On the world market of civil freight and military transport, a significant share is occupied by equipment of Soviet and Russian production. Regularly, there is news related to incidents with An-12 or Mi-8 somewhere in the impenetrable jungle of the Republic of Congo. The Soviet Union disappeared 20 years ago, but Soviet aircraft continues to fly in those parts in large numbers, showing miracles of reliability: aircraft are operated contrary to all norms and rules, for many years doing without the necessary maintenance. During this time, their parts and assemblies have worked out several resources, but "Ana" and "Ily" regularly serve the traffic.
On July 18, 2012, the Pentagon's website published official information about the purchase of 10 Russian helicopters (https://www.defense.gov/contracts/contract.aspx?contractid=4835 - knowledge of English is optional, everything is already clear in the first line) … The exact amount of the contract is $ 171, 380, 636. The delivery of the Mi-17 (export version of the Mi-8) should be completed in 2016. It should be noted that Russian equipment is not bought at the price of scrap metal: $ 171 million for ten helicopters - $ 17 million for each machine! The American multipurpose UH-60 Black Hawk Down costs almost the same - from $ 20 million per unit. Of course, the operation of Russian helicopters is on average cheaper, but it is clear that the Pentagon's "helicopter adventure" arose not only because of the desire to reduce the cost of purchasing equipment. The helicopters of the Mi-8 family impressed the American military with their simplicity and reliability, while the carrying capacity of the "fat" Mi-8, as expected, turned out to be more than that of the "Black Hawk Down". And during transport missions in Afghanistan, the high-tech equipment of the UH-60 turned out to be mostly unnecessary - the helicopter was only required to take on board the cargo and deliver it to the specified point. The use of heavy Chinook helicopters has increased transport costs, they are more vulnerable and less adapted for flying in the mountains.
For a long time there has been a project related to the lease of the An-124 for the needs of NATO. Since 2002, Volga-Dnepr has been providing international cargo transportation services to Afghanistan using Il-76 and An-124 Ruslan aircraft. In 2006, the NATO command signed an agreement on the lease of six Ruslans - three Russian (Volga-Dnepr) and three Ukrainian (Antonov Airlines). After the plane crash in Lashkargah in 2006, it became known about the use of An-26 aircraft as part of special operations support units of the US Air Force.
The success of the former Soviet technology is natural, and our next story confirms this.
What is unusual about Lance Corporal Roy Whit? Just one of twelve ro-rokers belonging to the Military Sealift Command. Like the rest of the US Navy's transport ships, the large, sleek Ro-Ro-RoC is used to supply US troops around the world. But the main secret of the USNS LCPL ROY M. WHEAT gas turbine rocket is that it was originally "Vladimir Vaslyaev" - the beauty and pride of the Black Sea Shipping Company.
He went to Igarka, Rio, Nagasaki …
In 1979, the unique gas turbine ship Captain Smirnov, the lead ship of Project 1609 Atlantika, was launched in Nikolaev. Over the next year, the same type "Captain Mezentsev" and "Engineer Ermoshkin" left the stocks. The last in a series of gas turbines of the project 1609 was "Vladimir Vaslyaev", 1987.
Four large-capacity ro-rokers (English roll - to roll) were intended for transportation of goods on a wheelbase (cars, trucks, special equipment, etc.), and, if desired, could be used as container ships. The equipment was driven onto the deck under its own power - for this, a wide ramp was provided in the stern (reclining part of the stern). Three horizontal cargo compartments had a capacity of 54313 cubic meters. m. The cargo was located on 4 decks and on the second day. To move cargo inside the vessel, there were 14 forklift trucks manufactured by Valmet (Finland) and stationary internal ramps with an inclination of 7 °, leading from one deck to another, on board the ro-ro boats.
But the main feature of the Kapitan Smirnov-type gas turbine ships was their high speed, unprecedented for civilian ships - at full speed, a huge ro-ro rover with a displacement of 36 thousand tons could easily develop 25 knots. The Kapitan Smirnov vessel operated on the Black Sea - Vietnam line and visited 16 ports in 50 days.
The gas turbine, as its name implies, is driven not by ordinary economical diesel engines, but by powerful gas turbines. The power plant of the "Captain Smirnov" produced 50 thousand liters on the shaft. with. Such an unexpected choice of the type of power plant for the ro-ro rover raises some doubts about the purpose of the vessel. The fact is that a gas turbine, all other things being equal, is inferior to a diesel engine in terms of economy, and the speed of 25-26 knots for a commercial vessel is clearly excessive. For comparison: the modern container ship of the highest ice class Norilsk Nickel (29 thousand tons, built in 2006) is propelled by an Azipod-type rudder propeller with a capacity of about 18 thousand liters. with.
