The Pentagon announced its intention to stop building the third destroyer of the Zamvolt series
According to a widespread statement, the US Defense Department has initiated an audit at the General Dynamics shipyard, based on the results of which a decision will be made on the future fate of the destroyer USS Lindon B. Johnson. The degree of readiness of the destroyer exceeds 40%, but the Pentagon is confident that it is more profitable to cut the ship now than to launch it and put it into operation. A radical solution will help save $ 1.5-2 billion over the next few years, which can be directed to other urgent needs.
Opponents of this decision - shipyard employees and senators from Maine - argue the opposite: refusal to build will entail the loss of a first-class warship in exchange for dubious savings. Further, there are obvious things about the loss of jobs, the payment of penalties and the negative consequences for local businesses.
The Zamvolt program has come to its natural end. Ambitious plans for the construction of 32 new generation stealth destroyers were adjusted to seven, and then to just three experimental ships.
But long before the financial stranded under the bottom of the Zamvolts, the Pentagon started talking about the dubious combat effectiveness of these floating pyramids. The super destroyer turned out to be under-armed, in addition, there are concerns about its stability. An unusual Δ-shaped hull with a massive high superstructure inspires mistrust in those who will serve on this destroyer. As calculations have shown, there are unfavorable conditions under which a supership can … easily capsize (a high wave from the aft corners). The creators of Zamvolt deny all accusations and, paraphrasing the joke about the blind rhino, answer that with such dimensions, this is not his problem. The probability of meeting a dangerous wave is less than death in battle.
By the way, about sea battles. Admirals express confusion about the tactics of using stealth destroyers.
Their number is too small to form a homogeneous impact joint. When operating as part of a squadron, the striking power of “Zamvolt” dissolves against the background of numerous “conventional destroyers”. At the same time, no one dares to send the “golden ship” to a single raid to the enemy's shores. In the absence of constructive protection on board!
The Zamvolt is designed to remain invisible to the enemy. But there are situations when a fight is inevitable.
After all, it is not known whether 140 people will then have enough strength to extinguish fires, quickly patch up holes and fight for the survivability of a huge destroyer.
In general, the typical “white elephants” of the fleet. Excessively expensive technical masterpieces with outstanding characteristics, but without any possibility / need to put them into practice.
Rocket and artillery stealth destroyer of the "Zamvolt" class.
Length at design waterline - 180 meters.
Displacement - 14,500 tons.
The regular crew is 140 people. (if necessary - up to 200).
Armament:
- 80 launch cells for storing and launching the Tomahawk missile launcher, Asrok-VL anti-submarine missiles, ESSM short-range anti-aircraft missiles (4 in one cell);
- two automatic 155 mm AGS cannons with 920 rounds of ammunition. 12 rounds / min.- a flurry of fire! When approaching the coast by 100 km, the density of the Zamvolta's fire exceeds that of the aircraft carrier Nimitz;
- two automatic 30-mm cannons for self-defense in the near zone;
- an air group of a multipurpose helicopter and three drones "Scout Fire", the landing site of "Zamvolta" is designed to receive heavy helicopters - up to the "Chinook".
Additional features: the most powerful naval gas turbine Rolls-Royce MT-30 in history. Full electric propulsion (reduced acoustic signature, the ability to redirect all generated energy to power the railguns). Dock camera for fast boats. Propellers in ring nozzles-fenestrons, a system for supplying bubbles to the underwater part of the hull, coupled with specific contours. This makes Zamvolt's wake difficult to see from space. The widespread adoption of stealth technology: it is more difficult for missile guidance heads to detect such a target against the background of the sea. The task becomes especially difficult in a storm - due to the specific bow part “Zamvolt” does not rise on the wave, but cuts it like a giant knife. Thanks to this, it is constantly hidden among the water shafts.
Finally, the global automation of the destroyer, achieved primarily by an increase in the overhaul life of all units and systems. From now on, maintenance of the destroyer will be carried out exclusively at the base, at the end of the cruise.
Detection means - a multifunctional radar SPY-3 with three fixed AFAR, acting as a surveillance radar, a horizon tracking radar, a navigation radar, an artillery fire control radar and a multichannel target illumination radar (dozens of simultaneously illuminated and fired air targets in any chosen direction).
He alone is stronger than most of the world's fleets. Zamvolt lacks only Satanic pentagrams on board. Then, the floating pyramid will be able to move through the worlds and turn into an ultimate weapon.
Combat lasers and railguns
Lyndon Johnson is a distinct subtype in the Zamwalt family. This ship is being built to showcase the most futuristic technologies that go beyond conventional cannons and stealth. Each "zamvolt" is designed for the installation of weapons on new physical. principles, but only the last, third destroyer of the series will become a real carrier. Lyndon Johnson may become the world's first ship armed with an electromagnetic railgun.
Due to financial cataclysms, the third “Zamvolt” has a number of unplanned design differences from the first two destroyers.
In connection with the transfer to the category of purely shock ships, all the Zamvolts under construction since 2011 were forcibly deprived of the missile defense function. The rejection of the SPY-4 long-range radar incorporated in the project greatly reduced the so-called. “Top weight” and created an unplanned reserve of stability.
In this situation, the superstructure “L. Johnson”was decided to be made of cheap structural steel - in contrast to“Zamvolt”and“Michael Monsour”, whose“towers”were built with the use of composites in order to save weight. How will this decision affect the level of visibility of the “stealth destroyer”? There are no developer comments on this score.
Epilogue
Despite the complete collapse of the Zamvolt program, the massive construction of obsolete Orly Burke-class destroyers continues overseas. Time-tested warships with 90 missile silos and Aegis air defense / missile defense system.
In March 2015, the 63rd destroyer “John Finn”, belonging to the new IIA “Restart” sub-series, was launched. Among the main features - an updated modification of "Aegis" for the implementation of missile defense missions, a promising system for detecting mines in the water column and a system of protection against bacteriological weapons.
