The concept of an aircraft-carrying cruiser with a sixth generation UAV

2024 Author: Matthew Elmers | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 21:49

1. Introduction

In the third article of the series, the point of view was substantiated according to which our aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, is already so outdated that instead of repairing it, it is better to build some newest ship. When laying two UDC pr. 23900 Ivan Rogov, it was announced that the cost of the order for each of them would amount to 50 billion rubles, which is less than the price of repairing Kuznetsov. Further, suppose that if you order an aircraft-carrying cruiser (AK) based on the UDC hull, then the AK hull will cost no more than the UDC hull.

In the last 15 years, we periodically present projects of the Storm aircraft carrier, which in terms of mass and dimensions is close to the American Nimitz. The Storm's $ 10 billion cost estimate kills the whole idea. Indeed, in addition to the Storm, it is necessary to build for it an AUG, and Yak-44 long-range radar detection aircraft (AWACS), and a training complex for air wing pilots. The budget of our underfunded fleet will obviously not be able to cover such expenses.

2. Basic parameters of the AK concept

The author is not an expert in shipbuilding or aircraft construction. The technical characteristics given in the article are approximate and obtained by comparison with known samples. If specialists want to correct them, then this will significantly increase the quality of the proposal, and the Ministry of Defense cannot ignore it.

2.1 The main tasks of the AK

• air support for ground operations, including amphibious assault on remote theaters. Depth of operations up to 500-600 km from the AK;

• inflicting airstrikes on the enemy's KUG;

• reconnaissance of the situation at sea within a radius of up to 1000 km;

• search for submarines using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with a magnetometer at ranges up to 100 km in front of the AK.

The limitations of the scope of tasks are that the AK should not strike at AUG-s, and when striking the enemy's territory, the UAVs of the air wing should not approach the airfields on which the fighter-bombers (IB) are based, at a distance of less than 300 km. In the event that a group of UAVs undergoes an unexpected attack by the enemy's IS, the UAVs should only conduct long-range air combat with it, while simultaneously moving towards the AK.

2.2 Weight and dimensions

To reduce the cost of the AK as much as possible, we will limit its total displacement - 25 thousand tons, which corresponds to the size of the UDC - 220 * 33 m. evaluate what is more profitable: keep this size or replace it with a more convenient for AK - 240 * 28 m. The springboard on the bow must be present. Suppose they choose 240 * 28 m.

2.3 Selecting the type of air defense system

A typical version, when only short-range air defense systems (MD) are installed on an aircraft carrier, is of little use for Russia. We do not have our own URO destroyers, Admiral Gorshkov frigates are also not crowded, and they do not solve the missile defense problem. Therefore, you will have to install a full-fledged long-range air defense system on the AK. The proposal for the appearance of the radar complex (RLC) of such an air defense system is given in the previous article, where it is shown that the missile defense radar should have 4 active phased antenna arrays (AFAR) with an area of 70-100 square meters. In addition, antennas of a multifunctional (MF) radar, an electronic countermeasures complex (KREP) and state recognition should be placed on the superstructure. It will not be possible to find such areas on the superstructure located on the side, as on the UDC.

2.4 Superstructure design

It is proposed to consider an option with the placement of the superstructure in the entire width of the deck and place it as close as possible to the bow of the ship. The lower part of the superstructure, 7 m high, is empty. Moreover, the front and rear parts of the empty compartment are closed by the gate wings. During takeoff and landing, the doors open and are installed along the sides of the ship with a slight expansion of about 5 °.

This expansion forms the entrance flare in the event that if the UAV during landing is strongly displaced relative to the middle of the runway to the side, then the flare will prevent the wing from directly hitting the superstructure wall. Also, in the event of an accident, nozzles of the fire extinguishing system are installed in the ceiling of the empty part of the superstructure. As a result, the width of the runway is limited only by the width of the lower part of the superstructure and is equal to 26 m, which makes it possible to plant UAVs with a wingspan of up to 18-19 m and a keel height of up to 4 m., which is in constant readiness and, possibly, with warm engines.

The height of the superstructure above the deck must be at least 16 m. The layout of the antennas on the side edges of the superstructure is shown in Fig. 1 in the previous article. On the front and rear faces of the superstructure, the AFAR missile defense radar cannot be located in the same way as on the side ones, since these AFARs are located above the gates, and the total height of the superstructure to accommodate them is not enough. We have to turn these AFAR 90 °, that is, place the long side of the AFAR horizontally, and the short side vertically.

