The revival of the USSR Navy is directly related to the events of the winter of 1955-1956. - the rapid resignation of Admiral N. G. Kuznetsov, with the subsequent assumption of the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Sergei Georgievich Gorshkov. The new commander-in-chief has chosen a firm course towards the creation of an ocean-going nuclear missile fleet. For the first time since the beginning of the twentieth century, our sailors managed to declare themselves far from their native shores.
From the high arctic latitudes to the warm Indian Ocean, Admiral Gorshkov's ambitions grew in proportion to the ambitions of the Soviet Union. The growing importance of the fleet as an instrument of geopolitical influence, coupled with rapid scientific and technological progress, allowed Gorshkov to "knock out" funds for the creation of extreme models of naval weapons. The Soviet commander-in-chief seriously hoped to become the master of the five oceans!
Already in the first half of the 60s, the design of ocean surface ships with nuclear power plants began in our country: heavy aircraft-carrying cruisers, missile cruisers and anti-submarine ships. Since the 70s, their active incarnation "into metal" began. If everything worked out as planned by Gorshkov, by the end of the century we would have a squadron that has no equal in terms of combat power.
Heavy nuclear-powered aircraft carrier "Ulyanovsk" (project 1143.7)
The first Soviet ship of this type and the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier laid down outside the United States. Even now, despite all its obvious weaknesses and atavisms of construction, the project 1143.7 inspires respect for its huge size and stately, majestic silhouette.
Of course, "Ulyanovsk" was inferior to its main and only rival - the American aircraft carrier of the "Nimitz" class. The domestic aircraft carrier had a quarter less displacement, carried a smaller air wing and had more cramped conditions for basing aircraft. There are only two launch catapults - versus four at the Nimitz, three aircraft lifts instead of four, and a smaller hangar (by almost 1000 square meters).
The missing catapults were partially compensated by a bow springboard with two starting positions. This decision saved millions of Soviet rubles, but caused new difficulties. Only aircraft with a very high thrust-to-weight ratio can take off from a springboard - but even for powerful 4th generation fighters, such a trick is fraught with severe take-off weight and combat load limitations. Finally, the springboard made the entire bow of the ship unsuitable for aircraft parking.
The decision to place 12 heavy anti-ship missiles P-700 "Granit" on the aircraft carrier looks quite senseless - the below-deck launch complex for 7-ton missiles "ate" precious space and reduced an already small hangar. An additional link of the Sukikhs would be much more useful than these huge disposable “blanks” over 10 meters long.
Opened launchers P-700 "Granit" on the aircraft carrier "Admiral Kuznetsov"
But the "first pancake" was not "lumpy"! "Ulyanovsk" possessed a galaxy of remarkable advantages - like all Soviet aircraft-carrying cruisers, project 1143.7, excellent self-defense systems were inherent. 192 anti-aircraft missiles SAM "Dagger" + 8 SAM modules "Kortik" (however, it is also not worth overestimating the air defense system of "Ulyanovsk" - "Dagger" and "Kortik", this is the last echelon of defense, the maximum missile launch range does not exceed 12 km).
The complex of radio-technical means of detection, planned for installation at "Ulyanovsk", is a song! Radar "Mars-Passat" with four fixed HEADLIGHTS, additional long-range radar "Podberezovik", a pair of radars for detecting high-speed low-flying targets "Podkat" …
Such a multifunctional complex of radars promises to appear only on the new American aircraft carriers of the Ford class (there is no need to scoff at the problems with the capricious and unreliable Mars-Passat - the modern American Dual Band Radar is also far from reaching operational readiness).
According to widespread data, the composition of the Ulyanovsk air wing looked like this:
- 48 fighters MiG-29K and Su-33;
- 4 early warning aircraft Yak-44 ("flying radars", AWACS);
- up to 18 anti-submarine and search and rescue helicopters of the Ka-27 family.
In reality, such a number of aircraft was excluded. On board at the same time could be no more than half of the specified number of aircraft, otherwise the flight deck and hangar would have turned into an impassable warehouse of scrap metal (the same is true for the "Nimitz" with its 90 aircraft).
The Ulyanovsk air wing did not have a variety of attack aircraft, tankers and anti-submarine aircraft - only powerful fighters and AWACS. The Soviet lag in the field of naval aviation suddenly became an advantage!
As practice has shown, the strike capabilities of even the most powerful aircraft carrier are negligible. The only priority task of the "floating airfield" is the air cover of the squadron on the ocean communications. In matters of air combat, the Ulyanovsk air wing could give odds to the air wing of any Nimitz and Enterprise: the F / A-18S had no chance to resist the Su-33.
The finale was not fun. 4 years after the laying, the unfinished building of "Ulyanovsk" was dismantled for metal. As of the end of 1991, its readiness was estimated at 18.3%.
Heavy nuclear missile cruiser of project 1144 (code "Orlan")
Supercarrier needs a super escort! The task of the zonal air defense was assigned to the nuclear-powered Orlan with the "chilled" S-300 systems. In fact, this ship was created as an autonomous combat unit with a full range of strike and defensive weapons - the embodiment of the dream of an "ocean bandit" capable of dealing with any enemy.
