With its harsh simplicity and laconic form, it resembles a German combat knife.
Zamvolt prepares to share the fate of the Dreadnought. He is glorious not for what he accomplished, but for who he is. Such can stand all their life in the port, changing the entire paradigm of the fleet with one fact of their existence. But to represent "Zamvolt" only as a peaceful stand for testing futuristic technologies is too naive. Nothing prevents him from participating in a battle, and in any of the situations he threatens to be "more prepared" than any opponent.
It spent $ 7.5 billion, including the cost of R&D. Connoisseurs begin the traditional song about "cutting funds." Gentlemen, the cut is when the money disappeared, and the result is only promises and emptiness. Here, at the pier, a 180-meter "box" stuffed with death sways. We would have such "drank" instead of offshore, I am personally "for"!
You need to steal from profits, not losses.
In the meantime, the second "Zamvolt", named "Michael Monsour", is already being completed. On the left, the illustration shows the hull of the "conventional" destroyer "Rafael Peralta" (65th ship of the "Berk" series).
The cost of building "Zamvolt" was only 1.5% of the annual budget of the Pentagon. Despite the fact that they have turned out to be a truly epoch-making ship. For those who are still not indifferent to the troubles of the Americans, I advise you to look at all the components of the DD (X) project.
What do the Zamvolts have that other ships do not have?
For example, the SPY-3 radar with three AFAR. Integrated automation, the number of the crew was reduced to 140 people. This value is two to three times less than on destroyers and missile cruisers of the last century. MK.57 peripheral launchers, created for the specific Zamvolt hull (they demonstrate a lot of positive qualities: from the controversial "increased security and safety of the missile arsenal operation" to a very real growth in the mass dimensions of missiles, their maximum starting weight can now reach 4 tons - groundwork for the future).
For the first time since World War II - 155 mm naval artillery. Like any naval gun, the AGS outperforms land-based systems of a similar caliber in rate of fire and firing range. Max. the range of destruction by the LRLAP projectile with GPS correction was 160 km. Artillery successfully complements cruise missiles: shells have three times the speed, lower cost, and are completely immune to enemy air defense.
It is a fully electric ship with an Integrated Power System (IPS). 78 megawatts of clean energy that can be instantly redistributed in favor of one specific consumer. Radar, advanced laser, railgun, or electric motors - full speed ahead. The choice is for those standing on the bridge.
Unusual hull with a blockage of the sides towards the center plane of the ship. Beveled stem. Large dimensions + new contours = better seaworthiness and stability, as an artillery platform.
The most ambitious embodiment of stealth technology elements in history. The measures applied ensure: a) lower probability of detection by the enemy; b) the complexity of the capture of "Zamvolt" low-power seeker anti-ship missiles.
900-ton composite superstructure with fixed radar antennas and infrared surveillance systems integrated into its walls. There is an increased height of the antenna posts installation (in comparison with the "Burk"), which means early detection of low-flying targets.
Composites, an experimental railgun, a new radar (which, although better than the previous ones, is not a necessity in peacetime). Of course, it was more logical to get by with the promise "we will do it by the twentieth year" and put billions in your pocket, but the creators of "Zamvolt" acted differently.
AN / SPY-3
The Zamvolta radar deserves a separate chapter. A system of three solid-state antennas oriented in azimuth at an angle of 120 °. Each array consists of 5,000 individual emitters driven by 625 eight-channel APMs. The peak radiation power is 2 megawatts. As a result, despite working in the centimeter range (X), the new radar is capable of detecting objects at a distance of over 200 km and taking up to a thousand targets for tracking. This is five times more than existing European counterparts (for example, APAR).
Radars with AFAR are already installed on many destroyers, but only in the SPY-3 design all the dreams of the military and designers have been brought to a logical conclusion.
One radar "Zamvolta" replaces the entire range of radar and electronic warfare equipment, traditionally "decorating" the tiers of the superstructure of ships of other classes. SPY-3 has become a single replacement for surveillance radars searching for air and surface targets, specialized systems for detecting low-flying missiles, radars for artillery reconnaissance and artillery fire control, target illumination radars. The complex will also take over the functions of a navigation radar, a radio beacon and an automated drive system for helicopter landing control.
That's not all. The crazy engineers of the Raytheon company taught this electronic miracle to conduct reconnaissance in a passive mode, without giving out the destroyer by its own radiation. Thanks to its high resolution, the SPY-3 is capable of detecting floating mines and submarine periscopes. But the most amazing thing is that the radar not only looks for targets, but also detects the frequencies of enemy radars, setting up directional interference in response.
As powerful as the SPY-3 is, the selected X-band has purely physical limitations. Therefore, it itself is part of an even more advanced Dual Band Radar system (DBR - dual band radar). In its composition, the "troika" performed all the above functions, and the decimeter SPY-4 took over long distances and space orbit.
DBR was created, but it was decided to abandon its installation on Zamvolty due to the inconsistency of the radar capabilities with the tasks of the strike destroyer. The full complement of the SPY-3/4 bunch is present on the aircraft carrier Gerald Ford.
October 15, 2016 the head "Zamvolt" was officially enlisted in the fleet. It was announced at the ceremony that it is unlike any other ship and is capable of performing tasks that ordinary ships cannot.
The main tasks of the "strike destroyer" are seen as single raids to the enemy's coast and combined missile and artillery support for amphibious operations. Time will tell how justified such a concept is. However, “Zamvolt” has already accomplished its main feat. He appeared.