During the threatened period, 3 more pairs of IS UAVs with 4 medium-range missiles (SD) R-77-1 or 12 short-range missiles (MD) described in section 5 should be located at the stern of the deck. Then the available runway length will decrease to 200 m.

3. The concept of UAVs used

Since it is assumed that air battles will be rather an exception, the IS UAVs should be subsonic. It is also beneficial for a small aircraft carrier to have small UAVs. They are then easier to transport in the hangar, require a shorter runway, and the required deck thickness is reduced. Let us limit the maximum take-off weight of an IS UAV to 4 tons. Then the wing can contain up to 40 UAVs. Suppose that the maximum combat load of such a UAV will be 800-900 kg, and due to the low chassis, one missile of such a mass cannot be suspended under the fuselage. Therefore, the maximum load should consist of two 450 kg rockets. Further, it is not possible to increase the takeoff weight of the UAV, otherwise the size of the AK will have to be increased, and it will turn into an ordinary aircraft carrier.

Air-to-surface (VP) missiles weighing less than 450 kg, as a rule, have a low launch range and do not allow them to be used from ranges exceeding the firing range of even SD SAM systems. Of the V-V missiles, only the SD SD R-77-1 missile with a launch range of 110 km will be able to be used. Considering that the American AMRAAM missile launcher has a launch range of 150 km, it will be problematic to win a long-range air battle. UR BD R-37 is also not suitable because of the weight of 600 kg. Consequently, the development of alternative weapons will be required, for example, glide bombs (PB) and glide missiles (GL), discussed in Section 5.

The small mass of an IS UAV will not allow it to have the entire set of equipment located on a manned IS. We will either have to develop combined options, for example, radar and electronic countermeasures (KREP), or combine UAVs in pairs: on one radar, and on the other a variety of optics and electronic intelligence.

If a UAV is given the task of conducting close air combat, then the UAV must have an overload clearly exceeding the capabilities of a manned IS, for example, 15 g. An all-aspect noise-immune communication line with the operator will also be required. As a result, the combat load will drop even more. It's easier to limit yourself to ranged combat and 5 g overload.

In regional conflicts, it is often necessary to strike at insignificant targets, the cost of which is so low that the use of high-precision missiles turns out to be unjustified - and too expensive, and the mass of the missile is too large. The use of gliding ammunition makes it possible to reduce both the weight and the price, and the launch range increases. It follows that the flight altitude should be as high as possible.

Information support of the AK is provided by the second type of UAV - early warning radar (AWACS). It must have a long duty time - 6-8 hours, for which we will assume that its mass will have to be increased to 5 tons. Despite its small mass, the AWACS UAV should provide approximately the same characteristics as the Hawkeye AWACS, which has a mass of 23 tons.

The next article will be devoted to the topic of UAV AWACS. Here, we just note that the difference between the proposed AWACS and the existing ones is that the radar antennas occupy most of the UAV sides, for which a special type of UAV with an upper V-shaped wing that does not obscure the lateral AFAR is being developed.

4. The appearance of the UAV IB

The American UAV Global Hawk uses an engine from a passenger aircraft, the cold part of which is modified to work in a rarefied atmosphere. As a result, a flight altitude of 20 km was reached with a mass of 14 tons, a wing span of 35 m and a speed of 630 km / h.

For an IB UAV, the wingspan should be no more than 12-14 m. The fuselage length is about 8 m. Then, the flight altitude, depending on the combat load and the availability of fuel, will have to be reduced to 16-18 km, and the cruising speed should be increased to 850-900 km / h …

The thrust-to-weight ratio of the UAV must be sufficient to obtain a rate of climb of at least 60 m / s. The flight duration is at least 2.5-3 hours.

4.1 Characteristics of IS radar

For long-range air combat, the radar has two AFARs - a bow and a tail. The exact dimensions of the fuselage are to be determined in the future, but now we assume that the diameters of the AFAR radar are equal to 70 cm.

