Floating pyramid of Cheops, as if arrived from another dimension. Which era does this ship belong to? Who and why created this outlandish design?
It might be much simpler. The appearance reflects the essence - a grandiose financial pyramid, which absorbed over 7 billion dollars at a time. Certainly, "Zamvolt" has something to be proud of: the largest and most expensive destroyer in the history of the existence of this class of ships. And this record will remain at least until the early 2030s.
Its sinister silhouette leaves no one indifferent. But what secrets are hidden inside this "starship"?
Stealth? Railgun? Linux?
The stealth missile and artillery ship is built using the latest technologies, many of which were first introduced in the navy.
The key direction was chosen to reduce the visibility in the radio wave range of the EM spectrum, in which most detectors operate. In the architecture and appearance of "Zamvolt", the features of "stealth" technology appear aggressively.
Pyramidal superstructure. A powerful blockage of the sides - due to which the radio waves are reflected towards the sky, which excludes their repeated reflection from the water surface. Stealth shrouds for artillery pieces. Complete absence of masts, radio contrast mechanisms and equipment on the upper deck. A breakwater nose that allows you not to "ride the wave", as ordinary ships do, but, on the contrary, to hide from enemy radars among the crests of waves. Finally, the entire body of Zamvolt is finished with ferromagnetic paints and radio-absorbing coatings.
These techniques are well known among shipbuilders around the world. Russian corvettes and frigates of a new generation (for example - "Guarding"), French ships "Lafayette", Swedish stealth corvettes of the "Visby" type … "Were implemented in such a grandiose, all-encompassing volume on such a large ship.
14.5 thousand tons - another cruiser will envy the size of the Zamvolt destroyer (as a comparison: the total displacement of the Black Sea Fleet flagship, the Moskva missile cruiser is “only” 11 thousand tons)
There is no doubt about the effectiveness of techniques to reduce the visibility of enemy radars: stealth technology is widely used in the creation of naval and aviation equipment around the world.
The concept of Zamvolt itself is of much greater interest. The missile and artillery destroyer with the dimensions of a cruiser is not a 600-ton Swedish corvette. How to hide such an "elephant" in the middle of an open area?
The creators of "Zamvolt" explain that this is not about complete invisibility, but only about a decrease in visibility - as a result, "Zamvolt" will be able to detect the enemy before he sees the stealth destroyer. Official press releases indicate that the effective dispersion area (RCA) of a 180-meter destroyer is the same as the RCS of a small fishing felucca.
Artillery
For the first time in 50 years, an artillery gunship was built. Zamvolt is the first and so far the only modern cruiser and destroyer to be armed with cannons over 5 inches. In the bow of the destroyer, a pair of 155 mm (6, 1 '') automated Advanced Gun System (AGS) installations are installed, firing high-precision ammunition at a distance of 160 km. The total ammunition load of the installations is 920 shells.
The revival of naval artillery is a direct consequence of the discussion about providing fire support to amphibious assault forces and delivering strikes along the enemy's coast (more relevant than ever in the era of counter-terrorist operations and local wars).
An artillery shell has a number of important advantages over an air bomb or cruise missile:
- all-weather application;
- quick response to calls - in a couple of minutes the specified place will be razed to the ground;
- invulnerability to enemy air defense systems;
- no need for a super-expensive carrier (multipurpose fighter of 4/5 generations and a trained pilot) - as well as no risk of losing the carrier on the way to the target;
- a much lower cost of shells compared to the Tomahawk cruise missile - with the same opportunities in providing fire support to the marines.
Despite the fact that the accuracy of modern artillery shells with a GPS or laser beam guidance system is in no way inferior to similar aviation and rocket ammunition.
It is noteworthy that as an auxiliary artillery system for the destroyer's self-defense, a system with an unusually large caliber was again chosen - the automatic 57 mm Bofors SAK-57 Mk.3 installation (a pair of such guns are installed in the rear of the Zamvolta superstructure). Unlike traditional rapid-fire Phalanxes, the SAK-57 fires only 3-4 rounds per second, but at the same time fires special "smart" ammunition, whose fuses are triggered when flying near the target. And the power of its shells is sufficient not only for self-defense in the near zone, but also for use in naval combat against boats and other enemy weapons at a distance of up to 18 km.
Radars
Initially, a sophisticated DBR radar complex with six AFARs operating in the centimeter and decimeter ranges was created for Zamvolt. This provided unprecedented range and accuracy when detecting any type of air, sea or transatmospheric targets in Earth orbit - within the coverage area of the DBR radar.
By 2010, when it became clear that the Zamwolts were too expensive and could not replace existing destroyers, the DBR radar concept underwent a drastic reduction. As part of the Zamvolt's detection equipment, only the AN / SPY-3 multifunctional centimeter-range radar with three flat active PARs, located on the walls of the destroyer's superstructure, remained.
