The Rubin Central Design Bureau of Marine Engineering (CDB MT) decided to competently celebrate the Day of the Submariner (traditionally celebrated on March 19) - the announcement of the start of work on the creation of fifth-generation boats evoked good emotions from everyone who is not indifferent to the Russian navy … Progress and movement forward are always for the better. But some of the Moremans reasonably remarked that before stepping on the freshly painted deck of a fifth-generation nuclear-powered ship, he would like to walk a little on the seas on fourth-generation submarines.
The problem is that the Russian Navy has only one submarine of the fourth generation - the well-known K-535 "Yuri Dolgoruky", the lead strategic submarine missile carrier of Project 955 (code "Borey").
K-535 was officially included in the lists of ships of the Northern Fleet just 2 months ago - on January 10, 2013. At the moment, the nuclear-powered ship is being tested, the crew is preparing to go out on the first combat patrol, which, according to the plan, should take place in 2014.
At first glance, having such a deep and rich "groundwork" for the fourth generation submarines, it is simply blasphemous to make any promises about the next generation of technology. However, first things first …
The history of the nuclear submarine fleet is usually divided into four eras., each of which reflects a turning point in the views of military theories, the use and effectiveness of weapons, the results of scientific and technological progress and the emergence of new technologies - and, as a consequence, a radical increase in the combat capabilities of nuclear-powered ships.
The first generation nuclear submarines, in spite of their absolutely fantastic capabilities compared to the "diesel engines", were in many respects an experimental technique - extremely inconvenient and dangerous to operate ships with imperfect design and armament. The legendary "Nautilus", the Soviet first-born K-3 "Leninsky Komsomol", the sinister K-19 - here they are, representatives of the first generation of atomarins.
The accumulation of experience in operating nuclear power plants, significant scientific and industrial progress in shipbuilding, electronics, precision engineering - all this ultimately led to the emergence of the next, second generation nuclear submarine. Working speeds and depths increased noticeably, the submarines received new sonar systems, which radically increased the possibilities for monitoring the surrounding space.
The third generation of nuclear submarines was distinguished by increased standardization and unification of systems: the Soviet industry developed a single power plant for all future nuclear submarine projects based on the OK-650 reactor, and the Americans finally switched to large-scale construction of just two projects: a strategic and a multipurpose submarine. Atomarins have significantly increased in size, the underwater displacement of the legendary "Shark" - a strategic missile carrier of Project 941 has reached 50,000 tons!
"Killer of aircraft carriers" K-141 "Kursk", strategic submarines of project 667BDRM, American "Los Angeles" and "Ohio", British "Trafalgar" and "Vanguard" - the submarines of the third generation still form the basis of the submarine fleet of all developed countries of the world.
It is worth noting that because of the difference in views on the use of the navy, as well as because of the national characteristics of the military-industrial complex and the extreme "spread" in time, the submarines of one "generation" differ greatly from each other. Sometimes it is difficult to determine whether an atomarina belongs to a particular "generation", each project has its own individual characteristics, important advantages and disadvantages.
For example, the Americans have achieved phenomenal success in the safety of nuclear power plants. Reactor safety is the hallmark of the US Navy. And the hallmark of the Soviet submarine fleet was nuclear submarines armed with cruise missiles - a specific class of submarines that had practically no analogues abroad. Another example: no one in the world has managed to create something like the Soviet "long torpedo" - a super-ammunition of 650 mm caliber with a range of under 100 km. Speed in attack mode - 70 knots (≈130 km / h) - each Soviet nuclear submarine of the third generation carried 8-12 such "gifts", half of which were equipped with SBS. Homing in a fan from a safe distance, they were capable of stopping any carrier group. The odious rocket torpedo "Shkval" is just a puppy compared to the power of the "long torpedo" (index 65-76). The mere presence of such weapons on board brought the domestic submarine fleet to a new level.
What generation does the last nuclear submarine of the 20th century belong to - the incredible ship Seawulf (sea wolf)? Created at the turn of the third-fourth generations, the Seawulf, objectively, surpasses any of the existing fourth-generation submarines, and in a number of parameters it meets the requirements for the fifth generation of nuclear-powered submarines.