The main task of the radar is to detect various targets, for which the main AFAR of the range of 5, 5 cm is used. In addition, it is required to suppress the enemy air defense radar. It is very difficult to place a KREP of sufficient power on a small UAV, therefore, instead of KREP, we will use the same radar. To do this, it is necessary to provide a wider AFAR wavelength range than that of the suppressed radar. In most cases, this succeeds. For example, the Patriot air defense system radar operates in the range of 5, 2-5, 8 cm, which is overlapped by the main AFAR. To suppress the enemy IS radar and Aegis guidance radar, you will need to have an AFAR range of 3-3, 75 cm. Therefore, before flying on a specific mission, it is necessary to equip the radar with AFARs of the required ranges. You can even install the nose AFAR range of 5, 5 cm, and the tail - 3 cm. The rest of the radar units remain universal. The energy potential of the radar is at least an order of magnitude greater than the potential of any KREP. Consequently, IS used as a jammer can cover a group operating from safe areas. To suppress the Aegis MF radar, an AFAR of the 9-10 cm range will be required.

4.2 Design and characteristics of radar

AFAR radar contains 416 transceiver modules (TPM), which are combined into clusters (square matrices 4 * 4 PPM. Matrix size 11 * 11 cm.). In total, AFAR contains 26 clusters. Each PPM consists of a 25 W transmitter and a pre-receiver. The signals from the outputs of all 16 receivers are summed up and finally amplified in the receiving channel, the output of which is connected to an analog-to-digital converter. The ADC instantly samples the 200 MHz signal. After converting the signal into digital form, it enters the signal processor, where it is filtered out of interference and makes a decision on the detection of a target or its absence.

The mass of each APAR is 24 kg. AFAR requires liquid cooling. The refrigerator weighs another 7 kg, etc. The total weight of an airborne radar with two AFAR is estimated at 100 kg. Power consumption - 5 kW.

The small area of the AFAR does not allow obtaining the characteristics of an airborne radar equal to that of a typical information security radar. For example, the detection range of an IS with an effective reflecting surface (EOC) is 3 sq. M. in a typical search area 60 ° * 10 ° is equal to 120 km. The angular tracking error is 0.25 °.

With such indicators, it is difficult to count on winning long-range air combat.

4.3 Way to increase the range of radar

As a way out, you can suggest the use of group actions. For this, UAVs must have a high-speed communication line between them. Quite simply, such a line can be implemented if one cluster of radars is placed on the side surfaces of the UAV. Then the transmission speed can reach 300 Mbit / s at a distance of up to 20 km.

Consider an example, when 4 IS UAVs flew on a mission. If all 4 radars synchronously scan the space, then the power irradiating the signal target will increase by 4 times. If all radars emit pulses strictly at the same frequency, then we can assume that one radar with quadruple power was operating. The signal received by each radar will also be quadrupled. If all received signals are sent on board the group's leading UAV and summed up there, then the power will increase 4 times more. Consequently, with ideal operation of the equipment, the signal power received by the four radar radars will be 16 times greater than that of a single radar. In real equipment, there will always be summation losses, depending on the quality of the equipment. Specific data cannot be cited, since nothing is known about such works, but an estimate of the loss factor by half is quite plausible. Then the increase in power will occur 8 times and the detection range will increase by 1, 65 times. Consequently, the IS detection range will increase to 200 km, which exceeds the launch range of the AMRAAM missile launcher and will allow air combat.

5. Guided gliding ammunition

Consider only gliding bombs and missiles (PB and PR).

PBU-39 was originally designed to strike stationary targets and was guided by GPS signals, or inertial. The cost of the PB was moderate - $ 40 thousand.

Apparently, later it turned out that the PB case with a diameter of 20 cm is not capable of shielding the GPS receiver from interference emitted by ground-based CREPs. Then the guidance began to be improved. The last modification already has an active seeker. The aiming error decreased to 1 m, but the PB price increased to $ 200 thousand, which is not very suitable for regional wars.

5.1 Proposal for the appearance of the PB

You can propose to abandon GLONASS guidance and switch to PB command guidance. This is possible if the target can be detected by the radar against the background of reflections from surrounding objects, that is, it is radio contrast. To aim at the PB, the following must be installed:

• inertial navigation system, which allows maintaining the straight-line movement of the PB for at least 10 s;

• low altitude altimeter (less than 300 m);

• a radio answering machine, which retransmits the interrogation signal of the on-board radar back.

