"There will be sea vessels!" - said Tsar Peter and went to Europe to study shipbuilding. Russian sailors carefully copied the technologies, knowledge and traditions of the Dutch fleet, and after 100 years they already dashingly walked in unknown latitudes, discovering a new continent Antarctica (751-day round-the-world expedition of Bellingshausen and Lazarev, 1819-1821).
Peter the Great was a healthy realist and unprincipled pragmatist. Do ships need foreign technology? We will get them at any cost. Do you need knowledge? Will learn. Of all those wishing to teach the Russian Mongols wisdom, Peter chose the best teachers for himself - the Dutch. The current country of "red lights" a century ago was one of the great maritime powers. Cape Town, Ceylon, the exclusive right to trade with Japan - this is a small list of the achievements of the Dutch seafarers. They were also noted in the other side of the world - the first name of New York was New Amsterdam. It was not a shame to teach such aces of navigation to the marine sciences. By the way, the very word "navy" (niderl. Vloot) also came to us from Holland along with the navy itself.
In the twentieth century, the history of foreign purchases in the interests of the domestic Navy had many successful moments. The cruiser "Varyag", built at the shipyards of Philadelphia, became famous for centuries (however, from the point of view of technical characteristics, the "Varyag" was not particularly successful). The legendary "blue cruiser" of the Black Sea Fleet "Tashkent" was built in Livorno - the Italians did their best, the swift silhouette and speed of 43 knots made "Tashkent" the standard of pre-war shipbuilding (despite the Italian project, Soviet weapons were installed on the leader).
Before the Great Patriotic War … Dutchmen suddenly appeared in the Soviet Navy! Type C submarines, on which Shchedrin and Marinesko fought, were built in the Soviet Union according to the project of the Dutch-German company IvS.
But the "pocket battleship" "Petropavlovsk" - the former German "Luttsov", appeared from the veil of the Baltic fog. The ship, which remained unfinished, took part in the defense of Leningrad and became a good teaching aid for Soviet shipbuilders when designing cruisers in the 50s.
We can confidently argue against the most stubborn skeptics and ardent opponents of the use of foreign technologies that this is a normal global practice, often giving excellent results. As for modern naval subjects, for example, the hulls of nuclear icebreakers of the Taimyr series were built in Finland, a recognized world leader in the construction of large-tonnage ships. Of course, the reactors and all the high-tech stuffing for the icebreakers were made in the USSR.
Alternative
Against the background of the incessant hysteria over the purchase of Mistrals for the Russian Navy, the question of possible options for this international deal remained completely unnoticed. Dreams of deep modernization of large landing ships such as "Ivan Rogov" or the purchase of the nuclear aircraft carrier "Nimitz" will be left on the conscience of tireless dreamers. We will talk about quite realistic events. Indeed, was there an alternative to buying the Mistral UDC - buying another foreign ship of a similar class and on the same terms? There was such an alternative, moreover, the choice was extremely wide.
In addition to the French, the Dutch were invited (who would have thought) to take part in the international tender for the construction of helicopter carriers for the Russian Navy, who presented the Jan de Witt UDC and the Spanish company Navantia with its Juan Carlos I landing helicopter carrier. Also, for the sake of formality, the Admiralty Shipyards, the Kaliningrad Yantar and the Far East Zvezda took part in the tender drawing - alas, Russian enterprises had no chance from the very beginning, due to the lack of their own projects.
The Dutchman was the first of the real contenders for the victory. Having examined the Jan de Witt at the International Maritime Salon in St. Petersburg, the Russian delegation was delighted, but despite the positive reviews, the Dutch UDC did not meet many requirements, and its displacement was a quarter less than the Mistral's.
Frankly speaking, the favorite was known in advance - the Mistral made a special visit to St. Petersburg back in November 2009. In January last year, the last doubts were dispelled - the tender for the construction of four helicopter docks was won by France. However, it would be interesting to look at the alternative - the Spanish "force projection ship" (light aircraft carrier) "Juan Carlos I." In 2007, while participating in a similar competition for the construction of a UDC for the Australian Navy, Juan Carlos I tore apart the Mistral like a vest - the Australians almost immediately chose the Spanish project, laying down two of their own helicopter docks. What is the reason for such a diametrically opposite assessment? Trying to figure it out …
Don Juan
The Spanish force projection ship (amphibious assault dock, light aircraft carrier - call it whatever you like), with a funny name, as if taken from an Argentinean TV series, is a large ship with a total displacement of 27 thousand tons, designed to provide transportation and disembarkation of marine units on the coast. infantry, humanitarian assistance and the evacuation of victims.
