Corvette is a class of warships designed for patrol and patrol service in the coastal zone. The main tasks of corvettes are considered to be patrolling and anti-submarine defense of the coast. This, however, does not exclude their direct participation in military conflicts. The heirs of missile boats of the second half of the 20th century, modern corvettes successfully combine versatility and reasonable cost. Powerful rocket armament, subkeys and towed GAS, object air defense systems, stealth technologies, combat information systems, multifunctional radars, UAVs, helicopters. The displacement of modern corvettes exceeds that of destroyers of the Second World War period, and in terms of combat capabilities, the "little ones" are not inferior to ships of a higher rank.
Here is a short overview of the five best world representatives of the "corvette" class. Their sizes differ by thousands of tons, and their characteristics are "sharpened" for the needs of their fleets and the conditions of specific seas. However, they all share a common idea of a small, multipurpose coastal warship.
Project 20350 "Guarding" and its further development, pr. 20385 (Russia)
In service - 4. Under construction - 4 + 2 more corvettes pr. 20385. Plan - 18 units.
Length 90 m. Displacement (full)> 2200 tons. Crew 99 people. Full speed 27 knots. Cruising range - 3500 miles at a speed of 14 knots. Armament (production ships of project 20380):
- three ZRK 3K96 "Redut" modules (12 launch cells). B / k 12 large anti-aircraft missiles or 48 short-range anti-aircraft missiles. On the modernized corvettes of the project 20385, the number of UVPs should increase to 16;
- eight small-sized anti-ship missiles Kh-35 "Uran";
- Small-sized anti-submarine complex "Packet-NK" (8 torpedoes of 324 mm caliber);
- universal gun A-190 of 100 mm caliber, two six-barreled AK-630M assault rifles;
- a landing pad and a hangar in the aft part of the superstructure to accommodate the Ka-27PL helicopter;
- anti-sabotage means of protection, large-caliber small arms.
"If you put ten cannons on an 8-gun ship, six of them will be able to fire" (old British rule).
Despite the overload and weapons inadequate for their class, the domestic project 20380 turned out to be great. The capabilities of the "Guarding" go far beyond the traditional tasks for ships of the "corvette" class, and its shortcomings (the weak radar "Furke-2" was unable to provide illumination of targets at long distances) - only a consequence of attempts to duplicate the tasks of larger frigates and destroyers.
The excessive power of the Russian corvette is explained by a good desire to quickly get a ship in the oceanic zone in the face of an acute shortage of ships and the stagnation of domestic shipbuilding at the beginning of the 21st century. You can be proud of the result. The latest technologies and noble lines with traces of "stealth" technology: "Guarding" -type corvettes are the harbingers of a new look for the Russian Navy.
Corvette "Boyky", in place of the "Kortik" air defense missile system one can see the launch cells of the "Redut" air defense missile system. In the background - his predecessors, small anti-submarine ships of project 1124
Visby-class stealth corvettes (Sweden)
In the ranks - 5 units.
Length 72 m. Displacement (full) 640 tons. Crew 43 people.
Combined diesel-gas turbine power plant, full speed 35 knots. Cruising range - 2300 miles at a speed of 15 knots. Armament: universal gun "Bofors" caliber 57 mm, 8 small-size anti-ship missiles RBS-15, two paired torpedo tubes of caliber 400 mm (anti-submarine torpedoes Tr 43 and Tr 45, specially designed for the shallow depths of the Baltic), helipad,Unmanned underwater vehicles to search for mines and enemy submarines. The means of illumination of the underwater environment include three GAS for different purposes (under-keel, towed and lowered). In the aft part of the superstructure, a place is reserved for a helicopter hangar or air defense missile system; space for a block of 127 mm unguided missiles (ALECTO anti-submarine system, whose development was discontinued in 2007) remained unclaimed. There are those. the possibility of placing minefields.
Visby is certainly impressive. An invisible corvette, whose appearance was supposed to change the balance of power in the Baltic and become a revolution in the field of military shipbuilding. The Swedish ship is ideally suited for operations in narrow skerries and searching for submarines in the shallow Gulf of Bothnia. It is inconspicuous, fast, versatile, relatively cheap, while having an outstanding set of tools for monitoring the underwater environment.
At the same time, many questions remain: in its current form, the Visby is practically defenseless against attacks from the air (the capabilities of the only Bofors, electronic warfare systems and MANPADS are clearly not enough to repel any serious air threat). On the other hand, corvettes serve in the coastal zone, under the cover of the Swedish Air Force. The small signature of their physical fields allows them to safely approach the enemy to strike at a distance of less than 10 miles, while remaining undetected ("zone of advantage").
