On December 20, "VO" published an article by Dmitry Yurov "The Bitter Truth About the" Instant Impact "of US Aircraft Carriers". In the publication, the author, in his characteristic manner of disdain for American military equipment, tries to prove that American aircraft carriers do not pose a particular threat and, they say, are generally outdated and can easily be neutralized by the forces of the Russian fleet. For example, Dmitry Yurov writes: "AUG is nothing more than a demonstration of strength, which, in general, does not exist."
But, apparently, in the Soviet Union they thought differently. Significant funds and resources were spent to combat "floating airfields". Unable to build and maintain aircraft carriers comparable to the American ones, the USSR created an "asymmetric response". Soviet naval commanders relied on submarines with anti-ship missiles and long-range missile bombers in the fight against American aircraft carrier strike groups (AUG).
The emergence of sea-based anti-ship cruise missiles (ASM) made plans to use US strike aircraft carriers against Soviet territory difficult to implement.
At the end of the 1980s, the Soviet Navy had 79 submarines with cruise missiles (including 63 nuclear ones) and 80 multipurpose nuclear torpedo submarines.
The first P-6 anti-ship missiles launched from submarines entered service in the early 60s. Large diesel submarines of Project 651 and nuclear projects of Project 675 were armed with rockets of this type. However, a major drawback of the P-6 complex and first-generation anti-ship missile launch vehicles was that the missiles could only be used from the surface position.
SSGN pr. 675 with raised containers of cruise missiles
This drawback was eliminated in the P-70 "Amethyst" anti-ship missile, it became the world's first cruise missile with a "wet" underwater launch. The "Amethyst" complex, which was put into service in 1968, was used to arm the submarines of Project 661 and Project 670.
The next qualitative step forward was the development and adoption of the P-700 Granit anti-ship missile system in 1983. This missile, first of all, was intended for nuclear submarines of projects 949 and 949A. When creating the complex, an approach was used for the first time, the basis of which is the mutual coordination of 3 elements: target designation means (in the form of spacecraft), launch vehicle and anti-ship missiles.
SSGN pr. 949A "Antey"
In addition to submarines with anti-ship missiles, numerous Tu-16K naval bombers with K-10S, KSR-2 and KSR-5 and Tu-22M missiles armed with Kh-22 anti-ship missiles posed a serious threat to aircraft carriers. Their actions were supposed to provide several reconnaissance aviation regiments on the Tu-16R and Tu-22R. And also the Tu-16P and Tu-22P / PD electronic reconnaissance and suppression aircraft. By the beginning of the 90s, there were 145 units of the Tu-22M2 and M3 alone in the naval aviation of the Russian fleet.
Missile cruiser "Admiral Golovko"
A full-fledged oceanic surface fleet was created in the USSR. It included: missile cruisers of projects 58 and 1134 with anti-ship missiles - P-35, project 1144 with anti-ship missiles - P-700, project 1164 with anti-ship missiles - P-1000, as well as missile destroyers of projects 56-M and 57 with anti-ship missiles - KSShch and project 956 with anti-ship missiles - P-270. Even Soviet aircraft-carrying cruisers were equipped with anti-ship missiles, Project 1143 ships were armed with anti-ship missiles - P-500.
Missile cruiser "Varyag" (author's photo)
During the Cold War, Soviet surface warships on a permanent basis carried out combat service in various regions of the oceans, tracking and escorting American AUG.
To ensure the repair, supply and rest of the crews, the Soviet Navy had foreign bases and maintenance points in Syria, Ethiopia, Yemen, Angola, Guinea, Libya, Tunisia, Yugoslavia and Vietnam.
The Soviet Navy had a large number of reconnaissance ships of various types. In the post-war period, the first reconnaissance ships were small vessels converted from conventional fishing trawlers and hydrographic vessels.
Project 861 medium reconnaissance ship Jupiter
Subsequently, according to specially developed projects, medium and large reconnaissance ships with increased autonomy and an expanded composition of special equipment were built. One of the main tasks for them was tracking American aircraft carriers. Every day, at least two dozen "reconnaissance trawlers" collected information and monitored the fleets of potential adversaries. At the time of the collapse of the USSR, there were more than a hundred reconnaissance ships of various classes.
