Russian Navy's strap-on surface-to-air missiles in Black Sea

Russia has started fitting ground-based Tor surface-to-air missiles on the flight decks of some of its smaller warships in the Black Sea to protect them against new anti-ship weapons provided by the UK and Denmark. The improvised missile system seen strapped to the deck of at least one Russian navy corvette appears to be a direct response to the sinking of the Black Sea fleet flagship cruiser, Moskva, which was struck by two Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missiles on April 14. The arrival of Harpoon sea-skimming anti-ship missiles has given Ukraine an advanced weapon system capable of striking a warship over a distance of 80-150 miles. The Russian Black Sea fleet currently has about 20 warships, including submarines, on operations engaged in blockading Ukrainian ports and firing cruise missiles at targets in Ukraine. Up to four of the warships are Vasily Bykov-class and Dmitry Rogachev-class corvettes, designed to protect ships at sea and in naval bases. They are like large patrol ships but much smaller (308ft long and 1,500 tons) than the Moskva Slava-class cruiser (611ft long and 11,490 tons). The Vasily Bykov-class corvettes, one of which was spotted carrying the Russian Tor surface-to-air missile (sam), are usually only armed with shoulder-launched anti-air weapons with a limited range. The Tor system which Nato identifies as an SA-15 Gauntlet has up to 16 missiles with a maximum range of more than nine miles. “This system is quite good to fight UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] and anti-ship missiles and also helicopters and aircraft,” Captain Andrii Ryzhenko, a former Ukrainian navy commander told The War Zone, an online US defence magazine. The decision to put the Tor missile on the corvettes was “a reaction to the Moskva,” he said. There had been reports before the sinking of the Moskva that one of the corvettes had been hit by Ukrainian anti-ship missiles. But this turned out to be untrue. Putting the Tor missile system on the flight deck will give the corvettes a much-improved air defence capability. However, the delivery to Ukraine of Harpoon anti-ship missiles is likely to play an increasingly important role over the next few weeks as the Kyiv government attempts to get its vital grain exports through the Russian naval blockade. The missiles can be launched from ships, aircraft of from trucks on land and will pose a significant threat to Russian warships operating in the Black Sea. The decision to strap Tor missiles to the smaller Russian warships in the Black Sea is the clearest indication that Moscow is wary of losing any more ships in the war with Ukraine. The fleet of Russian warships also include Tarantul-class missile corvettes, Admiral Grigorovich-class frigates, Ropucha-class landing ships and Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines.