For the Navy! - shout in vests!
For the Navy! Empty in flasks!
For the Navy! Andreevsky let's raise the flag!
For the Navy! We wish you the best!
All discussions about the future of the Navy are at the level of hypotheses and assumptions. Lack of objective information affects: the official press releases say one thing, in fact something else is being done, but how it will be in reality - no one knows. The majority of experts and marine painters presenting their point of view initially proceed from false facts concerning the domestic fleet.
The first myth is about the longest maritime borders of Russia, giving rise to calls for the construction of a gigantic fleet. This myth is born of the usual ignorance of geography. Russia has the longest ice borders in the world. Nothing like the shores of Europe, the United States or China, washed by warm seas, where all the main cities and industrial centers are located on the coast. Russia is a continental power. A land monster whose fate never depended on sea communications. The bulk of these "sea borders" is the uninhabited coast of the Arctic and the Far East. Where terrible ice and negative average annual temperatures protect the coast much more reliably than any fleet!
The second delusion is an attempt to compare "head-on" the potential of the Russian Navy and its main rival, the US Navy, feverishly counting the number of aircraft carriers, cruisers and submarines. The trick is that for the successful maintenance of a database in the North Atlantic, the domestic fleet must be many times superior in composition to the US Navy and the fleets of all NATO countries combined!
Affected by the inconvenient geographical location. In case of a breakthrough into the ocean - through the Bosphorus, the Danish Strait and the Faroese border, our ships are threatened by all NATO aircraft. In such a situation, the construction of an "ocean fleet" in the image and likeness of aircraft carrier groups of the US Navy is a waste of funds to the wind. Four (or at least all ten) Russian aircraft carriers will not even have time to engage in battle with enemy ships, having perished in the strikes of thousands of combat aircraft from all air bases in Europe.
The Faroese Frontier is a narrowing in the North Atlantic between the coast of Great Britain and Greenland. From west to east, this "strait" is partitioned off by Iceland (a NATO member since 1949), the Faroe and Shetland Islands (belonging to Denmark and Great Britain, respectively). Here, during the Cold War, an impassable NATO line of defense was organized - over thirty military airfields.
Fall into pessimism and despair? Not at all!
In this situation, the author proposes to conduct a conversation about the needs of the fleet, based on the facts of the real combat use of the Russian Navy, which took place in recent years.
"Syrian Express". Regular visits of Russian Navy landing ships to Tartus (2012-13).
What was in the holds of the domestic large landing craft - zinc with cartridges, spare parts for aircraft and armored vehicles, or "special cargo" in the form of hundreds of "black jackets"? This information will not lose its "stamp" soon. But it is striking with what Olympic calmness, in front of the whole world, our sailors made "business calls" to Syrian Tartus, honestly fulfilling their duty to the Motherland.
The innovative method of using the Navy made it possible to provide assistance to our ally without further ado, thereby solving (without losses!) An important task that directly affects the geopolitical interests of Russia. The delivery of goods by warships automatically removed the issue of the inspection of holds and any active opposition from the US Sixth Fleet. The safety of the large landing craft and the contents of its holds was ensured by the St. Andrew's flag flying in the wind. Not a single commission of observers from the UN and the OSCE will dare to board a warship, thereby violating the principle of extraterritoriality, illegally crossing the "border" of another state!
Yes, not everything turned out to be simple - the Black Sea Fleet did not have enough strength and resources to carry out an important mission in the area of its direct responsibility. To form convoys, it was necessary to collect ships from all fleets - from the Baltic, from the North and even from the Pacific Fleet. Henceforth, our sailors need roomy amphibious transports adapted for the delivery of humanitarian and military aid, incl. non-standard and oversized cargo, tracked and wheeled vehicles.
This very moment is not taken into account in their articles by the critics of the decision to acquire the French Mistrals, mistakenly calling the helicopter carriers "naval bums" without any benefit for the domestic fleet.
Questions about the "ice class" of the Mistral, as well as jokes about the use of UDC in the Arctic, are simply inappropriate! Russian Mistrals will operate in the southern seas, in the tropics, off the coast of another Syria or Venezuela. Where our help is always needed.
Mistral-class landing helicopter carrier. 21,000 tons of full displacement. Enormous cruising range. 16 helicopters and a cargo deck designed for 40 units of wheeled vehicles or other similar load. The minimum cost among all ships of a similar purpose is 1.2 billion euros for both Russian Mistrals (for example, American UDCs of the San Antonio type cost 2 billion dollars for each ship!).
Availability of opportunities for unloading in any conditions - on an equipped berth, unequipped coastline or by air using "turntables". The Marine Corps Battalion - with the appropriate conditions for the accommodation of soldiers and their comfortable stay during the entire campaign. The simplest self-defense systems - to prevent possible provocations and terrorist attacks. Monumental appearance - the ship must "crush" with its size and appearance.
But the main thing is the timing! The Vladivostok helicopter carrier was built in just a couple of years!
"Syrian Express" - by analogy with "Tokyo Express", a Japanese tactic during WWII, which consisted in the delivery of goods to Guadalcanal using warships. The destroyers coped with the task overnight, while the slow-moving transports became easy prey for the enemy.
