At the end of May 2019, the new Italian universal amphibious assault ship "Trieste" was launched. Today "Trieste" can lay claim to the title of the largest ship in the Italian Navy, competing only with the flagship of the fleet, the aircraft carrier "Cavour", capable of receiving vertical take-off and landing aircraft AV-8B Harrier II.
The new ship of the Italian fleet, although it was laid down as a UDC, is in fact at least a multipurpose vessel or a full-fledged aircraft carrier, which is designed to base the F-35B short takeoff and landing fighter-bombers. It is no coincidence that Trieste is to replace the light aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi, which was launched back in 1983, as part of the Italian fleet.
Ships for growth
The new multi-purpose amphibious assault ship, named Trieste, was laid down as part of the Italian fleet building program for 2014-2015. It was then that the law on the fleet was passed through parliament, the total cost of financing the programs for which was estimated at 5.428 billion euros. In addition to the already designated UDC, the program provided for the construction of 7 new ships of the PPA type, which were called large "patrol ships", but in fact are frigates of a new type (initially, the cost of six ships was declared at the level of 2.5 billion euros). In addition to the designated ships, the Italian Navy will be replenished with two multipurpose special-purpose speedboats UNPAV and an integrated supply ship LLS.
In fact, in Italy they began to create a new ship formation, an analogue of the American AUG. The heart of the future grouping should be the multipurpose UDC "Trieste", and its retinue are several promising frigates of the RRA project and an integrated supply ship. At the same time, the Italian military made changes to the program after its adoption. In fact, this led to an increase in the displacement and size of all ships, as well as an increase in their cost. The same UDC "Trieste" by the time the contract was issued, significantly increased both in size and in displacement.
Initially, according to the proposed law on the fleet, the displacement of the new ship was supposed to be approximately 20 thousand tons with a length of 180-190 meters. But as a result of all the changes, the UDC grew to a full-fledged aircraft carrier with a total displacement of 33 thousand tons and a length of 245 meters. Now the ship is officially referred to as a "multipurpose UDC". It is noteworthy that the new landing ship is immediately designed for basing the fifth generation F-35B fighter-bombers manufactured by Lockheed Martin. At the same time, the flagship of the Italian fleet - the aircraft carrier "Cavour", entered into the fleet in 2009, has a smaller displacement - from 27, 5 to 30 thousand tons in various sources with comparable sizes. In fact, in the near future, the Italian fleet will have two modern aircraft-carrying ships capable of receiving F-35B aircraft on board, while simultaneously performing landing functions.
The story of the large patrol ships of the PPA type (Pattugliatore Polivalente d'Altura) can also be distinguished separately. They have also been influenced by Italian naval doping, evolving into a line of full-fledged frigates. At the same time, the first two ships really surrender as patrol ones, but the combat capabilities of the remaining ships of the series have been significantly expanded, since the inherent displacement allows them to increase their combat potential quite strongly. Initially, it was about ships with a displacement of about 4500 tons. But in the process of working on the project, the PPA-type warships grew to 6,000 tons, and the length increased from 133 to 146 meters, while the Italian military seriously strengthened the anti-submarine capabilities of these ships. For comparison: modern Russian frigates of Project 22350 have a standard displacement of 4500 tons and a total displacement of 5400 tons. Simultaneously with the increase in the size of the ships and the increase in the composition of the armament, their cost for the Italian taxpayers also increased, now the entire series is estimated at at least 3.9 billion euros instead of the initial 2.5 billion euros.
Features of the multipurpose UDC "Trieste"
As you may have already guessed, the Trieste is not your ordinary all-round amphibious assault ship. In terms of its size and displacement, it surpasses similar ships of this class. For example, the French Mistrals, which Russia did not get, had a total displacement of 21,300 tons. At the same time, despite the possibility of maximum placement on board (on the deck and in hangars) of up to 30 aircraft with the preservation of the possibility of their operation, the ship is positioned by the Italian military primarily as an amphibious assault. The new multipurpose UDC should support the actions of the Italian Navy in crisis areas of the planet, as well as ensure the transportation of weapons, military equipment, technical means, personnel and equipment. The ship can be involved in various humanitarian operations, including providing assistance to the affected population, providing people with drinking water, medical care and electricity.
