Ammunition "Zamvolta" is located in 20 MK.57 launchers along the perimeter of the ship's hull. Each of the units is an independent section of four mines, designed for storage and launch of missile launchers with a launch weight of up to 4 tons.
According to official press releases, the promising system will reduce operating costs and increase the survivability of the destroyer. In contrast to the densely grouped MK.41 cells, the modules dispersed along the side will improve access, simplify the localization of accidents and prevent detonation of the entire b / c in case of an emergency in a separate taken mine.
The MK.57 design provides for a reinforced wall on the side facing the interior of the ship, and a special ejection bulkhead that directs the explosion energy into the outboard space.
Finally, the installation will make it possible to place on board promising (and more massive) missiles necessary for solving missile defense missions in near space.
In contrast, independent experts consider the MK.57 a waste of money. In their opinion:
- the peripheral installation is non-standard (it is used only on three ships of the Zamvolt series), which will only increase the cost of maintenance, purchase of spare parts and personnel training;
- the peripheral installation is more cumbersome compared to the previous MK.41, which led to a reduction in the number of missiles on board (80, compared to 90 for the Arleigh Burke EM);
- the idea of dispersing the launchers along the side does not contribute to the increase in survivability in any way. On the contrary, such a technique only increases the risk of hitting missile silos when an enemy anti-ship missile hits the ship. The declared possibilities for the localization of damage during the explosion of the UR inside the mine are also not confirmed by anything other than the words of the admirals themselves. With the selected thickness of the internal bulkhead (12 mm), the explosion products will inevitably penetrate into the hull. Also, in the official statements there is no information about the individual protection of each cell (i.e., in an emergency situation, all four in the missile module will suffer).
The declared capabilities to increase the launch mass of missiles are not an urgent need for the fleet. For the foreseeable future, the US Navy has no plans to adopt 4-ton missiles. All existing interceptors and "Tomahawks" are successfully placed in standard MK.41 slots.
Finally, if the new installation really has any serious advantages, then why is it not used on promising ships of other classes? The armament of the Berk, Subseries 3 destroyers includes the same standard UVP MK.41.
The specific design of the MK.57 PVLS makes it difficult to implement on any of the existing cruisers, destroyers and frigates. This system was developed exclusively for the stealth ships of the future. For "Zamvolts", whose sides have a reverse slope, which reduced the area of the upper deck and forced the designers to look for new schemes for placing ammunition.
This was the only reason for the appearance of the Mark-57. All its other advantages, which threaten to turn into disadvantages, are only a consequence of atypical solutions caused by the placement of mines in the "iron-shaped" hull of the stealth destroyer.
The listed calculations and “secrets” are well known and are hardly of interest to specialists. But in the construction of "Zamvolta" and MK.57 there is one more related element about the purpose of which we do not know anything. But I would like to know a lot.
Secrets don't last long
Many, having barely heard about the "peripheral" UVP, will express bewilderment about the dangerous location of the launch silos: right behind the outer skin of the side. It seems that one bullet or stray shrapnel is enough to ignite the missile and disable the destroyer.
Of course, in reality, everything is somewhat different. Those who claim that the rocket is close to the side forget that the Zamvolt hull looks like a truncated pyramid with an angle of inclination of the sides (sides) - visually about 20 degrees. from the normal (there are no exact data in the open press).
As a result, the tail of the rocket is at a distance of at least 2.5-3 meters from the side. And the head part is at least one to one and a half meters, taking into account the fact that the UVP cover is not located at the edge of the deck. And the transport and launch container with a rocket itself is not installed at the upper cut of the shaft, but is recessed inside at a distance of one and a half to two meters (the TPK with the Tomahawk is 6, 2 m long, while the Mk.57 shaft reaches a length of 8 m).
Ammunition is separated from the outboard environment by the side skin, bulkhead, TPK wall and a distance of a couple of meters. But have you noticed one curious nuance?
There is a lot of space between the side skin and the missile silos - a vaulted corridor eight meters high and three meters wide, having a ⊿-shaped cross-section. Knowing the length of each module (14.2 feet) and their number (20), one can easily calculate the entire volume locked between the board and the Mark-57 launchers. Over 1500 "cubes" of space.
Equivalent to the volume of all apartments in one entrance of a typical five-story building.
The question is - what is in these corridors?
Just don't say that there is emptiness.
Someone will remember about the rocket silo gas ducts capable of withstanding the pressure and thermal load developed during a “hot” launch of a multi-ton rocket. But official sources speak of a “symmetrical” arrangement of gas ducts on both sides of the shaft, while the hull section with the installation has a distinct ⊿-shape. This means that the volume of the corridors is not used in any way to ensure the storage and launch of missiles.
With regard to control modules, switchboards and panels with fuses and other electrical fittings - on the light and compact, created forty years ago, MK.41 they occupied a place the size of a large wardrobe. And all communications (cables, pipes, seawater cooling system) pass directly inside the UVP launch module. The useful volume of the corridors remains unused again.
Could it be that these compartments are used for storing fuel? Hehe … Hundreds and thousands of kilograms of high explosives and rocket powder, surrounded by thousands of tons of JP-5 kerosene.
A similar, bold and extravagant solution was used on military equipment only once - tanks in the sash of the aft doors of the Soviet BPM. But on ships, fuel is stored in an unambiguous way - in a space formed by a double bottom. Much below the constructive waterline.
By their location, the mysterious corridors of the Zamvolt are reminiscent of the cofferdams of warships of the past. Narrow, impenetrable and uninhabited compartments located between the armor belt and the watertight bulkhead. Their purpose was to localize damage to the outer skin of the side.
If something similar is used in the design of the MK.57, then the destroyer Zamvolt demonstrates a very original (perhaps not the most effective), but exceptional in its scale approach to increasing survivability among all modern warships.
