The modern navy is designed to perform three main tasks: providing strategic deterrence in the form of one of the components of the "nuclear triad", supporting ground forces in local conflicts, and performing "decorative" functions, otherwise called "displaying the flag." In some cases, it is possible:
- participation in international operations (demining of the Suez Canal or Chittagong Bay);
- protection of territorial waters (displacement of the cruiser "Yorktown");
- search and rescue operations (rescue of the crew of "Alfa-Foxtrot 586" or search for landing capsules of spacecraft that splashed down in the Indian Ocean)
- special operations (destruction of the USA-193 satellite in low earth orbit or escorting tankers in the Persian Gulf during the Iran-Iraq war).
Based on the above, it seems interesting to know how the two most powerful fleets in the world - the US Navy and the Russian Navy - are coping with their tasks. And this is by no means a ridiculous joke.
The Russian fleet is still the second largest military fleet, and, oddly enough, is still capable of performing assigned tasks in the near and far sea zone.
The colossal difference in the naval composition of the Russian Navy and the US Navy is primarily due to the difference in views on the use of the fleet on both sides of the ocean. America is a predominantly maritime power, separated from the rest of the world by two deep "anti-tank ditches" of salt water. Hence - the obvious desire to have a powerful fleet.
Secondly - they have been talking about this for a long time - the power of the modern US Navy is excessive. At one time, the "Mistress of the Seas" Great Britain was guided by the "Two power standard" - the numerical superiority of the British fleet over the next two fleets in strength. Currently, the US Navy has a numerical superiority over all the world's fleets combined!
But what does this matter in the age of nuclear weapons? A direct military conflict between developed powers threatens to inevitably escalate into a global war with the destruction of the entire human civilization. And what difference does it make to the end of the battle between the Chinese and American aircraft carriers, if the nuclear warheads have already fallen on Beijing and Washington?
At the same time, for local wars, a super-powerful ultra-modern fleet is not required - “shoot sparrows from a cannon” or “hammer nails with a microscope” - inexhaustible folk fantasy has long found definitions for such a situation. As it stands, the US Navy does more damage to the United States itself than to its adversaries.
As for Russia, we are a primordially "land" power. There is nothing surprising in the fact that, in spite of its many exploits and loud words to the glory of the sailors, our Navy has almost always remained in secondary roles. The outcome of the Patriotic War of 1812 or the Great Patriotic War was by no means decided on the sea. As a result, there was limited funding for the Navy's programs (nevertheless, this was enough to have the second largest fleet in the world).
“There are two types of ships - submarines and targets,” says maritime wisdom. The underwater component is the backbone of the fleet of any modern state. It is the submarines that are entrusted with the honorary position of "gravediggers of Mankind" - an invisible and invulnerable warship is capable of incinerating all life on the entire continent. A squadron of strategic missile submarines is guaranteed to destroy life on planet Earth.
The Russian Navy includes seven operating SSBNs of projects 667BDR Kalmar and 667BDRM Dolphin, as well as one new missile carrier of Project 955 Borey. Two more missile carriers are under repair. Two Boreas are under construction, in a high degree of readiness.
The US Navy has 14 such boats - the legendary Ohio-class strategic missile carriers. A dangerous enemy. Extremely stealthy, reliable, armed with 24 Trident II missiles.
And yet … parity! The insignificant difference in the number of submarines no longer matters: 16 missiles fired from 667BRDM or 24 missiles fired from the Ohio submarine - guaranteed death for everyone.
But miracles do not happen. In terms of multipurpose submarines, the Russian Navy is a complete loss: a total of 26 multipurpose nuclear submarines and underwater cruise missile carriers against 58 nuclear submarines of the US Navy. On the side of the Americans, not only quantity, but also quality: twelve boats are the newest fourth-generation nuclear submarines of the Virginia and Seawulf types, which are the best in the world in terms of their characteristics. Four more American boats are converted Ohio-class missile carriers, carrying Tomahawk cruise missiles instead of Trident ballistic missiles - a total of 154 missiles in 22 silos + 2 airlocks for combat swimmers. We have no analogues of this technique.
However, not everything is so hopeless - the Russian Navy has special-purpose nuclear submarines - the odious Losharik and its carrier - BS-64 Podmoskovye. The new nuclear submarine of project 885 "Ash" is being tested.
