This ship is made of peace and love. Thank fate for the fact that we will never see the full functionality of Zamvolt, as it was intended by its creators.
With dual-band radar, three of the arrays pointing up, the other three scanned the horizon continuously.
With a full ammunition load of missiles for any purpose, including long-range missiles and kinetic transatmospheric interceptors.
With six-inch artillery systems capable of pouring an endless rain of guided ammunition on targets at a distance of 100+ km. At gunpoint - the entire infrastructure of the densely populated coast, areas in which a third of the world's population lives.
With a closed circuit of short-range air defense, consisting of 57-mm automatic anti-aircraft guns with programmable projectiles.
With the full implementation of plans for serial construction - 29 new generation destroyers on the guard of freedom.
But it's enough to scoff at not the worst ship. What has turned out in practice from the ambitious fleet rearmament program?
It turned out, to put it mildly, rather weak. The Destroyer of the Future no longer exudes its former confidence, and its sequestered functionality casts doubt on the very idea of its construction. Despite all the difficulties, the project still attracts the attention of specialists and the public. For a variety of reasons.
No matter what they say about a series of "experimental" ships, for testing new technologies, “Zamvolt”, first of all, remains a combat unit. With a potential exceeding the total potential of the fleets of many countries of the world.
80 missile silos. Few modern ships have this power. His large-caliber cannons should not be disregarded - an unexpected decision that breaks the stereotypes of modern warfare (six-inch guns have not been installed on ships since the 1950s).
Zamvolt's innovations, at first glance, do not seem obvious. Commoners see only an "iron" of an unusual shape, without the promised railguns and other futurism. Experts also do not express much enthusiasm - many elements of the "destroyer of the future" have long been used in practice.
It has long been noticed that the silhouette with the blockage of the sides coincides in outline with the "Merrimack". If the comparison with an armadillo is just a curiosity, then other moments can no longer be explained by simple external similarities. One of the main features of the Zamvolt, the electric transmission, was first installed on the Russian diesel-electric ship Vandal (1903). Then the scheme was applied on a variety of military and civilian ships, incl. on aircraft carriers of the Lexington type and battleships (Tennessee, Colorado). Today the British destroyers Daring use a similar electric transmission.
On the other hand, technological progress cannot be underestimated. Turbine generators and electric motors of WWI battleships could provide a power of only 28 thousand hp. A quarter of Zamvolt's capabilities! With incomparable sizes and power density.
And not just a transmission. “Zamvolt” is a real bunch of electrical energy, pierced by its threads from keel to tufts. The main innovation in the field of power plants is flexible control of energy flows. According to the creators, this allows in a matter of moments to redirect up to 80% of the generated power to a separate group of consumers.
As you might have guessed, this was done counting on promising electromagnetic guns. Destroyers are unlikely to survive until the appearance of combat-ready "railguns", but the Yankees in the process of working on "Zamvolt" gained practical experience in the field of creating ship electrical systems and automation, operating with capacities of tens of megawatts.
As with any development in critical areas beyond the traditional boundaries, such advances have the potential to transform technology and technique at lower levels. And this is the whole DD-1000 project.
Many of the elements presented have met in scattered forms in the past. But only in the Zamvolt project did they become part of a single structure.
For the first time, such large-scale measures to reduce visibility were implemented on a destroyer-class ship. Angular shapes, radio-absorbing coatings, masking of thermal emissions from the power plant, a weakly pronounced wake …
For the first time - complex automation, affecting many aspects that no one paid attention to before. Everything has undergone automation, including the processes of loading ammunition, food, spare parts and consumables in preparation for the campaign. Coupled with an increase in the overhaul life of all mechanisms and systems of the ship, which saved the crew from the need to carry out repair work on the open sea. No workshops, brigades of foremen or electricians. All maintenance will be carried out only at the base - before and after the end of the hike. The crew has been reduced by 2-3 times compared to cruisers and destroyers of the previous generation.
For the first time - a multifunctional radar combining the functions of a surveillance radar, a target illumination radar, a counter-battery radar and an electronic warfare station. Automatic detection of floating mines, guidance of launched missiles, electronic reconnaissance - collecting information in a passive mode.
Fortunately, the radar has a limited detection range. Three other antenna arrays (AN / SPY-4) were never installed on the destroyer (empty area in Fig.)
Mixed missile and cannon armament. New launchers (Mk.57), equipped with knockout panels and dispersed around the ship's perimeter - to localize damage from fire and detonation of ammunition in the launch silo. The maximum launch mass of the missiles has been doubled (up to 4 tons) - the Mk.57 UVP were created based on the needs of the near future.
Anthology of problems
"The soldiers climbed to the edge of the parapet, but did not find the enemy …" In the absence of any equal rival in the coming decades, the US Navy curtailed the program to create the next generation of destroyers.