However, detecting and tracking the AUG remained extremely challenging. American aircraft carriers and escort ships are capable of moving in the ocean at a speed of 700 miles per day.
The main concern was the timely detection and surveillance of aircraft carriers. The reconnaissance and surveillance equipment available in the early 60s did not reliably solve this problem. The problem was in reliable over-the-horizon detection of targets, their selection and ensuring accurate target designation for incoming cruise missiles. The situation has improved significantly since the entry into service of the Tu-95RTs ("Success-U" system). These aircraft were designed for reconnaissance and search in the world's oceans of American AUGs, as well as for transmitting data and target designation for guiding anti-ship missiles at them. A total of 53 vehicles were built.
American F-15 fighters of the 57th Air Defense Fighter Squadron, stationed in Iceland, accompany the Tu-95RTs
Economical turboprop engines, spacious fuel tanks and an air refueling system provided the Tu-95RTs with an extremely long flight range. A search radar was located under the fuselage in a radio-transparent fairing, with a detection range of surface targets of more than 300 km. It was used to detect enemy ships, information about which is transmitted through closed channels to missile-carrying ships and submarines. Another radar was installed under the bow and was used to guide missiles.
Reconnaissance capabilities using airfields of friendly countries have increased significantly. Thanks to the basing of Tu-95RTs aircraft in Cuba, it became possible to detect aircraft carrier strike groups in the Western Atlantic, making the transition from the coast of America to the Atlantic coast of Europe. Since 1979, in accordance with an agreement with the government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the Danang and Cam Ranh airfields have been used. Due to the presence of intermediate airfields, the Tu-95RTs could control any part of the World Ocean. At that time, this inspired confidence that in case of emergency, the advancement of aircraft carriers to our borders would not go unnoticed.
However, in wartime, any Soviet reconnaissance aircraft that ventured to approach the AUG would inevitably be shot down by carrier-based interceptors many hundreds of miles from the order of the aircraft carrier group. In addition, the plane needed many hours to arrive at a given area of the World Ocean. The Ka-25RTs helicopters, also used for target designation, had a short range and were even more vulnerable than reconnaissance aircraft.
In addition to the Tu-16R and Tu-95RTs, reliable means of tracking the AUG were required, invulnerable to air defense systems and interceptors, capable of viewing large areas of the oceans.
Such a means could be a space reconnaissance system capable of real-time reconnaissance and target designation. In 1978, the Maritime Space Reconnaissance and Targeting System (MKRTs) - "Legend" as part of the constellation of radio and radar reconnaissance satellites and a complex of ground equipment was put into service. In 1983, the last component of the system was adopted - the P-700 Granit supersonic anti-ship missile.
The space component of the Legend system consisted of two types of satellites: US-P (Controlled Satellite - Passive, index GRAU 17F17) and US-A (Controlled Satellite - Active, index GRAU 17F16).
The first was an electronic reconnaissance complex, created for the detection and direction finding of objects with electromagnetic radiation; it recorded the operation of the AUG radio equipment.
US-A (Managed Satellite - Active)
The second was equipped with a two-way side-looking radar, providing all-weather and all-day detection of surface targets. The radar required as close as possible to the observed objects, and therefore a low orbit (270 km) for the satellite. Insufficient generated power did not allow the use of solar panels as a source of energy to power the radar. Also, solar panels do not work in the shadow of the Earth. Therefore, in the satellites of this series, it was decided to install an onboard nuclear power plant.
RI of the surface situation in the Strait of Gibraltar with observation of wake trails
After the end of the operating period, a special upper stage was supposed to put the reactor into a "burial orbit" at an altitude of 750 … 1000 km from the Earth's surface, according to calculations, the time spent by objects in such orbits is at least 250 years. The rest of the satellite burned up as it fell into the atmosphere.
