The attack tactics on the Russian warship “Caesar Kunikov” are based on World War II, says a Ukrainian security expert. Ukraine adapted them for its maritime drones.
Kiev – Ukraine has attacked and disabled five Russian warships since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression in the Black Sea. The Russian Black Sea Fleet has now been largely pushed out of the western part of the sea. On Wednesday, Ukrainian intelligence reported the sinking of the “Caesar Kunikov” on the southern coast of the annexed Crimean peninsula.
The Ukrainians hit the landing ship not far from the city of Alupka with sea drones of the type “Magura V5”, said the HUR military intelligence service in Kiev. He released a video showing several sea drones loaded with explosives heading towards the Russian warship and exploding. The night-time sinking of the landing ship was inspired by military history, said Ivan Stupak, a former officer in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). Newsweek.
Ukraine sinks Russian warship off Crimea – sea drones attack the “Caesar Kunikov”
According to Ivan Stupak, who is in Ukraine war works as an advisor to the National Security, Defense and Intelligence Committee of the Ukrainian Parliament, said: “The wolf pack tactic was a World War II tactic in the Atlantic in which numerical superiority was used to launch a massive attack by submarines on an enemy ship,” said Stupak. With the end of the Second World War, the use of this tactic stopped – since the Russian war of aggression, Ukraine has been using this swarm tactic for its sea drones.
During the attack on the “Caesar Kunikov” on Wednesday, nighttime video footage shows several sea drones loaded with explosives heading towards the Russian warship and exploding. The ship is said to have sunk by now. The extent of the damage could not initially be independently verified. So far there has been no reaction from the Russian side. In the morning, the Russian Defense Ministry only reported six Ukrainian drones that were allegedly successfully shot down over the Black Sea during the night.
Russia’s warship sunk by Ukraine: Video from the Ukraine war shows excerpts
This is how the “wolf pack tactics” of the German Navy worked in World War II
The wolf pack tactic was a key strategy in German submarine warfare in World War II. Wehrmacht submarine groups operated together rather than individually to attack Allied merchant ships and convoys. The tactic was aimed at isolating merchant ships from their guards and weakening the effectiveness of the convoy. The “wolf pack tactic” was used for the first time in October 1939 – German submarines had already carried out similar maneuvers during the First World War.
Through coordinated attacks, the German submarines were able to overwhelm the Allied defenses and inflict significant casualties. The attacks themselves mostly took place at night and over water, as the submarines were difficult to see for the convoy guards at this time of day – there was no radar at that time.
The “wolf pack tactic” was particularly effective in the early years of the war, when Allied anti-submarine defense was not yet as advanced. Over the course of the war, the Allies developed counter-strategies such as improved escort tactics and technological innovations to curb the threat from submarines. It was also possible to decipher the Wehrmacht’s Enigma codes.