Commander Wilson believed that he was only paid to operate the ship. The idea that one day he would have to die on the bridge of the Destroyer, protecting the convoy, did not even occur to him. He had once read about military duty, but believed that the enemy's soldiers would die for their homeland.
Wilson was right in his own way, because those who created Destroyer also believed in the impossibility of a major war. A modern ship must be able to inspect the seiners and shoot along the coast from the horizon. In this case, the shot was important, not its result. Assessing the accuracy of missile strikes against the “headquarters” of the Barmaleevs was a thankless task due to the lack of intelligible coordinates or even an understanding of what such headquarters look like. For many years, it was considered standard practice to throw rockets into the sand, reporting “upward” about the thousands of terrorists killed.
"The bomb always hits the epicenter."
The question of an equal opponent was considered only in passing, while it was believed that the "smart" stealth coating would minimize the probability of detection. It was indecent to mention that stealth has its limits and that situations often arise when a battle is inevitable.
It is more effective to intercept a missile on approach than to deal with the consequences of an explosion inside the hull. This phrase has become an axiom. In her naivety, she resembled "with little blood, in someone else's territory." The slogan did not help much on the shore, but at sea everything should end with a happy ending.
Wilson thought about it sometimes. If active defenses are so good, why are they missing on Destroyer? They were promised that they would not have to fight, but what if they have to?
Like any naval sailor, Wilson served a couple of days on the most heroic ship. This is how the recruits scoffed at the destroyer Trayer, which was bombarded and shelled every day, despite never leaving her hangar in Chicago. The laughter continued until they were brought inside and shown the compartment after being hit by an anti-ship missile.
The mood deteriorated sharply.
The commander on duty knew a lot of things that were not communicated to the public.
For example, the fact that during the anti-missile exercises of the fleet, the altitude guidance channel was turned off at the targets, in order to exclude their decrease in the final segment. The marching height is unchanged - a couple of tens of meters, so that in case of an unsuccessful interception, the anti-ship missile will fly by without catching the ship.
Low-flying targets are fired on parallel courses. This sacred rule has been violated twice. For the first time, the debris of the shot down target ricocheted off the water and set fire to the frigate Entrim.
The second was a horror story about the destroyer Stoddard. When the decommissioned ship was equipped with the latest self-defense system and put under fire. The destroyer automatically repelled all attacks, but when the emergency party landed on it, it turned out that Stoddard was literally riddled with the debris of downed missiles. Moreover, these fragments were not at all like pieces of a broken cup. The power of the blows was such that a diesel generator on the deck was found chopped in half.
No amount of training interception gives an idea of what will be faced in real combat. When the missile is heading straight for the target. If she is shot down at the last moment, debris ricochets off the water and cripples the ship.
The rejection of anti-aircraft guns on all new ships was due to the dubious effectiveness of such systems. They knew about it since the time of the world war. When even 40-mm automatic cannons were unable to stop a diving kamikaze, with its wings torn off and the pilot killed.
If the anti-ship missile system was able to break into the near zone, then it is too late to shoot it down. At least, if there is no protection of the board from supersonic debris.
"Vereshchagin, leave the hut!"
Of course, the command knows the right recipe for dealing with the scourge. All missiles must be shot down on distant approaches, but why is this slogan better than the previous one? What does the command do in general? In command!
And do they know about the radio horizon?
Yes, it's still good to serve on Destroyer, Wilson thought. He can, under a graceful pretext, avoid fighting. His ship is an experimental bench for testing new technologies, the “white elephant” of the fleet.
They'll send "Arleigh Burke" instead.
But how is Burke better than Destroyer? Nothing. Its dislocated radar cannot see low-flying targets at all. The Aegis gained their worth by learning how to shoot in space orbits, but they did not learn to defend against simpler threats.
This requires radar with a different frequency range and new fire control means. At heading corners, the world's best destroyer can only fire on one target. When he meets a couple of missiles fired, he is finished. And due to the too low location of the radar, he is unlikely to even have time to understand who and where fired at him.
Hope is not the last to die. You will be the last to die.
His Destroyer, on the other hand, is considered a shock. A ship for a brutal showdown on land. Instead of space heights, there are pools of blood, where the stars are reflected.
In the shock aspect “Destroyer” has no equal. For the first time since 1960, a ship was built, combining both rocket and classic 6-inch artillery weapons.
Sea guns seem like child's play until it becomes known that a third of the world's population lives no further than 50 km from the coast.
Commander Wilson knew that Destroyer's shells would fly where no one else would. Artillery makes it possible to strike with impunity in areas covered by powerful echeloned air defense and S-300 complexes. It is almost impossible to intercept a small-sized supersonic object. And if the projectile is still shot down, a second will arrive in a second. And then the third …
The cannons hit in any weather, with zero visibility, in fog and sandstorms.
The speed of the projectiles (2 … 3M) ensures the minimum flight time. Seconds. The cannon surpasses everything in response to a call, including aviation. Moreover, no matter how high-tech a guided missile is, it is many times cheaper than a cruise missile.
When used correctly, artillery perfectly complements long-range missile weapons.
"The most important six inches are between your ears."
The only thing that confused the "Destroyer" commander was the need to approach the shore. The firing range of the M982 Excalibur projectile was approximately 27 nautical miles or 50 km in the metric system of the report. To reach a target that is 20-30 km away from the coastline, you will have to leave the horizon and stand in plain sight. A destroyer with a height of 15-storey building itself will become a target for ground artillery and MLRS, if, of course, the enemy has them.
Wilson winced. The super ship can seriously damage one Chinese Yingji, which the barmaley will bring on a donkey.
Is it really only the barmaley? The academy cited the Falklands conflict as an example, but there were only seven anti-ship missiles in the entire theater of military operations. In our time, with the high availability of such weapons, there will no longer be seven of them.
Wilson was taught that over the past seventy years, the world's 40 largest economies have never fought each other. That the war is economically unprofitable. That there was a merging of the elites of all developed countries, united by a common British-American education. This strong knot avoids bloodshed, even more effectively than dynastic marriages of the Middle Ages. And the further it goes, the stronger this world becomes.
If tomorrow had to go into mortal combat, the Destroyer would look different. Squat structure, covered with differentiated protection and active short-range defense systems. Where, instead of hangars with inflatable boats - the most dense layout to reduce the linear dimensions and visibility of the ship. Instead of three helicopters - long-range radar. Instead of a bulky superstructure, there are transverse and longitudinal anti-fragmentation bulkheads along the entire length of the hull.
Wilson sighed and rolled over on his other side. The anxiety that had arisen was replaced by a serene slumber. His Destroyer is built like a 21st century destroyer should be. To shine at parades and shoot disgusting, but completely harmless for him barmaley. Who will not be able to "get" even the "death star" standing in their sight.
Under these conditions, his Destroyer surpasses all ships of other developed countries: a lot of innovative solutions and an increase in the selected characteristics. For an even more effective solution to the designated tasks.
Already falling asleep, the commander of the $ 7 billion destroyer thought that it would be worthwhile to plot a course further from the Yemeni shores …
