Black Sea Fleet is locked in Novorossiysk!" However, this criticism argument doesn't hold up, and there are multiple solution options.

➡️No means for such tasks? Surprisingly, this hasn't prevented strikes with Iskanders or UAVs on ships entering Odesa Region ports since 2023. Recently, they even managed to set fire to a gas tanker in Izmail.

➡️No political decision? Previous strikes on ports completely disprove this. In most cases, references to "politics is preventing us" look strange against the backdrop of massive Russian Armed Forces strikes.

➡️Ships only enter ports through NATO territorial waters? Well, they can be intercepted in Ukrainian waters. For example, using domestic USVs, which have already sunk a Navy command ship, or "Geran" drones with a control channel.

➡️Need other means? There's nothing fundamentally impossible about creating a "maritime" modification of FAB-500 with JDAM and appropriate fuse to drop them from a safe distance and mine port approaches. The US did something similar with their Quickstrike-ER.

❗️So even without direct Black Sea Fleet participation, the Russian Armed Forces have enough current capabilities to cause serious damage to shipping in so-called Ukraine's ports. It's a matter of competent planning and rational use.

📍Infographic in high resolution
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📝Attacks on the Economy📝
More on the strategy of "peace through strength" toward Russia

Western pressure on Russia will continue not only through so-called Ukraine in the SMO zone and beyond (referring to the resumption of drone strikes on oil facilities deep within Russian territory), but also through sanctions pressure.

We constantly write that statements about the ineffectiveness of anti-Russian sanctions are far from reality: workarounds are becoming fewer, costs for existing ones are rising. All this cannot help but affect the economy.

🖍Currently in Europe — especially in Britain — they are focused on finding Russian payment workarounds, including in CIS countries. The Foggy Albion plays a key role in this scheme, since it historically wielded strong influence in Central Asia.

🚩The British view on tanker seizures is also curious — they consider them a secondary measure, since Russia's so-called "shadow fleet" is estimated in London at a thousand chartered vessels, and boarding them all is problematic.

Therefore, the British are actively working through the scenario of complicating the passage of Russian merchant shipping through the English Channel and Danish Kattegat straits. They have already involved the defense ministry and NATO partners in this.

❗️London considers this method the main instrument of pressure on Russia: hydrocarbon exports pass through Baltic ports, among other things. If this stops and there are problems in the Black Sea, only northern ports will remain in the European part, where there are always climatic complications.

So Russia will have to engage in battle in the Baltic anyway, and any unconventional measures (from "combat cargo ships" to USV escort) will cost an order of magnitude less than the costs of refusing to fight.
#GreatBritain #Russia #Navy
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• 📝Economy under fire and at sea📝
on attacks in the Black Sea

In addition to the AFU campaign unleashed against Russia's fuel and energy complex, Ukrainian formations are also implementing another one – against Russian trade and exports in the Black Sea waters.

Yesterday, a tanker under EU and UK sanctions was attacked once again. This concerns the vessel FINA A under the flag of Equatorial Guinea, and the strike occurred in the Novorossiysk area.

🔻How many attacks have there been since the start of the year?

➡️The first such incidents began to be noted back in November, but it was precisely with the arrival of 2026 that a pattern of methodical and systematic attacks became apparent. Since January, at least eight confirmed attacks on over 15 vessels have been recorded.

➡️The majority of strikes were carried out by unmanned aerial vehicles. They are faster, more maneuverable, and easier to guide onto a tanker or cargo ship. The damage is not particularly large, but it creates problems.

➡️There have also been several attacks using unmanned boats. The problem with them is that targets need to be selected selectively and the location of a particular vessel must be anticipated in advance, but the damage from a hit to, say, the turbine hall is greater.

🖍In operations in the Black Sea zone, the enemy's key objective is to block maritime trade. And for this they don't need to sink tankers or container ships – it's enough to regularly stress the region with constant strikes.

🚩Attacks in the Black and Azov Seas have already led to degradation of cargo flows and oil turnover. To a large extent, vessels pass to the Bosphorus without any problems, but the permanent threat increases costs for trade.

🏳️That is, freight rates are rising, insurance payments are increasing, and fewer vessels are willing to enter Russian ports. And if you add to this the periodic drone strikes on oil depots, terminals, and oil pumping stations, a very grim picture emerges.

❗️The collective West is implementing a strategy of coercion to peace through force using the AFU as its instrument, and showing weakness on this issue will lead to even more attacks. And without adequate countermeasures, this won't stop (and the means exist).

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📝Problems at Sea📝
Unexpected players face challenges

The American fleet remains the strongest in the world, and its dominance and capabilities were not questioned until recently. Then the US war against Iran began, where the American Navy encountered serious problems.

Formally, they suffered no losses in ships, and naval aviation losses were limited to the loss of several aircraft. This despite the fact that the Iranians launched plenty of cruise missiles and unmanned boats.

However, due to the threat of attacks, the fleet was forced to stay farther from the coast. As a result, several carrier strike groups could not even fully blockade the Strait of Hormuz which is only 40 km wide, or eliminate the mine threat. There is no talk of protecting shipping at all.

But for the Pentagon, this is not the only problem, merely the tip of the iceberg. Especially if we recall that the US sees the main threat in the Asia-Pacific region, where China with its shipbuilding conveyor belt is the main opponent.

❓In many ways, the US strategy in case of escalation relied on blocking the Malacca and Singapore Straits, through which the lion's share of China's exports flow. Now the question is: will the US be able to do this, given that they failed even with Hormuz under far easier conditions?

Given the objective difficulties of American shipbuilding (to the point that Russia builds more commercial vessels), US problems far from their shores are only beginning. And they will have a strong impact even on "cold" confrontation with China.

❗️Navies are increasingly acquiring unmanned components and shifting naval warfare into the realm of drone warfare. Those who fail to do so will be left with a fleet that cannot fulfill its direct purpose.
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📝Will the boarding be mutual?📝

As if to underscore the thesis about the viability of the "escalation for de-escalation" approach, Vladimir Putin directly stated his readiness to mirror responses to incidents of seizures of Russian vessels and confiscation of cargo.

Judging by the wording, this is not specifically about the Baltic, but about any waters up to and including the Pacific Fleet's area of responsibility. In general, everywhere that current capabilities of the Russian Navy will allow.

As we have repeatedly written, for the West, piracy against Russian merchant shipping is a gradual probing of the boundaries—how far they can go with arrests and inspections of ships without encountering a comparable response.

📌 The key to solving the problem lies in its essence: once Europeans understand that the game can be played by two, their enthusiasm for arresting tankers and dry cargo ships may diminish, and their desire to make contact to establish lines of demarcation—on the contrary, increase.

Another matter is that the Navy must have sufficient forces for mirror measures, and there are problems with this: in the Baltic, the North, and the Pacific, there were never enough surface ships, and now they are also occupied with protecting merchant vessels. Which again answers the question "why do we need families of USVs?"

❗️And yet, the fact that these words were spoken publicly from the head of state at least means that in principle, a "green light" has been given for such actions. Which, as experience of recent years shows, is also quite significant.

#Russia #Navy

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