However, the system did not always function reliably, after a number of incidents associated with the fall of the reactor block to the earth's surface and radioactive contamination of the area, further launches of US-A satellites were terminated.
The ICRC "Legend" system functioned until the mid-90s. Between 1970 and 1988, the USSR launched more than 30 nuclear-powered reconnaissance satellites into space. For more than 10 years, the US-A spacecraft have reliably monitored the surface situation in the World Ocean.
A lot has changed since the collapse of the USSR, during the "years of reforms" the size of the Russian navy has decreased significantly. Due to inadequate maintenance and underfunding of repairs, a lot of warships were lost, which did not serve even half of the due date. Moreover, a significant part of them were written off not “in the dashing 90s”, but in the “well-fed” years of “revival and stability”.
In the early 2000s, Russian military bases in Cuba and Vietnam were liquidated. Many are now openly perplexed - how it was possible to break off relations with such sincere and loyal friends. Our aviation units should not have been withdrawn from Cuba and Vietnam under any pretext, and, moreover, the most modern aircraft should have been there. Unfortunately, the latest events taking place in the world confirm the erroneousness of the decisions of our leadership regarding the liquidation of foreign Russian bases.
Heavy nuclear missile cruiser "Peter the Great"
As of 2014, in the combat composition of the fleet of ships capable of really fighting AUG with the help of long-range anti-ship missiles, there were two cruisers of project 1164 "Moscow" (Black Sea Fleet) and "Varyag" (Pacific Fleet), one heavy nuclear missile cruiser of project 1144 "Peter the Great", three Project 956 destroyers, three Project 949A missile submarines. In June 2014, the lead submarine of Project 885 - K-560 Severodvinsk was accepted into the Russian Navy. The main weapon of the boat is the P-800 Onyx and 3M-54 Caliber missile systems.
Launch of the P-700 "Granit" rocket from the missile cruiser "Peter the Great" pr.1144.2
The fleet also includes about 25 serviceable diesel and nuclear torpedo boats. There are plans to re-equip all diesel and nuclear torpedo submarines, which are being repaired or planned by the 3M-54 Caliber missile system. This will undoubtedly increase the ability to combat AUG in the future.
The list of means of fighting aircraft carriers deliberately does not mention coastal complexes and the "mosquito fleet" - missile boats and small missile ships. Since their main purpose is to protect their own coast from enemy amphibious assault forces. In addition, the resistance of the "mosquito fleet" to the actions of aviation is not very great.
Modern Russian naval aviation is currently in a deplorable state. Its capabilities for timely detection and striking of the AUG are minimal. In the mid-90s, all long-range Tu-95RTs reconnaissance aircraft were decommissioned.
Aircraft Tu-22M3 were "in storage", Vozdvizhenka airfield
The naval missile-carrying aviation has been eliminated already under the current leadership of the country. All "conditionally serviceable" (prepared for a one-time ferry) aircraft of the Navy in 2011 were transferred to the Long-Range Aviation. The rest of the Tu-22Ms, even with minor malfunctions, but suitable for restoration, were cut into metal.
Satellite image of Google earth: Tu-22M being cut into metal
Of the naval aircraft capable of carrying out long-range reconnaissance flights, about 20 Tu-142 and Il-38 remained in flight condition.
The separate 279th naval aviation regiment, assigned to the Kuznetsov, has about 20 Su-33 carrier-based fighters, of which half are actually capable of performing a combat mission. The rest are in need of renovation.
The Su-33 is the main carrier-based aircraft of the Russian Navy and is intended mainly to cover its own fleet from air attack weapons. The avionics of the aircraft does not allow the use of anti-ship missiles from it, and it is at least naive to hope that the enemy will allow them to strike their NAR ships and free-fall bombs.
Deck MiG-29K
The situation may change after the re-equipment of the air wing of our only aircraft carrier "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov" with modernized MiG-29K fighters, the purchase contract for which has already been signed. In addition to air combat missiles, the updated MiG-29K, after being put into service, will be able to carry and use the Kh-31A and Kh-35 anti-ship missiles, which will significantly enhance the anti-ship capabilities of carrier-based aircraft.