In view of the fact that the project was at a high stage of readiness, it was decided to build a limited series of three destroyers, i.e. by American standards, they did not even begin construction. The next step was to reduce the functionality. If the Zamvolts are not a substitute for the entire fleet of destroyers, a number of expensive systems can be abandoned. "Ships of the future" have lost three radar grids of general vision, - the tasks of the zonal air defense / missile defense are assigned to dozens of other destroyers with the "Aegis" complex.
Then the question arose: what to do with the “white bishops”? As noted above, this is not just an experiment. “Zamvolty” are full-fledged combat units. Due to the lack of a long-range radar, they did not fit into the classic AUG. On the other hand, low visibility, a combination of missile and cannon armament and serious defensive capabilities (multifunctional radar with AFAR + highly maneuverable short- and medium-range ESSM anti-aircraft missiles) made Zamvolt suitable for single actions off the enemy's coast. Fire support for army and ILC units fighting in the coastal zone, unexpected missile and cannon strikes against targets on the coast.
The abandonment of high-precision artillery ammunition of the LRLAP type entailed new changes in the concept.
The 155mm Advanced Gun Systems (AGS) naval cannons were a disaster. The Americans have perverted the idea of naval artillery in an unimaginable way. Although there was a rational kernel in the idea itself. Artillery has its own field of application, in which it is superior in efficiency to any other means. Among the advantages: complete immunity to weather conditions, air defense and electronic warfare, high density of fire - the fire of a WWII cruiser was comparable in density to the air wing of a modern aircraft carrier, the highest reaction time, negligible cost of art. ammunition - the usual "blank" is 1000 times cheaper than a cruise missile.
Zamvolt has nothing of the kind. Its excellent cannons have been mothballed until acceptable ammunition appears that meets the requirements of practicality and economic justification of use. The AGS concept was initially flawed: artillery does not need to compete with missiles, setting records in range and accuracy.
Currently "Zamvolts" are trying on the role of "fighters" of enemy squadrons in a naval battle. According to the calculations of the admirals, less visibility will allow them to covertly go out to the launch range of anti-ship missiles and be the first to strike.
The main anti-ship weapon should be the RIM-174 ERAM (SM-6) anti-aircraft missile, capable of striking over-the-horizon air and sea targets. According to official data, the launch range on a surface target can reach 268 miles. The relative weakness of the warhead (64 kg) is compensated by a short reaction time and a high flight speed of 3.5M along a quasi-ballistic trajectory. The missile entered service in 2013. The military budget for 2019 includes an amount of 89.7 million dollars for the adaptation of Zamvolt to SM-6 missiles.
The use of another promising development from the Zamvolt, the AGM-158C LRASM anti-ship missile with a multispectral seeker, new attack algorithms and a launch range of over 300 miles, is out of the question. Tests AGM-158 are nearing completion, according to official data, its adoption is expected in 2018-2019.
The change of priorities takes place only on paper. A modern destroyer-class warship with a displacement of> 10 thousand tons is versatile enough to combat any underwater, surface, air and ground enemy.
But the very fact of searching for suitable tasks for the built ships irrefutably testifies to the miscalculations of their creators. The main mistake is the redundancy of the US Navy itself, operating a fleet of 90 cruisers and destroyers. Against this background, the Yankees, of course, cannot understand why they built three more “non-standard” ships for this armada.
The question of cost
Imagine the situation: “A tomograph worth 500 million rubles was purchased from the city budget for a hospital in the district town of N.”. The story will probably end with a young doctor complaining to reporters that this is not a tomograph, but just an X-ray machine. And it has been standing unopened for a year in a room on the first floor. There will be an uproar, anti-corruption fighters will run in, and there is a good chance that shreds will fly from the responsible persons.
In contrast to the civilian sector, which is somehow controlled by the public, the sphere of military orders is an inexhaustible source for thefts and kickbacks on an especially large scale. 10-fold overpricing under the veil of secrecy.
Zamvolt is accused of being indecently expensive ($ 4.44 billion). And, this supposedly stands out for the worse. Take a look at other modern ships - yes, there are "zamvolty" at every turn.
The announced cost of the modernization of the Admiral Nakhimov TAKRK is 50 billion rubles, or 1.6 billion dollars. As of 2013, you can be sure that by the time the work is completed, the estimate for long-term construction will increase several times. It is difficult for an ordinary person to imagine such values.
For comparison: the cost of the world's largest cruise ship “Symphony of the Seas” was $ 1.35 billion (2018). Just don’t say that the process of building a 16-deck giant is less complicated and time consuming than building another “zamvolta”. What are some unprecedented measures to ensure the safety of 6,000 passengers!
The only “adequate” item of expenditure in the implementation of military shipbuilding projects is scientific research. The total cost of R&D expenditures on the DD-1000 project was about $ 10 billion, while the application of the results is not limited to Zamvolt alone. For example, the Dual-Band Radar (DBR) is also installed on Ford-class aircraft carriers.
When creating the "destroyer of the future", an extensive groundwork was obtained in the design of hulls of an unusual shape, methods of reducing visibility, automation, the creation of combat information and control systems, radar equipment and weapons of a new generation.
