H I Sutton Profile picture
May 27 10 tweets 4 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
***UPDATE***

The recent #Ukrainian attack on the #Russian spy ship Ivan Khurs in the Black Sea has lessons in explosive boat concept. But probably not what you think!

Thread 1/10

#OSINT
2.
At face value the attack was unsuccessful. Of the 3 reported ‘maritime drones’ (USVs), at least one was destroyed, and the ship appears undamaged (or minimally damaged)

Many people are disappointed

So it looks like these boats “don’t work”

But that’s not my thought Ukrainian USV destroyed by ...
3.
But at least one got close enough to hit the ship. Ukraine’s USVs have done that before, with a kalibr cruise missile carrying frigate, and a minesweeper

Common theme is, no real damage Image
4.
Explosive boats are not new. Precursors go back to fore ships and then US Civil War, but the modern genesis is Italian Decima-MAS special forces in World War Two. hisutton.com/Explosive_boat… Image
5. Those weren’t particularly successful although they bagged HMS York. But they weren’t dismissed

Britain, Germany and Japan all emulated the concept HMS York listing after the ...
6.
The crazy British even developed one which could be dropped from Lancaster Bomber…. With the boat pilot inside it!!!! Madness
7.
More recently the Tamil Tigers (hisutton.com/LTTE%20Sea%20T… ) and Houthis in Yemen have used them with some success.
8.

So what’s going wrong for Ukraine?

The obvious answer is the warhead and it’s fusing

The Ukrainians will be extremely frustrated I am sure
9.

So the lesson?

These can get through, and would be very effective in both ports and open sea if only the warheads performed as expected. And that is surely solvable!
10.
So don’t write off these uncrewed explosive boats. Relying on their warheads not working isn’t a sound defensive strategy

More thoughts but mostly not for Twitter

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More from @CovertShores

May 3
***UPDATE***

Thread

New info on Nord Stream attacks confirms Russian Navy ships repeatedly visited area in months / days leading up to explosions

Pattern of activity revealed by Nordic journalists from DR, SVT, NRK and Yle #OSINT

BBC article, English bbc.com/news/world-eur… Map of Russian navy ships o...Image
2

New episode of Shadow War on Nordic TV tonight with more details

Main leading article at DR (Danish) dr.dk/nyheder/indlan…
3

The new info is based on Communications intelligence (COMINT) via open sources, which has been tested and supported by other means Image
Read 12 tweets
Apr 28
***UPDATE***

Thread

Slowly information is coming out about the #Russian Navy ships operating around #NordStream before the attacks. E.g. dr.dk/nyheder/senest…

The presence of SS-750 with a DSRV submersible is **highly suspicious**

1/8 File image of SS-750 with P...
2
Danish/Swedish/Norwegian and Finnish investigative journalists have been researching this for months, unearthed a lot of as-yet unpublished info.

Highly recommend the Shadow Wars tv documentaries airing right now, seek these out.
Example (chrome can translate subtitles)
3.

Caveat, I play a small part in those documentaries.

But that’s not why I am promoting them, they really are worth watching for hybrid warfare, espionage and seabed warfare etc

Next episode surely will be Nord Stream. Expect new info

Chair too comfy… Muppet
Read 8 tweets
Apr 19
***UPDATE***

#Russian Navy seabed warfare exposed. If you are in Nordic countries Denmark, Norway, Sweden or Finland watch ‘ShadowWar’ tonight. 3 part series, lots of new info on GUGI etc

English article:

bbc.com/news/world-eur…
Danish article (longer, more info): dr.dk/nyheder/indlan…
Swedish article : svt.se/nyheter/inrike…
Read 7 tweets
Apr 2
Naval News' April Fool's tradition:

2023: France Joins AUKUS
navalnews.com/naval-news/202…
2022: Submarine leaking
navalnews.com/naval-news/202…
2021: Sun Tzu of submarines
navalnews.com/naval-news/202…
Read 4 tweets
Mar 22
***UPDATE***
#Ukrainian maritime drone (USV) and drone (UAV) attack on #Russian navy at Sevastopol

Treat as unconfirmed, but likely.

Details limited. Video appears to be burning USV caught at harbor floating boom defenses

Even if no ships are sunk, attacks have major impact Still from video of Ukrainian maritime drone at Sevastopol M
Previously seen version of #Ukraine maritime drone.-> hisutton.com/Ukraine-Mariti…

Yet to see whether this one is the same (or indeed a USV, caveats apply at this point) #OSINT
Even when ‘unsuccessful’ in normal terms, they can be hugely important both historically and strategically navalnews.com/naval-news/202…
Read 4 tweets
Feb 27
**NOT A TANk**
Here -> hisutton.com/Bayonet-Underw…

Bayonet underwater drone (UUV) with tracks can crawl out of the sea. Quite a useful capability… Submarine with tracks
A few other tracked submarines /UUVs to briefly mentions.

Firstly, in World War Two German engineers built a tracked midget sub. The idea was to launch /recover itself from a slipway rather than drive along the bottom of the seabed
During the Cold War, the #USNavy had the NR-1 spy sub which could drive along the bottom. Wheels not tracks though.
Read 7 tweets

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