Possibilities of early detection and tracking of AUG remain very weak. This situation may change in the next few years. In 2013, information appeared that the Ministry of Defense and Roskosmos began a joint development of a multi-position satellite reconnaissance system on an unprecedented scale. The project called "Aquarelle" is designed for a period of at least five years. "Aquarelle" will become the most ambitious intelligence system in Russia in the entire history. The complex of receiving and transmitting stations is planned to be scattered throughout the country. The coordinates of the targets must be transmitted to the command post, where a virtual real-time map will be formed.
At the first stage, the intelligence system will work mainly in the interests of the Russian Navy. The "Liana" complex, which is being created in parallel, is mainly intended for detecting ships. The orbital constellation of this project will consist of four Pion-NKS radar satellites and Lotos-S electronic reconnaissance satellites.
Satellite "Lotos-S"
The first satellite of the "Lotos-S" type was launched on November 20, 2009, it had a simplified configuration and was designated as 14F138. After the spacecraft was put into orbit, it turned out that about half of the onboard systems were not functioning, which required the postponement of the launch of new satellites in order to refine the equipment.
In 2014, the Pion-NKS 14F139 radar reconnaissance satellite was successfully launched. In total, to maintain the functioning of the Liana system in full, four radar reconnaissance satellites are needed, which will be based at an altitude of about 1,000 km above the planet's surface and constantly scan the land and sea surfaces.
Satellite image of Google earth: US Navy aircraft carrier George Washington parked in Singapore
But even after the commissioning of this badly needed reconnaissance and monitoring system, our ability to counter the American fleet will remain very modest. In this regard, developments in the field of coast-based anti-ship ballistic missiles are of interest.
Work on this topic was carried out by the designer V. P. Makeev in the 60-70s in the USSR on the basis of the R-27 SLBM. Target designation was provided by two radio technical systems: the Legend satellite system of maritime space reconnaissance and target designation (MKRTs) and the Uspekh-U aviation system.
On tests completed in 1975, out of 31 launched R-27K (4K18) missiles, 26 missiles hit the conditional target. One diesel submarine with these missiles was in trial operation, but for a number of reasons the anti-ship complex with R-27K missiles was not accepted into service.
The characteristics of modern Russian mobile ballistic missiles allow, in a fairly short time, to create anti-ship missiles on their basis, located at a considerable distance from the coastline, outside the range of attack deck aircraft. Modern technologies make it possible to equip a ballistic missile warhead with a radar or optical guidance system, which ensures the confident defeat of large moving targets with a conventional warhead. AUG detection and target designation for warheads will have to be carried out from the Aquarelle and Liana reconnaissance satellite systems. The use of such missiles will make it possible to destroy aircraft carriers, despite the powerful air defense of ship formations.
Work in this direction is being actively carried out in the PRC. According to representatives of the US Department of Defense, China has developed and reached the stage of initial operational readiness of a ground-based missile system with anti-ship ballistic missiles based on the mobile complex of DF-21 medium-range missiles in conventional equipment.
Maneuvering warheads DF-21D can be equipped with various types of guidance systems. Such missiles were tested in 2005-2006. According to American analysts, the DF-21D is capable of penetrating the defenses of aircraft carriers and that it has become the first threat to the global dominance of the US Navy since the Cold War.
The warheads of these missiles have stealth characteristics and are placed on highly mobile launchers, have a firing range of up to 1800 km. The flight time will be no more than 12 minutes, the dive at the target is performed at a very high speed.
So far, the main obstacle limiting the use of ballistic anti-ship missiles is the underdeveloped group of reconnaissance satellites of the PRC. Today there is one optoelectronic satellite - Yaogan-7, one synthetic aperture radar satellite - Yaogan-8 and three electronic reconnaissance satellites - Yaogan-9.
Russia is currently lagging behind China in the development and deployment of this type of weapon. And our most effective "anti-ship missiles", keeping the American AUG from an "instant strike" on Russia, remain the Topol and Yars ICBMs.
