UKRAINIAN engineers have built a stealth torpedo-launching submarine designed for hit-and-run missions to destroy enemy warships.
Analysts have suggested that the streamlined beast, known as Kronos, will change future naval warfare, but more urgently for Ukraine: it could help turn the tide of the Black Sea battle.
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Built in the Arabian Desert by an excellent team of Ukrainian engineers, Kronos could be an attack submarine or a fully autonomous underwater drone, the first of its kind.
The futuristic-looking piece looks more like a UFO than a submarine, and its designers exclusively told The Sun that it “will be ready in months.”
Unlike traditional heavy, slow-moving submarines, the Kronos is designed to be the underwater equivalent of a stealth jet bomber.
Kronos should be able to glide through the water, easily weaving and bombarding at high speeds to target enemy warships, bombarding them with his torpedoes or magnetic mines.
And it has great power with a payload of 3.5 tons.
Experts told The Sun that Kronos could cause “serious damage” to Russian targets in the Black Sea.
Its radar-evading exterior is shaped like a stingray, an animal known for its maneuverability and speed, which its designers say makes it more agile in the water.
It can be flown by a single pilot and carry up to 10 commandos for stealth missions lasting up to 36 hours and crossing up to 620 miles.
It will be completely ready in another four months
One of the engineers behind Kronos.
But it also has a remote control mode that allows it to perform unmanned missions and be piloted from more than 150 miles away.
Its creators also say Kronos can lead sabotage missions between 50 and 820 feet and glide through the water at 32 mph, surpassing the 23 mph top speed of a U.S. nuclear attack submarine.
And it’s supposed to be tough, cutting through waves that rise 19 feet high.
Soon, it will trade sand for sea, and the Ukrainian military is likely to be closely monitoring its developments.
Cronus was built by Upland systems in the United Arab Emirates because its founder once said that you can get “anything” you want there, as long as you have cash.
A Ukrainian engineer at the company, who prefers to remain anonymous for security reasons, revealed to The Sun some of its more battle-ready features.
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They said having two engines on each wing “allows it to remain idle underwater, something no other submarine, not even the most expensive and sophisticated one, can do.”
For its armament, “torpedos can be installed at the request of the potential government client,” the source added.
Kronos can accommodate four to six small electric torpedoes from the Italian defense company Leonardo, known as ‘Black Scorpion’ or two of its huge ‘Black Shark’ torpedoes.
It will also use a marine drone instead of a periscope that will be covered with a unique material, the engineer said, which will help make it invisible to enemy ships or submarines.
The source also revealed that they already have customers ready to place orders as soon as the latest phase of “modernization and upgrades” is completed.
It could be a big advantage for the Ukrainians.
Matthew Sweeney, Deputy Commander, US Navy
Remaining decidedly vague as to who the interested parties are, the engineer added: “Kronos can be custom built to meet all requirements, whether civil or military.”
“It’s been ready since last year,” they said, but the team is awaiting delivery of some final specially designed parts.
Slashing earlier estimates of when it would be operational, the engineer revealed it will likely take just “four more months.”
CAN IT BE REAL?
Despite all the lofty claims about what Kronos could achieve, Matthew Sweeney, a US Navy submarine commander, said its design is “definitely feasible.”
Looking at the plans, he told The Sun: “In theory, yes, it could do those kinds of missions – sneaking in and disabling ships… there’s a lot of value in its design.”
Although Sweeney, who has spent 37 years on submarines, questioned some elements of its design, including how such a sophisticated machine could be repaired or maintained in the midst of war.
However, he noted that such a “small, fast and easy-to-maneuver” submarine would be “difficult to detect” and could cause “serious damage” to enemy vessels.
Its design, he added, suggests it could carry out rapid attacks “without the sailors knowing what happened.”
“Every nation that has a robust naval force is considering these smaller submersible vehicles, manned or unmanned, to perform these types of missions.”
“It’s definitely doable,” Commander Sweeney said, adding that Kronos was “very exciting.”
And in the battle for superiority over the Black Sea being waged between Russia and Ukraine, it is a “huge game changer,” he said.
“It could be a big advantage for the Ukrainians.”
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THE BATTLE OF THE BLACK SEA
Ukraine has sunk a third of Putin’s once-fearsome fleet in the Black Sea and what remains of it is in the midst of relocating to a naval base in a breakaway region of Georgia.
Without a truly functioning navy of its own, the surprise success has been its maritime drone attacks, including its local fleet of ‘Sea Baby’ vessels.
Relatively cheap killing machines have been blowing millions of warships out of water, humiliating Putin on the world stage.
However, Ukraine cannot undertake the underwater fight to attack the three Russian missile-carrying submarines lurking dangerously in the depths of the Black Sea.
Valerii Riabykh, a former consultant to Ukraine’s military, said Kronos could be the “answer to Ukraine’s prayers.”
He told The Sun that this submarine is “exactly” what kyiv needs to finish the job of taking down the Black Sea Fleet.
“Ukraine has no means to fight Russian submarines underwater.
“The only instrument he has are the Storm Shadow missiles that he used to shoot down a submarine at the (Crimean) base when it was being repaired above water.”
Riabykh, who is also the editor of defense expresscame face to face with prototype number 37 last year and stated that the Ukrainian military is very interested in Kronos.
It was originally designed to be a commercial submarine, but when Russia invaded Ukraine more than two years ago, work began to quickly transform it into a combat ship.
Now, it has been adapted to conduct a “full-fledged military operation… including reconnaissance, scouting missions across enemy lines and attacking enemy ships,” Riabykh said.
One day, he argued, “it will help Ukraine’s security services and navy complete Russia’s banishment from the Black Sea.”
During its final unveiling in 2023, Western navy commanders were said to be amazed by its design.
A Highland Systems spokesperson said fast company: “We had some current and former commanders of submarine forces from NATO countries inspecting it in absolute disbelief.”
Riabykh believes it is perfect for sabotage operations, claiming it could approach the Crimean coast or even be used to help blow up Putin’s most beloved £3bn bridge.
For Ukraine, the 12-mile Kerch Bridge, Russia’s only land bridge to occupied Crimea, is the number one goal on its list.
The Sun recently talked about how kyiv was finally able to bomb the bridge with Storm Shadow missiles, marine drones and newly arrived F-16s.
Destroying it would be an important step toward winning the war in the Black Sea by cutting off a major Russian military supply route and suffocating Putin’s war machine.
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