Unlike the existing Aegis destroyers, Zamvolt completely lost its zonal air defense / missile defense system, but instead acquired outstanding capabilities for monitoring the water surface (within the radio horizon) and airspace at medium and short distances (less than 100 km).
The centimeter SPY-3 radar has a unique "vigilance" when tracking the horizon (from where a low-flying anti-ship missile can appear at any second). Other possibilities include:
- anti-aircraft fire control (programming the autopilots of missiles, simultaneous illumination of dozens of air targets);
- automatic detection of floating mines and submarine periscopes;
- contraband warfare and FCS with artillery fire to destroyers (tracking the trajectories of fired shells);
- navigation radar functions;
- the ability to work in the electronic warfare station mode.
AN / SPY-3 prototype being tested aboard the old destroyer Paul F. Foster
However, there is one snag - such systems (multifunctional radars with AFAR) have been in service with almost all navies of NATO countries for ten years. Except for the US Navy! The only thing that the "backward" Yankees hope for is that their SPY-3 will be the most powerful and perfect among all existing European and Japanese counterparts.
Innovations
It is argued that the "Zamvolt" will be the quietest among all combat surface ships. The system for supplying air bubbles to the underwater part of the hull, screws in ring nozzles-fenestrons and full electric movement. The background noise of the Zamvolta will correspond to a Los Angeles-class nuclear submarine.
The time has come to say a few words about the power plant of the super destroyer. Here, a scheme is implemented in which the British Rolls-Royce Marine Trent-30 gas turbines (one of the most powerful in their class) drive electric generators - after that, the electrical energy is again converted into mechanical energy by means of propulsion electric motors.
Electric ships are widely known in civil shipbuilding (the first diesel-electric ship "Vandal" was built in Russia in 1903), but did not receive much development in the navy (where the power of ship power plants often exceeds 100 thousand hp). The Zamwalt is the second after the British Daring to use the Full Electric Propulsion (FEP) scheme.
The elimination of the direct mechanical connection between the GTE and the propellers made it possible to reduce the vibration of the hull, which in turn had a positive effect on reducing the noise of the destroyer. In addition, it simplified the power supply of energy-consuming equipment and "freed the hands" of designers, Another innovation is the PVLS Mk.57 peripheral missile launchers. Twenty 4-charge modules for launching anti-aircraft, anti-submarine and tactical cruise missiles, placed along the sides of the destroyer and separated from the rest of the compartments by a 12 mm steel partition. The main idea is to localize damage to a destroyer in case of an accidental explosion of a rocket in a cell.
It's just unclear - can a 12 mm sheet be able to withstand the explosion of a 340-kg warhead "Tomahawk"? And the placement of UVP along the side, on the contrary, exposes them to enemy fire. An extremely strange decision.
Other useful innovations include a huge landing pad aft of the destroyer, which allows takeoff and landing operations for two helicopters at the same time.
The idea with a radical reduction of the ship's crew looks great. The regular crew of "Zamvolt" consists of less than 150 sailors! - instead of 300-400 for other cruisers and destroyers. The result was achieved not so much by the global automation of the destroyer as by a significant increase in the overhaul life of all units and systems. Now all maintenance will be carried out only at the base, at the end of the campaign.
For the first time in the history of the fleet, considerable attention was paid to the automation of the processes of loading ammunition, food and consumables while in the base.
Epilogue
A powerful and modern ship, which at the time of its entry into service will undoubtedly be the best destroyer in the world. Building a ship of this level is a symbol of scientific and technical excellence. A joint feat of shipbuilders, electronics engineers, specialists in rocket technology and artillery weapons - numerous scientific teams of the whole country, which openly declares its status as a superpower.
If Zamvolt were built in Russia … Oh! I represent! The information space would simply be torn apart by mentions of a “unparalleled ship”. There is something to talk about here and something to be proud of.
It would seem that the Americans, with their colossal experience in shipbuilding, an almost unlimited military budget and with the best brains and developments from all over the world, it was almost impossible to make a mistake and build a beautiful, but from an absurd military point of view and completely ineffective ship.
However, in the case of Zamvolt, there are reasons to assert that such an attempt was made. The Pentagon was unable to clearly formulate the requirements for a promising destroyer of the XXI century (project DD-21). The main trend in the creation of "Zamvolt" was the pursuit of the absolute ideal. The coolest destroyer in the world, the rest is not important. As a result, the complexity and cost of the project exceeded all reasonable limits. The construction program for a series of 32 multifunctional destroyers failed completely.
In total, it was decided to build no more than three "Zamvolts" in the counter-terrorist / strike version (without the DBR radar and long-range air defense system). The lead destroyer USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) is due to enter service in 2015.