In addition, Russian sailors have their own "trump card" - 20 diesel-electric submarines, unlike America, where diesel-electric submarines have not been built for half a century. But in vain! "Dieselukha" is a simple and cheap tool for operations in coastal waters, in addition, due to a number of technical reasons (lack of powerful pumps for reactor circuits, etc.), it is much quieter than a nuclear submarine.
Conclusion: it could have been better. New "Ash", modernization of titanium "Barracuda", new developments in the field of small diesel-electric submarines (project "Lada"). We look to the future with hope.
Let's move on to the sad thing - the surface component of the Russian Navy is just a laughing stock against the backdrop of the US Navy. Or is it an illusion?
The Legend of the Elusive Joe. The Russian Navy has one heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser "Admiral Kuznetsov". Aircraft carrier or aircraft carrier? In principle, the Soviet-Russian TAVKR differs from the classic aircraft carrier only in that it is weaker.
The Americans have ten aircraft carriers! All, as one, atomic. Each is twice the size of our Kuznetsov. AND…
And … the elusive Joe cannot be caught, because no one needs him. With whom are the American aircraft carriers going to fight in the open ocean? With gulls and albatrosses? Or the unfinished Indian Vikramaditya?
Objectively, there are no opponents for the Nimitz in the open ocean. Let it plow the endless surface of water and indulge American pride - until the US National Debt reaches $ 30 trillion. dollars and the collapse of the United States economy will not happen.
But sooner or later "Nimitz" will approach the enemy coast and … attack sunny Magadan? For purely continental Russia, of the entire American fleet, only the Ohio strategic submarines are dangerous.
However, in any of the local conflicts, the nuclear supercarrier "Nimitz" turns out to be of little use. Which, however, is understandable - the power of the carrier-based wing of the Nimitz is simply insignificant against the background of thousands of US Air Force combat aircraft and helicopters that were tearing Iraq, Libya and Yugoslavia to shreds.
And here are also worthy representatives of the class of aircraft carrier ships - 17 universal amphibious assault helicopter carriers / dock ships of the Tarava, Wasp, Austin, San Antonio types … Like a promising Russian Mistral, only twice as large.
At first glance, a colossal offensive force!
But there is one nuance: let all 17 of these ships try to land troops (17 thousand marines and 500 armored vehicles) somewhere on the Iranian coast. Better yet, China. Blood will flow like a river. The second Dieppe is secured.
Airborne operations using small forces are almost always doomed to failure. And the Americans know this better than we do - they prepared for a war with Iraq for six months, tormented the enemy from the air for two months, dropping 141 thousand tons of explosives on him, and then an avalanche of a million soldiers and 7,000 armored vehicles poured across the Iraqi border from Saudi Arabia.
In view of the above, the combat value of the landing "Wasps" and "San Antonio" is not too great - it is useless to use them against any serious countries. And to use such a technique against the Papuans is stupid and wasteful, it is much easier to land troops at a capital airport in some Zimbabwe.
But how do the Americans fight? Who delivers thousands of tanks and hundreds of thousands of soldiers to foreign shores? It is clear who the Maritime Command fast transports are. In total, the Americans have 115 such ships. Formally, they do not belong to the navy, but they always walk in a tight ring of guards from destroyers and frigates of the US Navy - otherwise one enemy torpedo will send an American army division to the bottom.
The Russian Navy, of course, does not have such ships - but it does. Large landing ships (BDK) As many as 19 units! They are old, rusty, slow. But they are doing an excellent job with their functions - to demonstrate the flag and deliver a consignment of equipment and military equipment to Syria in front of the entire outraged Western world. The BDK has neither normal air defense nor cruise missiles - nothing but primitive artillery. Their security is guaranteed by the status of the Russian Federation as a nuclear power. Try to touch ships under the St. Andrew's flag!
Nobody is going to drive them into a real battle - where the 40,000-ton "Wasp" cannot cope with, our large landing craft (displacement of 4,000 tons) has nothing to do.
The next important point is that the Russian Navy has only 15 surface ships of the far sea zone on the move: cruisers, destroyers, large anti-submarine ships. Of these, only 4 can provide the squadron's zonal air defense in open sea areas - the Peter Veliky heavy nuclear missile cruiser and three Project 1164 missile cruisers - Moscow, Varyag and Marshal Ustinov.