Obviously, the dispute about the "generations" of submarines cannot be conducted in abstract formulations: "noise reduction", "automation of control systems", "increasing reactor safety." The combat capabilities of boats are completely determined by specific facts related to their design features and the tactics of their use.
So, the fourth generation of submarines. Just facts and key features.
"Seawulf", the first submarine of the fourth generation:
- high "tactical" speed - it's no secret that the underwater speed of a modern boat is determined not so much by the power of the power plant and the hull contours, but by its hydroacoustic means: at high speed, the noise of the incoming water makes it impossible to orient the boat in space. The creators of "Seawulf" with the help of thousands of hydrophones, sonars and sensors for collecting information about the surrounding space managed to achieve more or less acceptable quality of the information received up to a speed of 25 knots (for comparison: ordinary boats of the third generation hopelessly "stall" when accelerating over 20 knots).
- "Seawulf" is a real underwater killer, armed with a weapon with a "silencer": the engines of its torpedoes are launched directly in the torpedo tubes and the torpedoes independently leave the hull of the boat - unlike all other submarines that use compressed air blowing (a very loud, unmasking sound, unambiguously convincing enemy acousticians of the submarine's intentions).
- excellent combination of working depths and speeds: maximum underwater speed - 35 knots, maximum immersion depth - 600 meters.
- active noise suppressors, "fancy" weapons, a huge ammunition load (up to 50 torpedoes, mines and cruise missiles) - "Seawulf" was created specifically for spearfishing on promising Soviet boats. Alas, promising Soviet submarines never appeared, and no one needed a $ 3 billion "super hero". The Americans mastered the construction of only three ships of this type (built in the period from 1989 to 2005), which remained the "white elephants" of the US Navy.
The next striking example is four submarines of the Ohio class (head, second, third and fourth corps) … Four strategic missile submarines were outside the scope of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty and had to be disposed of. However, instead of scrapping, the US Navy chose to modernize and convert the surplus Ohio into carriers of tactical cruise missiles. Formally not being a fourth generation boat, but having on board the 154 Tomahawk, the destructive power of the Ohio goes far beyond the requirements for fourth generation submarines. "Tomahawks", two airlock chambers for combat swimmers (instead of the 23rd and 24th missile silos), low noise and a set of torpedo weapons - converted "Ohio" ideally correspond to modern conditions: a multifunctional, invulnerable means for waging local wars. What generation are these submarines?
When the history of the Seawulf project ended, the history began project "Virginia" - at first glance, the Virginia-class multipurpose submarine looks dull against the background of the legendary “sea wolf”. But the first impression is deceiving - "Virginia" is a completely different boat, created for completely different tasks. Hence the colossal difference in performance. To date, there are nine submarines of this type in service, five more are in varying degrees of readiness. In total, the Americans plan to build up to 30 Virginias.
The US Navy is clearly positioning its Virginias as fourth-generation boats, for which they have a number of arguments:
- for the first time in world practice, a "disposable" nuclear reactor S9G was used on a submarine, which does not require recharging during the entire 30-year life cycle of a submarine - from construction to disposal;
- modular design, a system of isolated decks and combat modules, all equipment inside the boat is standardized for blocks 19 and 24 inches wide - to facilitate the repair and modernization of the ship;
- multifunctional telescopic mast with video cameras, thermal imager and laser rangefinder. Everything that happens on the surface is broadcast on monitors in the central post;
- Unmanned automatic devices for detecting mines and performing special tasks in the water column;
- a multifunctional weapon system: torpedo tubes, 12 vertical silos for launching cruise missiles, an airlock for 9 combat swimmers, as well as a reduced level of internal noise turn the boat into a deadly enemy. One of the priority tasks of Virginia is to carry out operations in the coastal zone: covert surveillance, electronic reconnaissance, the landing of sabotage groups, the shelling of coastal targets with cruise missiles, and search and rescue missions.
If the Virginia were built in Russia, it would be immediately recorded in the sixth generation boats. And this is by no means a joke - domestic nuclear-powered ship of project 955 ("Borey"), equated to the "fourth generation" does not have any of the above devices. Undoubtedly, Borey differs significantly from all its predecessors - thanks to the modest dimensions of the R-30 Bulava SLBM, it was possible to get rid of the “hump” on the submarine's body; Amphora-B-055 ", combining all the sonar means of the boat. According to representatives of CDB MT "Rubin", the hydroacoustics of "Boreya" surpasses the hydroacoustic equipment of the American nuclear submarine "Virginia" - the recognized leader in this field.
