As one Internet user wittily pointed out, the difference between us and the Japanese is that we try to pretend to be smart and they are stupid.
With such a note should begin the review of the Japanese destroyers "Murasame" and their close relatives - "Takanami".
One of the most numerous families of missile destroyers with a total of 14 units.
9 "rains" and 5 "waves". Such poetry is played up in their names
It's not just lyrics. Murasame is the first ship in the world to be equipped with active phased array radar (AFAR).
The Japanese are extremely reluctant to share information about their military equipment. Therefore, we always learn so unexpectedly about the real achievements and capabilities of their Navy.
In official press releases, Murasame is modestly referred to as general escort destroyers. Indicating in a new line that thanks to a very perfect appearance and versatile weapons, ships of this type play an important role in naval operations.
The destroyer project was approved in 1991. The head Murasame was laid down in 1993 and entered service in 1996.
In parallel, Japan was building large (9500-ton) destroyers "Congo" with the "Aegis" system. Smaller and weaker armed "Murasame" looked like an obvious step backward against their background.
But the Japanese saw the situation differently.
They were given priority access to the best technology; they are the only ally the Americans took seriously.
As a result, the Japanese destroyer with "Aegis" was laid down before the first "Arlie Burke" had time to enter service
But the Japanese did not abandon their intentions to build ships according to their own projects, the design of which contained not only modern solutions, but also took into account all the features and preferences of the Japanese Navy.
The industry was unable to create its own destroyer, which surpassed the licensed project in those aspects where the potential of the Aegis was revealed. Yes, and such a task at that time was not. Everything necessary for the construction of missile defense destroyers was already available. With the use of the obtained technologies at the shipyards of Sasebo, Maizuru and Yokosuki, four 9500-ton "Congo" were promptly laid down, which received their name by no means in honor of the African state.
The next one required a universal warship to solve tasks for which a large destroyer with Aegis was clearly redundant (for example, anti-submarine defense). "National" destroyer, which could become a test bench for testing all trends, concepts and solutions inherent in the shipbuilding of the 1990s.
Dagger and Long Spear
From the bundle of the flagship "Congo" and the "escort" destroyer "Murasame", it was supposed to form battle groups, in which the flagship, intended for long-range combat (air defense-missile defense), covered the formation of destroyers, whose weapons were "sharpened" for close combat.
In fact, the concept is not new. The Japanese maritime password at all times sounded the same: "eight-eight".
In the early 1920s, this meant the intention to have a fleet of 8 battleships and 8 battle cruisers. As a result, the score is 8: 8 in favor of the Japanese Navy. The plan failed.
In the 1970s and 1980s, "eight-eight" came to mean eight battle groups, consisting of eight ships. Typical composition: an ASW helicopter carrier, a pair of air defense destroyers and 5 "conventional" destroyers. In practice, it looked rather primitive. Japan at that time did not possess the required level of naval weapons.
In the 1990s, the composition of the battle groups changed to Aegis to guard smaller destroyers built according to their own Japanese designs.
"National" projects in the sophistication of their designs were not inferior to their "imported" counterparts.
Sensei "Murasame" looks modern even now, and 30 years ago it was the glamor of high technology
Japanese shipbuilders were among the first to implement an under-deck arrangement of weapons and used a design with inclined superstructure surfaces to reduce the radar signature of ships.
The ancestral mark of destroyers has become not the most common stern extremity. The Japanese do not tolerate straight lines! It is called Oranda-zaka, "hillside house." The goal is to improve the safety of takeoff and landing operations. Everything that is located aft and is not a helipad in that place goes downhill. To prevent the propeller blades from touching the mooring devices or the upper deck guard.
Outwardly, the destroyer makes a good impression. Each of its elements is made with special attention. But his real military qualities are hidden deep inside.
In the early 90s. on the basis of components of foreign production, the Japanese managed to create their own BIUS, which connected together all the combat posts of the ship. In the West, such systems have received the designation "C4I" (in the first letters: "command", "control", "communications", "computers" and "intelligence"). In a broader sense, the Murasame-class destroyers were among the first in the world to receive a combat information system of this level.
When it comes to reducing visibility, the sloping surfaces of the superstructures undoubtedly give Murasame a modern look. As for the real benefits, the main radio-contrast element of the Japanese destroyers was and remains a massive foremast, representing a metal truss structure, hung with antenna devices.
Massiveness is a tribute to Japanese beliefs, according to which the structure must withstand the stormy conditions of northern latitudes
As for the need for the mast itself, at the time of the creation of "Murasame" the Japanese did not yet have their own radar with fixed antennas (PAR) mounted in the walls of the superstructure. A similar system FCS-3 will be presented only in 2007.
FCS-3 is the European designation. The original Japanese name is impossible to pronounce. FCS-3 just means "fire control system", the third Japanese development in this field, about which something is known.
As for the Murasame, their fire control system is known as the FCS-2.
Another remark will be devoted to the placement of weapons below deck. Missile ammunition "Murasame" is indeed placed in individual cells of the UVP, implying that they are located under the deck. But there is one caveat. 16 UVPs of the stern installation are located ABOVE the deck. How? In the most obvious way: delivered as a box. But why? Obviously, there was not enough underdeck volumes. Yes, it looks very strange (to be honest, it looks extremely suspicious). The only modern project in the world with such a placement of weapons. I remember stories from the past, when our eastern neighbors, unexpectedly for everyone, changed the composition of the ships' armament from the "peaceful option" to the "military" one, stunning the enemy with their dexterity. Something about "Murasame" is unclean …
On the technical side, "Murasame" is the same "imported" as its counterpart "Congo". But if "Congo" is a copy of a foreign project, then "Pouring Rain" contains only individual nodes of foreign origin. Which are selected in accordance with the Japanese concept of beauty.