The nuclear cruiser carried the full range of weapons of the USSR Navy, with the exception of ballistic missiles. At the time of the entry into service of the head "Kirov" (1980), many of its innovations had no analogues in the world: underdeck launchers, heavy supersonic anti-ship missiles, long-range anti-aircraft systems, advanced detection and fire control systems (which cost GAS "Polynom" or a radar ZR-41 "Volna" complex S-300F), the system for receiving target designation from satellites MKRTs, armored belts and horizontal protection … The creators of the "Orlan" despised any compromises and selected only the best technologies for their ship.
"Eagles" turned out to be huge, complex and monstrously expensive ships: with a length of a quarter of a kilometer and a total displacement of 26 thousand tons. Nevertheless, nuclear cruisers are the only component of the super-squad that has received a "start in life." In the period from 1973 to 1998, four such ships were built, each of which had noticeable differences in the composition of weapons and radio systems.
At the moment, two cruisers - "Admiral Ushakov" (formerly "Kirov") and "Admiral Lazarev" (formerly "Frunze") have been withdrawn from the fleet and laid down. Admiral Nakhimov (formerly Kalinin) is undergoing intensive modernization at Sevmash. The cruiser is scheduled to return to service in 2018. The fourth and most advanced "Orlan" - the flagship of the Northern Fleet "Peter the Great" regularly participates in long-distance ocean voyages, acting in the framework of the concept of "ship of superiority at sea".
Project 1199 large anti-submarine ship with a nuclear power plant (code "Anchar")
Perhaps the most mysterious element of the Soviet super-squadron is the nuclear anti-submarine ship guarded by the nuclear aircraft carriers of project 11437.
Work on "Anchar" has been carried out in the Northern Design Bureau since 1974, but the project of the atomic BOD was never implemented. The reason is the extremely high cost with unobvious advantages. The nuclear power plant has large weight and size characteristics and a higher cost compared to a conventional gas turbine. The complex design with several cooling circuits of the reactor and biological protection systems, fuel and further problems with its disposal - all this left a negative imprint on the size and cost of operating the Anchar itself.
According to the official TTZ from 1976, the standard displacement of an atomic BOD should not have exceeded 12 thousand tons. But even with this "limitation", the nuclear-powered anti-submarine ship turned out to be twice as large as a conventional BOD or a destroyer of that time!
Model of the nuclear-powered BOD "Anchar"
However, they did not abandon the usual power plant either: one of the priority options for the layout of the future BOD was a scheme with an economic propulsion system and afterburner gas turbines to accelerate the ship to speeds over 30 knots. It is easy to imagine how much this technical "misunderstanding" would have cost the budget!
However, the nuclear reactor was not the only "stone around the neck" of the Anchar project. Much more serious is the fact that the designers and developers deliberately did not seek to limit the displacement of their ship. As a result, the story with the "Orlans" was repeated - the "Anchar" received more and more new systems and weapons, which raised the cost of an already expensive BOD to the skies. The large anti-submarine ship turned into a multipurpose nuclear cruiser, more focused on performing air defense functions than on defending the formation from enemy submarines.
Standard displacement - 10,500 tons. Main dimensions: overall length - 188 m, width - 19 m. Main nuclear-gas turbine power plant (n / a): 2 VVR, 2 PPU, 2 GTZA, 2 reserve-afterburner gas turbines. The highest speed - 31 knots, autonomy - 30 days, crew - 300 … 350 people.
The armament was presented: 3 short / medium-range air defense systems "Uragan"; 8 supersonic anti-ship missiles "Moskit"; 5 combat modules ZRAK "Dirk"; automated twin AK-130 130 mm; 2 x RBU-6000; anti-submarine helicopter Ka-27.
As a result of all the discussions, it turned out that the Soviet Navy was not at all interested in atomic BODs. Sailors need "workhorses" - cheap BODs and destroyers suitable for large-scale construction.
It was not possible to saturate the ship's staff with super-expensive atomic BODs. And to include ships with conventional power plants in the escort forces of an aircraft carrier would practically mean to neutralize all the advantages of the Anchars in autonomy and high speed. Also, one should not forget that autonomy is limited not only by fuel supplies, but also by food supplies, ammunition, the reliability of mechanisms and the endurance of the ship's crew. In these parameters, "Anchar" had no advantages over a conventional destroyer.
On the basis of the research carried out, a purely gas turbine project BOD 11990 was developed. The rejection of the nuclear reactor made it possible to improve the combat qualities of the ship. The freed up space and load reserve was spent on the installation of more powerful weapons. Ultimately, the choice was still settled on a combined power plant: YAPPU + afterburner gas turbine engines.
The lead "Anchar" was planned to be laid at the Nikolaev Shipyard named after 61 Kommunara in the late 1980s. However, soon all work on the BOD was stopped, and the power plant already prepared for it, according to unconfirmed reports, was decided to be used to equip the Varyag missile cruiser under construction (project 1164). With the beginning of perestroika, it disappeared without a trace …
A note about "Anchar" in "Red Star"
