Posted on 10/03/2023 7:35:47 AM PDT by billorites
The Russian Air Force has dusted off a 60-year-old relic to meet a thoroughly modern threat. A Beriev BE-12 amphibious patrol aircraft has been spotted over the Black Sea and it’s apparently looking for Ukrainian boat drones. The uncrewed boats have had some success in carrying loads of explosives to damage Russian warships. The drones are apparently more than a match for the gangly Soviet-era flying boats, which lack the modern sensor systems needed to track the stealthy little floating bombs.
“Except for some very lucky sightings, the handful of Be-12s the Black Sea Fleet has available should not be counted on to have a major impact on the Russian attempts to stop the Ukrainian USV attacks,” Frederik Mertens, a strategic analyst with the Hague Center for Security Studies, told Newsweek. Mertens also said bringing back the Berievs “shows how far its naval air force is unprepared.” The Be-12 first flew in the 1950s and was originally designed as a surveillance and submarine hunting platform.
(Excerpt) Read more at avweb.com ...
https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/g02202/
https://simpleflying.com/the-shinmaywa-us-2-japans-stol-seaplane/
Still a thing in Japan. Should be fine to operate those over Black Sea areas where Russia has air superiority unless NATO decides to start shooting. Then that’s a whole other game.
Big slow drone target practice
Likely to be BE-12N models. They upgraded those with ASW sensors and kept thise. But propaganda is fun. They are probably up there with goggles and binos, wearing silk scarves, leaning out of a side blister like a PBY. /s
SMH
FWIW, a turboprop amphibian in this war is a good tool. Unless NATO gets involved, the Ukes really have no ability to attack them. They have long endurance, and can base anywhere along that Russian Black Sea coast. And of course, Russia owns all of the Sea of Azov now.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/mc-130j-seaplane-wont-fly-for-two-to-three-more-years
Interesting trivia. The USAF is currently building a float kit for SOCOM C-130s. Can’t wait to see THAT beast fly. We haven’t flown seaplanes since 1961 with the retirement of the Navy N3N Yellow Peril, and no flying boats or amphibians since they retired the Grumman Albatross in 1983. We have USAF guys playing with the Japanese amphibians to relearn ocean landings.
Maritime drones are indeed fairly slow. Standard ASW depth charges should work on them. Good method to assist protecting the Kerch bridge.
The question is do these aircraft have the capability to see the Ukrainian drones, then either kill them or send data to someone who can?
The original ASW package is useless for this, so they need to have some kind of look down capability for low and slow aerial targets. Which is easier said than done.
Slap on some Edo amphibious floats, a couple JATO bottles and you'd have a helluva bush plane.
They are hunting sea drones, not aerial drones. The Ukes have been sending those against Sevastopol and the Kerch Bridge. They are very similar to hunting the narco semi-submersibles. It’s literally what those planes were made for.
But against aerial drones or cruise missiles I would think they have no rational use. Also, that would require them to start operating in sketchy areas that could expose them to Uke missiles or the random Uke fighter if they have any left.
But they fill the sea drone niche nicely until NATO gets involved. Then I wouldn’t wanna ride in one.
Can’t wait to see that thing fly and I hope it works. America should have a couple of these for those rare open ocean rescues in the middle of nowhere. And they would be useful for operating around those South China Sea bases, within reason. I really cannot see a reason they couldn’t make that work pretty well. But it might be just as well to buy some of those Japanese birds. They are well developed.
I like seaplanes and flying boats. And now we get the SOCOM Clipper. I’m a romantic...
So what if it’s old. If it works it’s useful. After all, we’re still using the B-52.
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