The US Navy has 84 such ships, including 22 Ticonderoga missile cruisers and 62 Orly Burke-class destroyers.
American cruisers and destroyers carry from 90 to 122 cells of the Mk.41 UVP, each of which hides cruise Tomahawks, ASROC anti-submarine rocket torpedoes or anti-aircraft missiles of the Standard family, capable of hitting targets at ranges of up to 240 km and destroying objects outside the Earth atmosphere. Aegis's unified digital weapon control system, coupled with state-of-the-art radars and versatile weaponry, makes the Ticonderogs and Orly Burkees the most deadly of all US Navy surface ships.
15 versus 84. The ratio, of course, is shameful. Despite the fact that the last contemporaries of our large anti-submarine ships - the destroyer of the "Spruance" type, the Americans decommissioned back in 2006.
But do not forget that the likelihood of a direct military conflict between the US Navy and the Russian Navy is vanishingly small - no one wants to die in a thermonuclear hell. Consequently, the Orly Burke super destroyers can only powerlessly watch the actions of our ships. In extreme cases, it is dangerous to maneuver and attack with obscenities over radio communications.
At one time, to neutralize the Yorktown supercruiser (Ticonderoga type), the small patrol ship Selfless and its brave commander Cavtorang V. Bogdashin turned out to be enough - the Soviet patrol boat broke through the American's left side, deformed the helipad, demolished the Harpoon missile launcher”And prepared for the second bulk. No repetition was required - Yorktown hastily left the inhospitable territorial waters of the Soviet Union.
By the way, about patrol boats and frigates
The Russian Navy has 9 frigates, corvettes and patrol boats, not counting hundreds of small artillery, anti-submarine and missile ships, missile boats and sea minesweepers.
The US Navy, of course, has more such ships: 22 elderly frigates of the Oliver Hazard Perry class and three coastal zone warships of the LCS type.
LCS, in every sense, is an innovative thing - 45-50 knots travel, universal weaponry, spacious helipad, modern electronics. The US Navy is expected to add a fourth ship of this type this year. In total, the plans include the construction of 12 marine super vehicles.
As for the Perry frigates, they have weakened a lot lately. In 2003, missile weapons were completely dismantled from them. Several ships of this type are annually written off, and by the beginning of the next decade, all Perry must be sold to the allies or scrapped.
Another important point is naval base aviation
In service with the aviation of the Russian Navy there are about fifty anti-submarine aircraft Il-38 and Tu-142 (let's be realistic - how many of them are in flight condition?)
The US Navy has 17 squadrons of anti-submarine aircraft, marine electronic reconnaissance aircraft and relay aircraft, a total of one and a half hundred vehicles, excluding the reserve and aviation of the Coast Guard.
In service are the legendary P-3 Orion, as well as their special reconnaissance modification EP-3 Aries. Currently, new P-8 Poseidon anti-submarine jet aircraft have begun to enter service.
Even in theory, the US Navy's naval base aircraft is three times superior to the Russian Navy's patrol and anti-submarine aircraft. And this is really insulting. I'm not sure about the anti-submarine capabilities of the Orions and Poseidons (where were they looking when the Pike-B surfaced in the Gulf of Mexico?), But in terms of search and rescue capabilities, the Americans have an order of magnitude higher.
When those who are still able to take to the air for the Il-38 have been looking for a week and cannot find rafts from the shipwreck or an ice floe with fishermen - no, guys, you can't do that.
The conclusions throughout this story will be conflicting: on the one hand, the Russian Navy in its current state is incapable of conducting any serious military operations far from its native shores. On the other hand, Russia is not going to and does not plan to fight on the other side of the world. All our modern interests are in the near abroad, in the Caucasus and Central Asia.
Demonstration of the flag, participation in international maritime salons and naval exercises, delivery of military aid to friendly regimes, humanitarian operations, evacuation of Russian citizens from the zone of military conflicts, protection of the territorial waters of the Russian Federation (where pack ice does not come close to the coast), hunting on pirate feluccas - The Russian Navy knows how to do everything (or practically everything) that a fleet should do in peacetime.