The maximum length of the new ship is 245 meters, the maximum width is 47 meters, the waterline is 27.7 meters, the design draft is 7.2 meters. The total number of the crew of the multipurpose UDC is 1064 people, including 460 people of the regular size of the crew and the aviation group and 604 paratroopers taken on board. In the reloading version, more than 700 paratroopers and evacuated civilians can be accommodated on board. Here it should be borne in mind that we are talking about comfortable accommodation of the landing force in the cabins, if necessary, the ship will take on board a much larger number of people. On board the warship has its own hospital with wards for 27 beds to accommodate seriously wounded or sick patients. There are operating rooms, radiology rooms, a dentist's office. At the same time, container modules equipped with all the necessary container modules can be specially installed on board the ship to increase the possibilities for hospitalization of patients.
A special feature of the UDC is that, in addition to the take-off deck and hangars for aircraft transport, there is a tank hold on board the ship with an area of more than 1200 square meters. The ship is able to receive any military equipment, including main battle tanks, weighing up to 60 tons. Also on board "Trieste" there is a dock chamber measuring 50 by 15 meters. The chamber can freely accommodate standard NATO landing craft, including 4 tank landing boats of the LCU type, or one large landing craft on an air cushion - for example, the American LCAC. The ship is equipped with cranes and side and stern ramps to handle various loads.
To accommodate the aircraft carrier group, there is a hangar 109 meters long and 21 meters wide on board. Inside the hangar there can be no more than 14-15 medium and heavy helicopters, or a mixed group. For example, 6 F-35B fighters and up to 9 AgustaWestland AW101 / NH90 / AgustaWestland AW129 helicopters, or 4 fighters and 10 specified helicopters. At the same time, the flight deck can accommodate up to 18-20 aircraft. And in total, the multipurpose UDC can take on board (hangar and flight deck) up to 30-32 aircraft while maintaining the possibility of their real use, and not transportation from point A to point B. Two freight elevators 15x15 meters with a maximum carrying capacity of 42 are lifted onto the flight deck. tons.
The heart of the ship is the combined power plant. The designers settled on a two-shaft diesel-gas turbine power plant, built according to the CODOG scheme. It includes two powerful Rolls-Royce MT30 gas turbines with 48,500 hp each and two MAN 20V32 / 44CR diesel engines with 15,000 hp each. each, as well as two trolling motors with a capacity of 5.2 MW each. The power plant provides a multipurpose UDC with a maximum speed of 25 knots (46 km / h), an economic speed of 16 knots, a small one (using electric motors) - 10 knots. The declared cruising range at a speed of 16 knots is 7,000 nautical miles (almost 13,000 km). Swimming autonomy - 30 days.
The complex of weapons placed on board looks quite impressive. Unlike many competitors of both UDC and aircraft carriers, who hope primarily for protection from their own air group and escort ships, Trieste can stand up for itself on its own. The ship's armament includes 16 vertical cells Sylver A50 for placing anti-aircraft guided missiles "Aster 15" (air defense system of short and medium range up to 30 km) or "Aster 30" (air defense system long range - up to 120 km), it is also possible to place universal SAMM SAM systems … The ship's artillery armament is represented by three long-barreled 76-mm universal artillery mounts "Otobreda 76/62", three 25-mm remote-controlled mounts "Oto Melara 25/80" with an "Oerlikon KBA" cannon chambered for 25x138 mm and six remote-controlled 12, 7-mm machine-gun installations of the Leonardo company. On board the UDC there are also two Leonardo ODLS-20 jamming systems and other electronic warfare equipment. The rich set of electronic weapons represented by modern AFAR X, C and L range radars deserves a separate mention; there is even a towed GUS Leonardo Black Snake on board, designed for additional anti-submarine protection of the vessel.