Unlike other UDCs of a similar class, "Juan Carlos" was originally designed with the expectation of basing aircraft with short and vertical takeoff. In total - 19 attack aircraft AV-8 Harrier II or promising VTOL aircraft F-35B. However, in the Spanish Navy there are only 17 "Harriers" and the actual composition of the air group will be slightly different: 11 "vertical", as well as 12 transport and combat helicopters Augusta AB.212 and anti-submarine helicopters SH-60 "Seahawk". The Juan Carlos flight deck has six landing points for multipurpose helicopters and can accommodate heavy CH-47 Chinook transport helicopters and Osprey V-22 tiltroplanes. In the bow of the flight deck, there is one of the notable features of the Spanish UDC - a bow springboard, installed at an angle of 12 °, designed to facilitate takeoff of aircraft with a combat load. To support the operation of the air group, there are two helicopter lifts and an under-deck hangar for storing aircraft. Fuel reserves amount to 800 tons of aviation kerosene.
Like any multipurpose landing craft, the Juan Carlos is equipped with an aft dock chamber measuring 69 x 16.8 m, capable of accommodating 4 landing barges LCM-1E (full displacement of 100 tons) or one hovercraft LCAC (landing air craft cushion, full displacement of 185 tons, speed up to 70 knots) + amphibious armored personnel carriers.
Due to the high level of automation, the crew of a large ship consists of only 243 people, in addition, the UDC can take on board 1200 people, including 900 marines with full equipment, 100 staff workers and two hundred air personnel. There are two transport decks inside the ship to accommodate armored vehicles with a total area of 6,000 sq. meters, capable of receiving 46 main battle tanks "Leopard-2". In addition, the UDC transports 2,150 tons of diesel fuel, 40 tons of lubricants and 480 tons of drinking water.
The special capabilities of the UDC include a flagship command center for 100 operators, a state-of-the-art hospital, and emblematic self-defense systems: two 20mm Oerlikons + reserved locations for the installation of two 12-barreled Meroka automatic anti-aircraft guns.
The result is a universal combat complex capable of solving a wide range of tasks anywhere in the World Ocean. According to the capacious definition of NATO experts, such ships are allocated in a separate class "force projection and command vessel" (ship of projection of power and control).
The only question is that a clear concept of using such ships has not yet been formulated. In large amphibious operations like the invasion of Iraq, the role of the UDC with its 46 tanks is vanishingly small: in 1991, the Americans needed to deliver 2,000 Abrams tanks to the Persian Gulf region, plus 1,000 more were brought by their allies in the international Coalition. The deck air wing of a "light aircraft carrier-helicopter carrier", consisting of 20-30 "vertical aircraft" and helicopters, lags ten times behind in capabilities from the air wing of a classic nuclear aircraft carrier, for example, there are no long-range radar aircraft on the UDC. At the same time, the strike aircraft carrier itself is not a decisive force in a local conflict - during Operation Desert Storm, six AUGs performed a total of only 17% of sorties, the rest of the work was done by ground-based aviation - more than a thousand strike aircraft!
From the point of view of naval combat, the prospects of the amphibious helicopter dock are even more dubious - a slow-moving (speed 18-20 knots) ship, devoid of serious defensive weapons and reservation, is intended only for delivering expeditionary forces to the required area of the World Ocean, while the ship itself is not included in the combat zone, remaining a hundred kilometers from the coast - troops are unloaded by air, or using their own amphibious craft.
There is another assessment of the universal amphibious assault dock ships - a battalion of paratroopers supported by heavy armored vehicles and well-organized air cover is enough to suppress riots somewhere in the capital of Côte d'Ivoire. On the other hand, a reasonable question arises - why build a huge expensive ship, if conventional transport aircraft can be used to deliver a battalion of soldiers to Côte d'Ivoire? Half a century ago, the military realized that instead of landing on a bare, unprepared shore, overgrown with thorns, it would be enough to seize the capital's airport and turn it into a convenient base, incomparable in comfort with the cramped decks of a landing ship. The Prague Spring, 1968, passed in this mode (according to one version, the lightning-fast seizure of the international airport was carried out by Soviet special forces, who arrived in Prague under the guise of a sports team with large black bags). With the capture of the Bagram airport, the Afghan war began, the same was done by the American rangers in Somalia, 1993.
But back to the ships. In any case, the class of universal amphibious assault helicopter docks continues to develop in many countries of the world: USA, France, Spain, Netherlands, South. Korea, and now, soon, the Russian Navy will receive them. Perhaps the author unnecessarily exaggerates the colors - a universal helicopter carrier can be useful in responding to emergencies and participating in missions to deliver humanitarian aid and military equipment to its geopolitical partners. A large warship is likely to become an element of Russian diplomacy.