The destroyer's combined power plant, which has a COGAG scheme, consists of four gas turbines: a pair of American GE LM2500 and a pair of Rolls-Royce Spray - British heritage.
Of course, only technical documentation was brought from England. Industrial corporations "Ishikawajima" and "Kawasaki" back in the 1970s.mastered the licensed production of gas turbine power plants necessary for warships.
But a lot of things were brought from the USA. For example, missile armament - vertical launchers (4 modules, 32 cells). And to them in the bargain - the weapon control consoles. Combat information center "Murasame" was created in the image and likeness of the CIC of the Aegis destroyer. Were copied the means of electronic warfare (complex SLQ-32). Phalanxes and torpedoes were purchased.
Only the shipborne radar with AFAR technology could not be copied due to the absence of such devices anywhere in the world in 1996.
One of the key features of the destroyer is its automation
Despite the presence on board the "Murasame" of a full range of weapons and means to counter surface, underwater and air threats, the number of its crew, according to open sources, is only 165 people.
If the figures given are true, then the Japanese destroyer was the absolute leader in automation among ships of its era. In the 1990s, only the most primitive frigates had such a number of crews, two times smaller than the Murasame in size and having a much more compressed composition of weapons (for example, the French Lafayette - a crew of 160 people).
Speaking of dimensions … According to modern ideas, the displacement of the Murasame is somewhere on the upper boundary for the frigate class and on the lower bar for the destroyer class. 6200 tons of full displacement with a hull length of 151 meters.
Typical dimensions for an ocean-going ship. It would not be entirely correct to call them the modest "workhorses" of the fleet.
Taking into account all the efforts expended on them and the high level of technical performance at the time of their appearance, these were real "horses".
In total, it was planned to build 14 such destroyers, but only 9 were built. No, the rest were not “shifted to the right” and then deleted from the lists in favor of “optimizing” the budget.
They were completed in 2000-2006. on the improved Takanami project
"High Wave" is almost a complete analogue of "Heavy Rain". Same sizes. The same silhouette - with a gently curved forecastle and Oranda-zaka platform aft. The superstructure and massive mast are of the same shape, in front of which a radar with AFAR is installed. Identical power plant and practically unchanged armament composition.
Outside, only keen modelers can distinguish between "Murasame" and "Takanami".
The main change was the refusal to place a part of the UVP on the deck, in the middle of the hull. All 32 Takanami missile silos fit in the bow, in front of the superstructure.
And what is left in the place of "boxing"? Nothing. Empty box. Here we will not draw far-reaching conclusions, but throughout the Takanami (as well as the Murasame, which has only 16 UVP in the bow) are underloaded and have reserved volumes for increasing missile ammunition or installing combat modules.
Another change is an increase in the caliber of the universal gun mount from 76 to 127 mm. However, for a modern ship, this has very little value.
The rest of the armament is the same, corresponds to "Murasame".
Two main search radars, two anti-aircraft fire control radars, a keel sonar and a towed low-frequency antenna.
32 Launch Cells: Sources cite 16 anti-submarine missiles and 64 ESSM anti-aircraft missiles. 4 to 8 Type 90 anti-ship missiles. A pair of Falanxes. Small torpedoes. Helicopter.
Of course, when we have a series of 14 ships built over 13 years, there can be no talk of any complete unification. This is especially true of the combat information system and fire control facilities - the most complex elements of the ship; the changes made to them can be considered almost the creation of a new project.
The first three and the last two "Takanami" have noticeable differences in the composition of the CIUS elements. In this sense, the first representatives are more similar to "Murasame". In turn, the last two, "Swell" and "Cool Wave", also differ from each other.
2050 is closer than 1990
"Murasame" / "Takanami" for the Japanese is not the last, but the century before last.
In the 2010s. our eastern neighbors "stuck" 6 more very original destroyers of the new generation, which surprised everyone. What is their radar complex, consisting of eight AFAR!
Six multipurpose destroyers, not counting the "berk" flagships and destroyers-helicopter carriers.
Further, such a calculation begins - next year, the last, eighth flagship destroyer, "Haguro", will be accepted into the Japanese self-defense navy. And with this, the 30-year ambitious program "eight-eight" can be considered completed.
The future of the Japanese navy is shrouded in a veil of paranoid secrecy. It is only known that, in general, the concept of battle groups will remain the same. But the next generation of destroyers will receive a completely different look and a new layout. Details? You can't wait to hear from the Japanese.
However, 2050 is already closer than 1990. Therefore, very soon the details will become known. When you accidentally manage to shoot the hulls of destroyers under construction in a high degree of readiness.
As for the consequences for Russia from this rampant Japanese militarism … If someday our Navy has to clash with this armada, I would not want the words of the commander of the EBR "Emperor Alexander III" to be heard again: "For one thing I can vouch: we will die, but we will not surrender …”(episode at the farewell banquet from the legendary book by A. Novikov-Priboy).