Let's assume that the radar can detect a ground target in one of three modes:

• the target is so large that it can be detected against the background of reflections from the surface in the physical beam mode, that is, when the IS is flying directly at it;

• the target is small and can be detected only in the synthesized beam mode, that is, when observing the target from the side for several seconds;

• the target is small, but it moves at a speed of more than 10-15 km / h and can be distinguished on this basis.

Guidance accuracy depends on whether one or a pair of IS conduct guidance. A single radar can accurately measure the range to the PB with an error of 1-2 m, but the azimuth is measured with a large error - with a single measurement of 0.25 °. If we observe the PB 1-3 s, then the lateral error can be reduced to 0, 0005-0, 001 from the range value to the PB. Then, at a distance of about 100 km, the lateral error will be equal to 50-100 m, which is suitable only for firing at area targets.

Let us assume that there is a pair of information security units spaced 10-20 km apart. The mutual coordinates of the IS are known with the help of GLONASS quite accurately. Then, by measuring the distances from the PB to both IS and building a triangle, you can reduce the error to 10 m.

In cases where higher guidance accuracy is required, it will be necessary to use a seeker, for example, a television one, capable of detecting a target from a distance of more than 1 km. It is also possible to consider the option of transmitting a TV picture to the operator on the ship.

5.2 Use of gliding missiles

The chosen tactics of conducting air battles establishes that in case of detection of an enemy IS attack, it is necessary to fire at him at long ranges and, immediately turning around, go towards the AK. The BD R-37 missiles are completely unsuitable due to the weight of 600 kg, and the UR SD R-77-1 are partially suitable. Their mass is also not small - 190 kg, and the launch range is too small - 110 km. Therefore, we will consider the possibility of using PR.

Suppose the UAV is at an altitude of 17 km. Let him be attacked by an IS flying at a cruising supersonic 500 m / s (1800 km / h) at an altitude of 15 km. Let us assume that the IS attacks the UAV at an angle of 60 °. Then the UAV will need to turn 120 ° to avoid IS. At a flight speed of 250 m / s and an overload of 4 g, a turn will take 12 seconds. For definiteness, let's set the mass of the PR of 60 kg, which will allow the UAV to have an ammunition load of 12 PR.

Consider the tactics of warfare. Let the IS attack the UAV in the most unfavorable variant for the UAV - at the external control center. Then the IS before the launch of the UR does not turn on the radar, and it can only be detected by the UAV's own radar. Even if we use group scanning of four on-board radars of the group, then the detection range will be sufficient only for conventional information security - 200 km. For the F-35, the range will drop to 90 km. Help here can be provided by an AK missile defense radar capable of detecting an F-35 flying at an altitude of 15 km at a distance of 500 km.

The decision on the need for the UAV to withdraw is made when the distance to the IS is reduced to 120-150 km. Considering that the battle takes place at altitudes of more than 15 km, then there are almost no clouds. Then the UAV, using TV or IR cameras, can record that the IS launched the UR. If the IS is in the visibility zone of the missile defense radar, then the launch of the missile defense system can also be detected by this radar.

If the IS continues to approach the UAV without launching the UR, then the UAV resets the first pair of PR. At the moment of dropping to the PR, the carrier wing opens, and it begins to glide in a given direction. At this time, the UAV continues to turn and, when the PR is in the zone of action of the tail AFAR, it captures the PR for tracking. A PAIR of PRs continue planning, scattering up to 10 km in order to take the IB in ticks. When the distance from the PR to the IS is reduced to 30-40 km, the operator issues a command to start the PR engines, which will accelerate to 3-3.5 M. since the energy of the PR is sufficient to compensate for the loss of height. A transponder must be installed on the PR, which helps to direct the PR with high accuracy. Radar seeker on PR is not required - it is enough to have simple IR or TV seeker.

If the IS in the process of the chase managed to approach the UAV at a distance of about 50 km, then it can launch the missile launcher. In this case, PR are used in the missile defense mode. The PR is discharged in the usual way, but after opening the wing, the PR makes a turn towards the UR and then starts the engine. Since the interception occurs on a collision course, a wide field of view from the optical seeker is not required.

NOTE: to discuss the tactics of using AK, it is necessary first to consider the methods of obtaining the control center. But the issues of building the main informant - an AWACS UAV operating in the marine theaters, will be considered in the next article.