Amphibious landings would also likely be accompanied by substantial helicopter assaults and support operating from land, in North-west Crimea.
This cannot land very many vehicles though, except the HALOs and even they are limited
The landings would likely face sea mines, land mines on beaches and beach obstacles. Additionally, modern anti-tank missiles and drones are a very real concern for them.
I don't want to try to predict the landing beach, but a couple of observations...
Much of the coast is heavily touristic. It is broken into short sections of beach, roughly 100 meters wide. Quite short beach them often an urban environment.
This is a challenging place to land
East of Odessa, toward the attack from Ukraine, there are a lot of rivers breaking the coastline into segments. Pros and cons but risk of becoming contained by the terrain if you land here
To the east there are a lot of these narrow beaches with water behind them. I think that this would be a terrible place to land. Sitting ducks.
Any landing seems like suicide, but Russia might be committed.
Possible reasons (speculation!):
a) to aid the land thrust from Crimea towards Odessa
b) to take Odessa directly
c) land bridge to Transnistria, Moldova
Thanks for your time, hopefully helpful
Another aspect (forgot to mention...)
Russian forces are likely to land in daylight. This makes them more vulnerable
It is not clear which infantry will be used, and whether they are trained for amphibious assaults. Logistics drivers etc too. There were unverified reports of mutiny in Naval Infantry units about a landing, so might be other troops now
Russia also has a number of smaller landing ships, amphibious boats and assault boats.
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I don't normally post about aircraft, but here are 5 awesome and usual loadouts from the Cold War which really interest me from a design perspective.
In descending order of awesomeness
5. A-5 Vigilante US Navy bomber with nuclear bomb up backside
4. English Electric Lightning. Awesome fighter, could carry ferry tanks in the overwing position. Hard to find photos of this, but it could also carry twin SNEB rocket pods above each with, with fuel tanks behind them (!).
3. Ilyushin Il-102, which lost out to the now-famous Su-25 FROGFOOT. Aside from rad lines and rear-facing aft cockpit, check out the tail gun!
#Ukrainian strike on #Russian Navy base at Sevastopol in Crimea appears to have damaged, possibly seriously (TBC), the submarine support ship Kommuna (ref ) hisutton.com/Russian-Navy-K…
Video
Kommuna gets a degree of sympathy because she is an ancient and beautiful ship, 112 years old(!).
But objectively she is a legitimate target and provides Russian navy with valuable capabilities. She often participates in submarine trials and can conduct seabed warfare
First images of Australia’s new 3D printed extra-large autonomous underwater vehicle (XLAUV), the Ghost Shark. 🧵
This is the previous graphic shared by manufacturer Andruil, when the deal for 3 vehicles was announced. See hisutton.com/Australian-Nav…
The design has a square cross-section which contrasts with the rounded form of the previous artworks. This maximizes volume for its given outer dimensions
Crucially, it can still likely fit inside a standard shipping container, an advantage over larger types like the Boeing Orca used by U.S. Navy
Thread 🧵
2 years ago today, Ukraine hit the Russian Black Sea Fleet flagship Moskva with two Neptune missiles.
At the time it seemed like a spectacular event. But the real story of how Ukraine turned the situation in the Black Sea around was only beginning. #Moskvahisutton.com/Russian-Navy-M…
Reports that Transnistria (part of Moldova) may request annexation by Russia.
May trigger action from Moldova with #Ukraine help
#Russia realistically unable to intervene, in part because Ukraine has sunk so many of its landing ships in past 2 years
Thread 🧵
From
Mar 24 2022: Russian Navy Alligator class landing ship Saratov explodes while unloading at Berdyansk on Sea of Azov. Possibly hit by a Ukrainian ballistic missile. 2 Ropucha class landing ships manage to escape. hisutton.com/Timeline-2022-…
Aug 3-4: Russian Navy Ropucha Class landing ship Olenegorsky Gornyak struck by Ukrainian SBU maritime drone (USV) outside Novorossiysk. Significant damage. Towed to Novorossiysk. Subsequently repaired