In words, it turns out great. However, do not forget that the Borei were built twice - during their construction, ready-made sections from the unfinished third-generation submarines of projects 971 "Shchuka-B" and "aircraft carrier killers" of project 949A are used. In a sense, submarines of the Borey project do not exist - these are several nuclear-powered ships of different design, carrying from 16 to 20 underwater missiles (and initially, the boats were designed for 12 Bark missiles).
Of course, this does not mean that Borey is a copy of the third generation submarines. But given the same design of most of the case, it is clearly not worth waiting for any radical changes in comparison with the projects 971 and 949A. Another example: on domestic fourth-generation submarines, power plants based on the OK-650 reactor are used, almost completely unified with the power plant of third-generation submarines - no changes have occurred in this important area either.
K-535 "Yuri Dolgoruky" is a boat in every sense necessary, strategic submarine missile cruisers are one of the main components of the "nuclear triad". A modern SSBN is a specific weapon. The only task is to periodically go out on combat patrols and, after the due date, return to their home base. Without any accidents and technical problems. More is not required of her. The emergence of underwater ballistic missiles with a firing range of about 10 thousand km allowed modern SSBNs not even to leave their territorial waters and to patrol where the presence of a "potential enemy" is minimized - the Arctic, polar seas … if necessary, the boat can shoot directly from pier in Gadzhievo.
The relatively simple and cheap Borey with updated internal systems and the proven OK-650 reactor is the best fit for this concept.
The situation with other representatives of the domestic submarine fleet is much more interesting - multipurpose nuclear submarines with cruise missiles of project 885 (code "Ash") … The newest type of Russian submarines, without a doubt, fits the criteria of the fourth generation. It is capable of replacing the Schuka-B multipurpose submarines and the Project 959A Antey aircraft carrier killers.
- by analogy with American boats, a giant spherical antenna of the hydroacoustic complex is installed on the Yasen, which occupies the entire bow of the boat, - 10 torpedo tubes located in the middle of the boat, perpendicular to the longitudinal axis;
- 8 missile silos SM-346, with 32 ammunition for cruise missiles of the "Caliber" complex or P-800 "Onyx";
- electric motor for low speed movement (sneak mode);
- observation telemetry system MTK-115-2 (allows optical observation at depths of up to 50 m);
- on the Yasen, like the Virginia-class nuclear submarine, instead of the traditional periscope, non-penetrating masts with video cameras are installed, the data from which is fed to the monitors of the central post via fiber-optic cable.
However, it would be incorrect to directly compare the "Ash" with the "Virginia": these boats are designed to solve various problems. The Russian submarine is much larger, with the main emphasis on operations in the open ocean. The powerful, versatile ship will become one of the best boats in its class.
The only snag is that not a single "Ash" is still accepted by the Russian Navy. This is despite the fact that the head boat of the project, the K-329 Severodvinsk, has been under construction since 1993 and has been undergoing sea trials since 2011. Alas, the signing of the acceptance certificate is delayed - an overly complex design requires a lot of time and effort to fine-tune all the systems of the submarine.
Conclusion
As for the loud "pre-holiday" statement of the Central Design Bureau of MT "Rubin" about the beginning of the creation of submarines of the fifth generation, the journalists somewhat distorted the information - the statement said about the beginning of work on the formation of the appearance of submarines of the fifth generation, the construction of which will begin no earlier than 2030. It is not yet clear what kind of ships they will be and what their tasks will be. Nevertheless, Russian shipbuilders have already thought about this topic and, in the future, are ready to create new submarines. An absolutely correct position with an eye to the future.
However, the news about the beginning of the creation of fifth-generation submarines is given too much importance - it is much more important that the shipbuilders do not "hover in the clouds" about their plans for 2030, but rather quickly transfer the almost finished nuclear submarine K-329 "Severodvinsk" to the fleet and build its analogue "Kazan" on the modernized project 08851 "Ash-M". Otherwise, it is useless to have any talk about the fifth generation.
