More American boats for Ukraine Navy: Kyiv increasing its defense potential at sea

TR_123456 · Oct 25, 2021

At a U.S. Coast Guard base in Baltimore, Maryland, a training course has been completed for the fifth Ukrainian crew to serve on Island-type combat boats that the Americans have handed over to Ukraine to strengthen the country’s defense capabilities at sea. A solemn ceremony where the relevant certificates were issued to Ukrainian crews took place on Friday last week before three boats of this type – the Sumy, the Fastiv, and the Kubrak, will be deployed in Ukraine in November. But this is only one of the stages in the buildup of a new, powerful Ukrainian naval fleet. Next year, more modern boats, Mark VI, are expected to be handed to Ukraine. Although smaller in size, they are no worse armed and able to give a real rebuff to Russian aggression in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

FAMILIAR ISLAND-CLASS BOATS

The Ukrainian military is already familiar with Island-class boats as two of them, Sloviansk and Starobilsk, have been performing combat missions in the Black Sea since 2019. These are American patrol ships developed in the 1980s, which had long been reliable assets of the U.S. Coast Guard. Since 2014, American forces have begun to shift to newer weapons systems, handing the fleet of their Island-class patrol boats to partners to strengthen their combat capabilities. At present, these types of vessels still remain partially at service in the United States, while some have been moved to Georgia, Pakistan, Costa Rica, and Ukraine.

The handover to another country involves re-equipment and training of crews at U.S. naval bases so that they can independently and safely operate the said boats.