According to information published by the newspaper website "The Times" on April 23, 2022, the Russian Navy use submarines of Project 877 Paltus (Russian: Па́лтус, meaning "halibut") deployed in the Black Sea to strike targets in Ukraine with Kalibr cruise missiles.
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Russian Navy Project 877 Paltus diesel-electric attack submarine. (Picture source Wikimedia )
Citing naval experts and open sources information, the Russian navy will have at least 4 Project 877 submarines operating in the Black Sea, from which missile attacks are carried out at distant targets in the Ukrainian rear. The use of submarines to launch missiles makes it more difficult to detect by radar or satellite.
Especially after the sinking of the Russian navy cruiser Moskva by Ukrainian R-360 Neptune anti-ship missiles, Russia increased the use of submarines to target Ukraine with missiles to reduce the risk of detection by the Ukrainian armed forces. Modern submarines can launch missiles while submerged at keel depths of usually less than 50 meters which also makes detection very difficult.
The Project 877 Paltus, NATO reporting name Kilo-class is a diesel-electric attack submarine designed and built in the Soviet Union for the Soviet Navy. The submarine is designed to conduct anti-shipping and anti-submarine operations.
The Project 877 Paltus can reach an underwater speed of 20 knots (37 km/h), submerge to 300 meters, and have a cruising capacity of 45 days. The crew comprises 52 men, the underwater displacement is close to four thousand tons.
Project 877 carries up to four Kalibr cruise missiles to strike at the surface (3M-54 and 3M-541) and ground targets (cruise missiles 3M-14) and has new electronic equipment.
The Kalibr is a family of Russian-made surface to ship, submarine-launched and airborne anti-ship and coastal anti-ship (AShM), land-attack cruise missiles (LACM), and anti-submarine missiles developed by the Novator Design Bureau. According to Russian military sources, the missile has an estimated range of around 1,500 to 2,500 km.
