It has been revealed by the Times that an American asset was patrolling the Black Sea
in the hours before the Moskva was hit by Ukrainian missiles.
A Boeing P-8 Poseidon was within 100 miles or 160 km of the Moskva on the day the Russian
cruiser sustained catastrophic damage.
On 13 April 2022, Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych and Odesa governor Maksym
Marchenko said that Moskva had been hit by two Neptune anti-ship missiles and was on
fire in rough seas. The ship sank later.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes how American P-8 Poseidon played a critical role
in helping Ukraine sink Moskva ? Let's get started.
According to The Times, the P-8 took off from Italy and took up station on the Romanian
Black Sea coast where it attempted to locate the position of the Russian Black Sea fleet.
Since the invasion of Ukraine, a range of NATO surveillance platforms and drones have
been monitoring Russian movements from the Polish coast, along the Ukrainian border and
down to the Black Sea.
As per The Times, the P-8 left US Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily on April 13, hours
before the attack.
Before reaching the Black Sea coastline, the Poseidon turned off its trackers, so it could
no longer be followed online.
The aircraft was 'hidden' for almost three hours before it returned to Flight Radar 24.
Aviation data analysis Amelia Smith told The Times that there were slightly more US aircraft
covering the Black Sea coast on the day of the attack.
However, the US Navy refused to confirm if they assisted Ukraine with the attack by providing
intelligence data.
Viewers may note that the P8, which costs about £330 or $430 million, is one of the
the most sophisticated submarine-hunting and warship-tracking plane in the world.
The P-8 Poseidon is developed by Boeing & is modified from the 737-800ERX.
It is capable of anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-surface warfare (ASUW), and shipping
interdiction. It also has early warning self-protection (EWSP) ability.
Powered by 2 × CFM56-7B27A turbofans that are capable of generating 121 kN of thrust,
it is able to reach a maximum speed of 563 mph or 907 kph. It has a combat radius: 1,380
miles or 2,222 km that enables it to cover large swaths of ocean.
The flight management system and the store management system were developed by Smiths
Aerospace. The system is based on an integrated open
architecture enabling compatibility with future upgrades. The cabin is fitted with up to seven
operator consoles.
P-8 is equipped with AN/APY-10 radar which is installed on the enlarged nose fairing.
The AN/APY-10 radar provides the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) mode capability for imaging,
detection, classification and identification of stationary ships and small vessels and
for coastal and overland surveillance, as well as the high-resolution imaging synthetic
aperture radar (ISAR) mode for imaging, detection, classification and tracking of surfaced submarines
and small, fast-moving vessels that operate in coastal waters.
P-8 is fitted with the CAE advanced integrated magnetic anomaly detection (MAD) system.
It is also able to drop and monitor sonobuoys which are basically expendable sonar systems.
P-8 possess Northrop Grumman electronic warfare self-protection (EWSP) suite which includes
a Terma AN/ALQ-213(V) electronic warfare management system (EWMS), a Northrop Grumman directional
infrared countermeasures (DIRCM) set, a Northrop Grumman radar warning system and a BAE Systems
countermeasures dispenser system.
While the weapons have not been used on this occasion, the P-8 is capable of neutralizing
targets on its own.
P-8 has 5 internal and 6 external stations for weapons and can deploy AGM-84H/K SLAM-ER,
AGM-84 Harpoon, Mark 54 torpedo, missiles, mines and smart as well as free-fall bombs.
P-8's capabilities were appreciated by Indian forces when Indian Navy's Poseidon 8I was
deployed to carry out surveillance on the movement of Chinese troops during the 73-day-long
standoff between India and China in mountainous Doklam in 2017.
Defence expert Capt D K Sharma stated, "The P-8I aircraft were the most potent platform
to carry out surveillance -- be it sea or mountains. The aircraft were live-streaming
data to support decision making during the Doklam face-off"
While the hit was accomplished using Ukraine's indigenous Neptune missile, it is very likely
that location was provided by the P-8.
Distraction by Bayraktar TB2 drone, rough sea , potential incompetence of crew and old
defense hardware may have also played their part.
The U.S. has been working for decades on setting up a strong intelligence backbone and this
is paying dividends.
The loss of Moskva is a major psychological blow to Russia’s naval power.
It has also created a tactical issue for Russia in the Black Sea.
The access to the Black Sea is controlled by Turkey under the Montreux Convention of
1936, which gives it rights to limit transit during wartime through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles
Straits that connect the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, with an exemption for naval
ships returning to their home bases. In early March, Turkey called for all sides
to respect the Convention. This puts Russia at a disadvantage because it cannot provide
a replacement for the Moskva.
Its Black Sea naval capability will, therefore, stand weekend as long as the war endures.
Moskva's loss has greatly reduced the likelihood of an amphibious assault on Odesa and has
dealt a blow to Russia’s capabilities in the Black Sea.