Ukraine to send two landing ships to the Sea of Azov
During a press briefing, the deputy chief of the Department of Defense Planning of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Vyacheslav Demyanenko announced that in 2019 an artillery boat and two landing ships would be added to the six small armored artillery boats of the Ukrainian naval forces in the Sea of Azov.
“The Navy has received six small armored artillery boats. In the current year it is planned to include one more artillery boat and two Kentavr landing ships. The development of the technical design of the Lan-class missile ships with Neptune missiles is continuing.” The USA transferred two Island-type patrol boats to the Ukrainian Navy as part of the international military assistance program. Measures are being taken to form a set of naval forces on an ongoing basis to perform tasks on the coast and in the Azov Sea waters,” said Demyanenko.
When speaking about army reforms, he noted this includes Navy command, command of marines, changing the organizational structure of combat and logistics. Also, according to the speaker, a division and auxiliary vessel group will be created to ensure the functioning of the Navy ships.
The General Staff representative said that as of today 16 models were accepted for service, there are 32 trial weapons and military equipment about 8,000 units of new or modernized military equipment and 5000 units of ammunition has been sent to the troops. “The United States has provided five radar counter-battery stations and 2500 night vision devices for the Ukrainian troops,” said Demyanenko.
Earlier, it was reported that the Russian military in the Crimea moved and disguised captured Ukrainian armored boats Nikopol, Berdyansk, and the tugboat Yany Kapu.