Through the thorns to the stars
By the mid-1960s, 4 squadrons of American nuclear submarines with ballistic missiles were deployed against the USSR in the World Ocean. The task of anti-submarine defense has become of paramount importance for the USSR Navy. "Singing frigates" pr.61 were not able to withstand modern nuclear submarines, which could detect a BOD and use torpedo weapons at a distance of up to 20 km, which was 2-3 times higher than the capabilities of our ships, which were not armed with powerful GAS, helicopters and anti-submarine rocket torpedoes … Weak air defense and limited cruising range did not allow Project 61 to operate effectively far from their home shores.
In connection with this situation, the creative process under the leadership of V. F. Anikeeva. On November 30, 1966, on the slipway of the A. A. Zhdanov in Leningrad (now - "Severnaya Verf"), the first full-fledged domestic large anti-submarine ship of project 1134-A "Kronstadt" was laid down. The project was the development of missile cruisers 1134 "Berkut" with new capabilities to combat submarines. However, a series of 10 BOD pr. 1134-A was not devoid of drawbacks: the ship's weak air defense, the choice of the main artillery caliber turned out to be unsuccessful (the low-power 57 mm projectile could not effectively hit sea and ground targets), and the sailors were eager to get a ship with a compact and effective a gas turbine installation, as on project 61.
The design of the BOD of the new project was carried out almost simultaneously with the work on the project 1134-A. Adjustment of the ship design with a boiler and turbine unit for a gas turbine unit led to dramatic changes: a gas turbine unit is lighter than a boiler and turbine unit, but requires a larger volume, mainly due to developed gas ducts. Excessive enthusiasm for fuel economy during this period led to the development of a gas turbine plant, consisting of sustainer and afterburner gas turbines. The operation of such an installation showed that the ships never went using only propulsion engines. The reason for this was the low speed under these engines (14-15 knots). In practice, the efficiency of such installations does not compensate for their complexity, and therefore cost and reliability.
Another feature of the power plant BPK pr.1134-B is reversible gas turbines. Previously, for backward movement on all ships with a gas turbine, either variable-pitch propellers or reversible gearboxes were used.
In general, the ships turned out to be excellent. BOD 1134-B for 30 years provided air defense and anti-aircraft missile defense of the formations of Soviet warships in remote areas of the seas and oceans. Rapid hull lines, "purposeful looking" appearance (as American sailors say), versatile weapons and remarkable seaworthiness made the Boukari a kind of visiting card of the Soviet Navy.
The ship's armament includes the proven complex of anti-submarine rocket torpedoes "Blizzard" (replaced by "Trumpet" in the course of further modernization). The main air defense of the ship was 2 anti-aircraft missile systems M-11 "Shtorm". The transition to a conveyor system for storing and supplying rocket ammunition made it possible to increase the volume of the cellars by 40% compared to its predecessor. Also, due to the increase in displacement, the "Bukary" appeared short-range air defense missile systems "Osa-M".
The artillery has changed significantly - instead of the low-power AK-725, the BOD pr.1134-B received the old proven automatic 76-mm AK-726 mounts. Anti-aircraft self-defense assault rifles AK-630 (two batteries, 2 pcs.) Were installed without fail. Torpedo armament and 4 RBU complexes (2 RBU-6000 and 2 RBU-1000) remained unchanged. And the Ka-25pl helicopter and the semi-submerged hangar for its permanent basing made the BOD pr. 1134-B a truly universal ship.
2=1
Unfortunately, the construction of a series of BOD pr. 1134-B was completed on the seventh unit. Despite the presence of these first-class ships in the Navy, by the decision of Gorshkov, the design of the destroyer pr.956 and the large anti-submarine ship pr.1155, which completely duplicate the tasks of pr.1134-B, began. Progress cannot be stopped, you say, and you will be wrong.
Destroyers pr.956 (type "Modern") and BOD pr.1155 (type "Udaloy") - largely unpromising approach to solving the problems of air defense and anti-aircraft defense. There is no trace of the former universality of pr. 1134-B: the ships each have their own narrow specialization and must act only together, covering each other (which in reality never happens).
As a result, the Project 956 destroyer has powerful artillery (2 AK-130 gun mounts) and the Moskit anti-ship missile system, but is completely unprotected from underwater attacks. All its PLO is limited to installations RBU-1000 and GAS "Platina" with limited detection capabilities. You will be surprised, but even the permanent basing of the helicopter on the destroyer is not provided (there is only a platform and a temporary hangar).
The large anti-submarine ship of project 1155, on the contrary, is rebalanced towards the PLO: 8 "Bell" launchers (as on 1134-B), permanent placement of 2 helicopters is provided, there are 2 RBU-6000 installations, torpedo tubes. The Polynom hydroacoustic station can detect torpedoes, sea anchor mines and submarines at a distance of up to 50 km.
But … BOD pr. 1155 is completely defenseless against air attacks. All of its air defense is limited to the short-range air defense system "Dagger": only 64 anti-aircraft missiles in drum mounts (for comparison, the BOD pr.1134-B carried 80 much more powerful V-611 missiles and 40 missiles for the Osa-MA complex). The "Dagger" is multi-channel, has a "Tackle" radar for detecting low-flying targets, but still is not capable of providing the ship's air defense. The missile's flight range of only 12 km (!) Allows you to fight only with the released anti-ship missiles, without posing a danger to carrier aircraft.
The destroyer pr. 956 has more capabilities in terms of air defense, as part of its armament there are 2 multi-channel M-22 "Uragan" air defense systems - a naval version of the "Buk" complex. "Hurricane" has fantastic accuracy - there is a case of destruction of a rocket bomb fired from RBU. Single-girder launchers, which does not affect the rate of fire in the best way.
As noted earlier, ships of these types are not capable of acting alone in the event of real combat operations, and all their theories of joint use do not go beyond the pages of admirals' scientific papers. Compared to the BOD pr.1134-B, this was an undoubted step back. Thanks to the boiler-turbine installation, the cruising range of the destroyer of Project 956 seriously fell - less than 4000 miles with an 18-knot stroke (for comparison: for the BOD Project 1134-B, this figure was 7000 miles). But the most unpleasant feature of the pr.956 power plant is the considerable time required to start it. The destroyer needs 1, 5 hours to give full speed from a cold state. The best foreign gas turbine plants (the same American LM2500, for example) need 15-20 minutes for this.
All weapons and modern destroyer systems of the "Sovremennye" type and the "Udaloy" type BODs could be successfully deployed on the BOD pr. 1134-B during modernization or immediately during the construction of new units of the series. Confirmation of my words can be the installation of the S-300F anti-aircraft complex on the Azov BPK instead of the Shtorm aft air defense system. "Azov" became the only ship in the world with three types of air defense systems on board - a dubious achievement, but it shows the modernization capabilities of pr. 1134-B.
Outcomes
The Soviet Navy became famous for the mass of ridiculous decisions. For example, why were the old troughs of pr. 35, 159, 68-bis, obsolete destroyers of pr. 56, as well as post-war diesel submarines kept (however, it is clear why - for the sake of full-time, and, consequently, admiral's posts). All this rubbish ate a lot of money and material resources, but did not solve a single problem in the mid-70s, because according to his performance characteristics he could not do anything …