We can do anything, but we do nothing
While the capabilities of the Mistral and theories of its combat use are the cause of fierce controversy in Russian society, naval specialists are most interested in the ultra-modern "stuffing" of the French ship. It may sound somewhat unpatriotic, but the domestic shipbuilding industry has never built anything like this before.
The Mistral is not just a large landing ship, it is an almost fully automated all-electric vessel with a crew of 180 people. In addition to powerful helicopter weapons, our sailors will have at their disposal a modern hospital with an area of 750 sq. meters with the possibility of increasing modularly, at the expense of other premises of the ship. If necessary, there can be provided the work of 100 medical personnel in 12 operating rooms! Not every Russian city can boast of such a medical institution.
The Mistral is a real flagship with a grandiose command post-amphitheater with an area of 900 square meters. meters; a powerful server with 160 computer terminals; 6 ADSL and satellite communication networks. The Mistral can control not only a naval formation, but also act as a command post for the entire combined arms operation.
The newest French UDC requires minimal logistical support, a huge step forward at the level of the crew, command and deployment of troops. The ship's capabilities allow it to fully realize its potential for 5000 hours of continuous service, i.e. 210 days a year. Interestingly, supporters of nuclear power plants on ships and "around the world" have ever thought about such aspects as the endurance of the crew, mechanisms and equipment? The Mistral meets all these requirements, and its cruising range (11,000 miles at 15 knots) ensures the transatlantic passage Murmansk - Rio de Janeiro - Murmansk without refueling.
There are also negative aspects. The real "pitfall" - the transport deck of the Mistral does not meet Russian requirements, it is designed for a mass not exceeding 32 tons for each combat unit. This means that the Mistral, instead of the declared 30, will be able to take on board no more than 5 Russian main battle tanks: three on the site in front of the dock chamber and two on landing boats moored inside the dock.
Of course, the Russian Mistral will have a slightly different design than that of its French relative: the dimensions of the aircraft lifts will change, due to the basing of the Kamov machines on the ship with a pine propeller configuration, the hangar height should be increased, the "natural ventilation" of the transport deck will disappear - open openings in the sides of the ship are unacceptable in northern latitudes, the transport deck itself may be able to receive MBT, ice reinforcement of the hull is planned, although the presence of a bow bulb significantly complicates this task. According to DCNS, the Russian Mistrals will receive 30mm AK-630 anti-aircraft artillery mounts at the front on the starboard side and at the rear of the ship on the port side. Anti-aircraft missile launchers 3M47 "Gibka" will be located in the front on the starboard side and behind - on the left. DCNS will prepare the sites for the installation of weapons, while the combat systems themselves will be installed on the ship already in Russia.
Everything is not easy here
For all the merits of the Mistral, this ship had a negative export history until recently. Indeed, in an impartial comparison, the French CDK loses in many respects to the larger Spanish helicopter carrier Juan Carlos I: half the size of an air wing, there is no possibility for basing aircraft with a short takeoff, on board it can accommodate only 450 marines, against 900 for Juan Carlos … At the same time, Juan Carlos I is much cheaper: 460 million euros against 600 million euros for the Mistral. Why did Russia give preference to the French project?
One of the most probable explanations: "Mistral" is a whole package of contracts in which the fulfillment of some obligations entails the fulfillment of others. As a result, Russia gains legal access to a wide range of the best Western technologies. One of the real examples related to this transaction is cooperation with the French corporation "Thales" - one of the world leaders in the development of military electronics, combat information and control systems and radar equipment …
The French approved the decision to transfer to Russia, together with the new generation BIUS ship SENIT-9 (it was this moment that raised doubts among most skeptics, alas, a private company is ready to sell any state secret for money, even on the scale of the entire NATO bloc). Together with BIUS, the "Russian French" will receive a modern three-dimensional radar Thales MRR-3D-NG for monitoring the air situation. In addition, the French do not object to the transfer of technologies for the integrated mast I-MAST, which arouses genuine interest among the Russian "electronic engineers".
The fulfillment of contracts for the Mistral brought a new round of cooperation - on July 11, 2012, at the Farnborough Airshow, the Russian Aircraft Corporation MIG and the Thales group signed a contract for the supply of 24 units of Thales TopSight helmet-mounted target designation and indication system to equip deck-based fighters MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB, planned for adoption by the Russian Navy aviation.
These are the serious consequences of a high-profile deal …
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