Indeed, “Kapitan Smirnov” never ran at full speed - the main gas turbine units in main operation operated in a “cross mode”, in which a gas turbine engine and a heat recovery boiler on one side and a steam turbine on the other side were in operation. This allowed a slight decrease in fuel consumption, the speed "decreased" to 19-20 knots, and fuel consumption per mile was 210 kg.
The strange design of the Ro-Ro Rover means the following: "Captain Smirnov" was created as a warship! Let me explain my idea: the ro-ro-rover had a dual purpose - if necessary, the "peaceful Soviet transport" could be converted into a high-speed supply transport in the shortest possible time. And it could not be otherwise in the USSR, even if the diameter of the cigarettes and pasta corresponded to the caliber of the ammunition.
The fast supply vehicle is an excellent vehicle for conducting hostilities on foreign shores. A few days after receiving the order, "Captain Smirnov" would have lowered its stern ramp to the pier in the port of Tartus, and from it, under the gentle Mediterranean sun, a hundred or two armored personnel carriers with armor thickly covered with paratroopers would have moved down to the shore. High-speed ro-ro-roers can be successfully used to deliver the most important cargo - instead of armored personnel carriers, for example, several S-300 divisions can move ashore.
For comparison: the large landing ships of the project 775 ("Caesar Kunikov") have a displacement of 4,000 tons, a maximum speed of 18 knots, and a cruising range of 6,000 miles at 12 knots. (the “Captain Smirnov” ro-ro-cruiser has 16,000 miles at 20 knots). Of course, it is incorrect to directly compare an ocean-going gas turbine vehicle with a tank landing ship - they have completely different designs and tasks. But, I hope, the readers understood my idea - a high-speed roller-rover could deliver 20 thousand tons of cargo anywhere in the world.
Another confirmation of my conclusions about the military purpose of the ship: the unrealized project of the anti-submarine helicopter carrier of pr. 10200 "Khalzan" was created on the basis of the "civilian" ro-ro launch "Captain Smirnov"!
Was it an effective solution to build dual-use hybrids instead of real military and commercial ships? As you know, a universal tool is always inferior to a specialized one, and the standards of military shipbuilding have a bad effect on the characteristics of commercial ships. Nevertheless, the ro-ro ships honestly worked in the Baltic and Black Sea shipping companies and even remained profitable thanks to the ingenuity of the ship's "rationalizers", such as the "cross mode" of the power plant. For 12 years of operation, the crew of "Captain Smirnov" has introduced 100 rationalization proposals, which in itself is alarming. As a result, the ship increasingly acquired the features of an ordinary commercial vessel.
As for the possible question of converting the Kapitan Smirnov-type ro-ro-boats into an ersatz aircraft carrier (helicopter carrier), this is most likely a fantasy. For basing aviation on the deck, a radical restructuring of the vessel will be required. Where to store jet fuel? Where to accommodate several hundred personnel (standard ro-ro crew - 55 people)? Several months of being on the upper deck will finish off the helicopters - aircraft carriers definitely need a hangar. Mount any removable structures on the flight deck? - it is easier to replace damaged aircraft. To equip the under-deck hangar? Most likely, the helicopter will not fit in height - you will have to cut the entire ship. Plus the cost of one or two lifts. And will anyone send an absolutely unprotected ship into the zone of possible hostilities? It will require the installation of several self-defense systems, replacement of the radar and electronics. As a result, we get a very expensive hybrid with stripped-down characteristics.
New life
After the collapse of the USSR, all four ro-rokers went to Ukraine and were privatized. Not knowing how to dispose of their honestly acquired property, their owners sold four huge handsome men to Global Container Lines and Marianna Shipbuilding Ltd. In 2001-2002, three of them ended up in a scrap metal dump in India. The remaining "Vladimir Vaslyaev" joined the ranks of the US Navy.
The Americans carried out a radical modernization of the ship: the ship's hull was disassembled and lengthened by inserting an additional section. The total displacement of the ro-ro boat has increased to 50 thousand tons. The ship's power plant was replaced - American equipment is designed for a current frequency of 60 Hz. The rest of the design of the ro-ro rover has not changed - its unique power plant remains the same. Even with a 1.5 times displacement, the USNS LCPL ROY M. WHEAT is now capable of developing 20 knots. With the introduction of more automation, the ro-ro crew was reduced to 29 people.
Due to its unique characteristics, the former Soviet ship was selected among 30 other ships in the group of rapid reaction forces - the elite unit of the Marine Transportation Command.
What can be said in conclusion? The admirals of the US Navy have excellent taste - among the thousands of ships abandoned to the mercy of the Soviet fleet, they were able to choose the most valuable for themselves.