Corvettes "Type 056" (China)
Built - 23 units. Under construction - 7. In the plans: 43 Type 056 corvettes and at least 20 modernized Type 056A.
Length 89 m. Displacement (full) 1440 tons. Crew 60 people. Full speed 28 knots. Cruising range at an operational speed of 18 knots. - 3500 miles. Armament: a universal 76 mm gun, 4 small-sized S-803 anti-ship missiles, an HQ-10 self-defense air defense system (8-charge block on a rotary carriage), two 324 mm torpedo tubes, 2 automatic cannons cal. 30 mm, helipad, no hangar.
It's all too obvious. The only thing left to add is that there are a lot of them.
Corvettes of the type "Braunschweig" (Germany)
Built 5 units.
Length 89 m. Displacement (full) 1840 tons. Crew 60 people. Full speed 26 knots. Cruising range 4000 miles at a speed of 15 knots.. Armament: universal gun OTO Melara 76 mm caliber, 4 small anti-ship missiles RBS-15, two SAM self-defense RAM (21-charge block, missiles with thermal seeker), 2 MLG installations with remote control (automatic cannons of 27 mm caliber). The dimensions of the Braunschweig helipad can accommodate any anti-submarine helicopter (SiKing, NH90), but their permanent basing is not provided. In the aft part of the corvette, a hangar with limited dimensions is equipped to accommodate two Camcopter S100 reconnaissance and strike drones.
Austere Teutonic silhouette in "stormy gray" color. The German corvette is missing stars from the sky. It is durable, reliable and best suited to its current tasks. Patrolling coastal waters, without unnecessary "show-off" and attempts to seem better than he is.
At the same time, German engineers have a lot to be proud of. In addition to the centimeter range radar, the corvette detection complex includes the MIRADOR optoelectronic complex for all-weather monitoring of the situation in the infrared range. Braunschweig has one more interesting detail - the MASS (Multi-Ammunition Softkill System) active jamming complex, capable of shooting numerous traps that can deceive the seeker of any missile. MASS puts interference in all possible ranges (thermal, optical, UV, laser, radar).
Littoral battleship LCS (USA)
In the ranks - 4 units. Under construction - 7. In the plans - 20 ships LCS.
The data for the LCS "Independence" are given: Length 127 m. Displacement (full) 3100 tons. The permanent crew of 40 people, on board rooms reserved for 75 people. Full speed (practical) 44 knots The cruising range is 4300 miles at an operational speed of 18 knots. Armament: universal 57 mm Bofors gun, SeaRAM self-defense air defense system, two 30 mm Bushmaster II automatic cannons, 50 caliber machine guns. Most of the ship is given over to a huge flight deck and a helicopter hangar. The modular design of the LCS allows you to combine equipment depending on the current tasks (towed sonar equipment, underwater vehicles for finding mines, anti-sabotage equipment, electronic reconnaissance equipment, etc.). The free space on the upper deck can also be used to accommodate the payload in off-design positions. In practice, this is expressed in the installation of missile launch containers - from the small Hellfire to the Norwegian-made Kronsberg NSM anti-ship missiles.
Fast stealth trimaran, duplicating the tasks of corvettes, minesweepers, patrol cutters, anti-submarine and small missile ships. It was created under the specific conditions of the US Navy, where sailors needed a mobile helicopter base to solve both the simplest (chasing drug courier boats in the Gulf of Mexico) and the most difficult tasks (PLO in the open ocean, mine sweeping, reconnaissance, patrolling and transportation of special cargo in zones of military conflicts).
USS Freedom (LCS-1)
LCS are being built in parallel on two different projects. The fast monohull ship (Project Lockheed Martin) and the fantastic trimaran from General Dynamics demonstrated complete identity both in terms of cost and in terms of their combat capabilities. And each project had its own merits. As a result, the contract was divided in half - each of the firms received an order for 10 ships.
The Americans' attempts to achieve the coveted speed of 50 knots are especially fun. Despite the most powerful power plant of the CODAG type (a combination of diesel engines and gas turbines) and four Finnish water cannons "Vyartisla", the design speed was not reached. In return, many problems were received - from the fires of the power plant to the cracking of the hull at high speeds. Today max. the speed was demonstrated by the LCS-1 Freedom. The ship delivered 47 knots (87 km / h) on a measured mile.
Transfer of fuel from the aircraft carrier "Karl Vinson" to the littoral warship "Freedom"
