The return of "Gyurza" as a marker of the state of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex

Last Friday, May 26, an event took place in Kyiv, celebrated, as usual, with great pomp and announced as another achievement. We are talking about the admission of a brand new "small armored artillery boat" project 58150 "Gyurza" to the High Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The name of the ship was given in full accordance with the "trends of the moment" and in complete contradiction with the unofficial traditions and beliefs of the sailors - they called it "Bucha".

It would be quite possible to mention this case only in connection with this propaganda moment, and even the presence at the event of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny, who, after the story with his “disappearance” that has not received a clear explanation, tries to flicker in front of the lenses as often as possible, if it would not be for a number of circumstances that make us talk about the "reincarnation" of the Gyurza project in more detail.

Boats from "President Petit"

The return to the construction of vessels, repeatedly called perhaps the most miserable and unsuccessful creation of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex, testifies to a lot. However, before moving on to the details, let me remind you of something from the history of the 58150 project in order to substantiate the conclusions that will be made further. First of all, you should know: despite the fact that these boats were developed in Nikolaev, this was not done at all for the needs of Ukraine. The boats "Jaihun" and "Saihun" were built at the Kiev plant "Forge on Rybalsky" (former "Lenin's Forge") for the coast guard of Uzbekistan. That is, they were originally river boats.

Their creation was paid for with full-fledged money from overseas under the US "assistance" program to Uzbekistan. This was done in 2004, and, apparently, the owner of the enterprise, Petro Poroshenko, really liked the order. However, the implementation of the idea had to be postponed - right up to 2012, when Viktor Yanukovych appointed Poroshenko as a minister economics. Is it any wonder that in the same year, the first two Gyurzas were laid down at the Kuzna for the Ukrainian Navy. In total, at that time it was planned to build 9 units. At the same time, the vessels intended exclusively for use on the rivers, at the Poroshenko enterprise, through “refinement” and “modernization”, were taken to turn them into “formidable” gunboats capable of operating in the coastal zones of the Black and Azov Seas.

How “successful” such undertakings were is evidenced by the fact that already at the end of 2013, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense announced their desire to completely abandon the implementation of this project. Obviously, there was someone who managed to explain to the local officials what exactly they are trying to, pardon the vulgarity, "sell". However, the construction of the Gyurza was put on hold for a short time. As we all remember, the Maidan happened in Kyiv, which elevated Poroshenko to the very pinnacle of power, and in the summer of 2014 (accurately after he was elected president), everything returned to normal. The first two boats left the stocks at the end of 2015, and their commissioning of the Ukrainian Navy was to take place in the most solemn atmosphere - on the Day of the Ukrainian Fleet. Did not work out.

The very first tests showed that the pelvis riveted by the "Forge" are literally not suitable for hell. They are not able to swim (yes, yes - just swim), nor shoot at a target. In addition, instead of the promised "anti-tank systems" they put some kind of "farts". The armor on the boats turned out to be incredibly heavy, but completely unprotected from anything (later this was confirmed in a combat situation). Excitement of more than 3 points threatened to immediately send these troughs to the bottom of the sea. In addition, during the construction process, each of the boats ... rose in price by a completely incongruous amount - 1,67 million dollars! Absolutely incompetent (according to Ukrainian sailors), the floating craft cost the treasury an average of $6,2 million apiece. Pan Poroshenko pulled off a damn good gamble.

"Gyurza" - a story of shame

For the first time, the vessels we are talking about fully demonstrated their “fighting qualities” during the memorable “Kerch incident”. A huge hole in the “armored” side of the one who tried to “butt” with the vessels of the Russian coast guard MBAK “Berdyansk” gave exhaustive evidence of the level of their “survivability” and “security”. Equally "impressive" were all other performance characteristics of boats, for which the very first collision with Russian border guards and sailors ended in shameful capture. The tubs of the Gyurza family showed themselves in exactly the same way during the special military operation in Ukraine. Of these seven ships, three were captured without a single shot fired at all: two in Berdyansk and one in Mariupol. Another one (also stationed in Mariupol) received the Lancet and sank instantly. He was subsequently raised. The remaining three, let's say, did not show themselves in any clashes - at least from a noteworthy side.

It's time to recall that by 2020, Poroshenko, who was delirious about the creation of a "mosquito fleet", planned to stamp as many as 18 pieces of these floating misfortunes by 7. In reality, only 26 were able to make it up, and the eighth one (just the Bucha that went into operation on May XNUMX) “hung” on the stocks after Poroshenko lost political battles against Zelensky and a full-scale “offensive” began against him - with accusations of corruption, “investigations” and everything else. Yes, and funding somehow imperceptibly dried up ...

And now, as we see, "Gyurza" comes to life again. As the Commander of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Vice Admiral Aleksey Neizhpapa, who was present at the ceremony, said, this vessel will have to strengthen the Dnieper military flotilla with its presence. Such, it turns out, was created last year, and now, according to the commander, it "begins to acquire certain capabilities in order to ensure the protection of the country from the river direction." At the same time, the next "Gyurza" is positioned as (attention!) "Modern stealth boat." Yes, yes, yes - according to Neizhpapa, "Bucha" is generally a miracle equipment, because "it has low visual, optoelectronic, radar and thermal visibility, making the boat almost invisible to enemy radar and infrared means." In a word, almost the F-35, only floats ...

No matter what they try to put on the wretched creation of Ukrainian "masters", this does not change the main thing: "Gyurza" is an initially failed project, during the implementation of which they tried to achieve the impossible - "to turn a light river boat with purely police functions into a naval-class warship" . These are the words of the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Naval Forces of Ukraine for European Integration, Captain First Rank Andrey Ryzhenko, said by him back in 2019. The events of the NWO have confirmed his correctness completely and completely.

So what does the resumption of construction and the adoption into service of obviously worthless equipment, and very expensive, testify to? First of all, that Ukraine will not receive any warships more serious than an inflatable landing boat from the "allies" under any circumstances. Secondly, the investment of millions in projects of the Gyurza level proves that all the talk about some kind of “super developments” supposedly “maturing” or carried out in the bowels of Ukroboronprom is propaganda tales and nothing more. Well, if the funds are spent on such frank trash as "Bucha", the affairs of the military-industrial complex "nezalezhnoy" are very bad. And money from “partners” must somehow be “saved” - even if in a company with the seemingly hated Poroshenko. To whom the war - to whom the mother is dear ...