This year turned out to be extremely full of high-profile events in the field of shipbuilding: it is important to sway on the wave, several large combat units set foot on the sea surface at once. Each of these ships has its own scandalous story. All of them mark the next generation of the fleet - a change in the entire previous paradigm and a transition to new concepts of the use of naval forces.
For example, over the past 10 months, the ship composition of the Russian Navy has been replenished with a new-generation missile corvette "Boyky". In September in St. Petersburg was launched "Yuri Ivanov" - a large reconnaissance ship (communication vessel), project 18280. A little earlier, in the summer, the frigate "Admiral Butakov" was laid down at the Yantar shipyard in Kaliningrad. On November 8, 2013, he completed the stage of state tests of the K-550 "Alexander Nevsky" - a strategic missile submarine, built according to the new project 955A "Borey". And somewhere on the other end of Europe, in France, the hull of the Vladivostok helicopter carrier for the Russian Pacific Fleet was launched.
Needless to say, a lot has been done! And more things are planned for the future …
But this is with us … And what about the overseas comrades? How is the mighty American navy, which costs more than all the other fleets in the world put together? What are the colossal funds spent on? Are the Yankees building a starship in secret from everyone?
It turns out not. The starship was never built, but in 2013 a warship appeared, outwardly similar to the Cheops pyramid.
October 29, 2013 at Bath Iron Works, Maine The destroyer USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) was launched. The stealth ship, which has been so much talked about for 10 years, finally ceased to be science fiction and became a reality in the form of a 14,500-ton steel monster with missiles and large-caliber artillery.
The Zamvolt is positioned by the Pentagon as a counter-terrorist ship designed to strike at the coast. Like a ghostly shadow, he will move along the coast of the enemy, "watering" bases, ports and coastal cities with a shower of six-inch shells and cruise missiles "Tomahawk".
An unusual pyramidal setting, a breakwater nose, "heaped up" inside the side, aft, completely given over to the helipad. AN / SPY-3 radar with three active HEADLIGHTS, 80 peripheral launchers (80 Tomahawks or up to 320 ESSM anti-aircraft missiles), and most importantly - two 155 mm Advanced Gun System naval guns with an estimated firing range of 80 miles (150 km). Ammunition - 920 "conventional" and active-rocket projectiles. Thanks to high automation and efficient barrel cooling, the efficiency of two naval AGS is equivalent to 12 land howitzers of the same caliber.
Pentagon officials stress that the destructive power of the new Zamvolt will be similar to the battleships of World War II.
On September 27, 2013, another remarkable event took place - Austal shipyard delivered to the customer the fourth coastal combat ship (Littoral Combat Ship) - USS Coronado (LCS-4).
Fantastic trimaran with a total displacement of 3100 tons, capable of traveling at speeds in excess of 40 knots.
Sister Spike Coronado - USS Independence (LCS-2)
The LCS concept implied the creation of a universal ship with a shallow draft, combining the functions of a patrol ship, a corvette, a submarine hunter, a mine-sweeping ship, and
an amphibious assault vehicle and a transport platform for fast transportation of goods in zones of military conflicts.
The entire aft part is occupied by a spacious helipad, the built-in hangar is designed for the basing of two SeaHawk helicopters. The scope of the LCS has been expanded with the help of sets of replaceable modules (first of all, detection means), created for specific tasks, as well as the possibility of basing various UAVs, submarine and underwater unmanned vehicles on board the LCS.
Launched in 2012, the Coronado could not pass state tests for a whole year: twice a fire broke out in the engine room, and cracks appeared in the hull at full speed. Finally, "Coronado" is still brought to mind. Final acceptance into service with the US Navy is scheduled for April 2014.
Another alarming event that went unnoticed by the general public took place on May 14, 2013: the Maritime Transportation Command The USNS Monford Point (T-MLP-1) was accepted. It looks like a slow-moving clumsy barge, reminiscent of a semi-submerged ship, with an empty displacement of 34,000 tons. Indeed, from a technical point of view - this is an ordinary tanker of the "Alaska" type with cut-out tanks.
But the first impression is deceiving. "Monford Point" seems harmless exactly until the purpose of this hellish machine becomes known. The Yankees themselves are much more willing to talk about aircraft carriers, destroyers, and universal amphibious assault ships than about the special equipment of the Marine Transportation Command. It is not supposed to advertise such things.
Monford Point is classified as an MLP - Mobile Landing Platform (transfer terminal and floating base for landing craft). During the landing, she occupies a position at a distance of several tens (hundreds) of kilometers from the enemy coast, to her side to side moored side to side a 60 thousand ton ro-ro-container ship with parts of the 3rd armored division of the US Army. The tanks carefully descend on their own along the ramp to the MLP deck, then they are loaded onto the landing craft - and forward into battle!
The use of "Monford Point" allows you to dramatically increase the intensity of the landing, directly engaging the high-speed Ro-ro Roers and Military Sealift Command container ships. There is a possibility of fast delivery of bulky cargo and heavy armored vehicles to the shore.
That's what MLP Monford Point is. And that's why he's so dangerous.
The fourth ship worth mentioning in today's review is multipurpose nuclear submarine USS Minnesota (SSN-783), transferred to the US Navy on September 7, 2013, 11 months ahead of schedule. Virginia-class silent underwater assassin (Series II).
… The boat is approaching the theater of operations at a speed of 500 miles a day, but none of the opponents even suspects how close it is to its target. Oxygen and fresh water "Minnesota" extracts from sea water, and its sonar complex is able to track the movement of ships on the other side of the ocean. A system of insulated decks, an S9G reactor that does not require recharging for 30 years, a multifunctional mast with television cameras and thermal imagers, instead of the usual periscope: Minnesota is quite remarkable from a technical point of view. One of the most advanced boats in the world today.
Mine and torpedo weapons, 12 mines for launching Tomahawks, an airlock for the exit of combat swimmers, unmanned underwater vehicles - boats of the Virginia type were created as a response to the threats of the new millennium. The main tasks: naval reconnaissance and observation of the enemy's coast, participation in local operations, the landing of sabotage groups, the delivery of cruise missile strikes against coastal targets.
In early November, information slipped through the media about the laying of the missile destroyer USS John Finn (DDG-113) at the shipyard in Pascagoul. The event did not generate much excitement - a typical Orly Burke class IIA destroyer. In addition to strike and defensive (air defense / anti-aircraft defense) functions, "Finn" will specialize in solving national missile defense missions and conducting convoys through mine-saturated sea areas. The only small feature of the new destroyer is that the Finn plans to become the first US Navy ship equipped, in addition to the standard PAZ, with a biological weapons defense system.
USS Arlington (LPD-24)
The ceremony was held no less quietly and unnoticed in February 2013 the commissioning of the USS Arlington (LPD-24) amphibious transport dock. The eighth ship of the "San Antonio" class, designed to transport the expeditionary group of the Marine Corps to the other end of the Earth. 22 thousand tons of full displacement, 350 crew members, up to 700 marines. The ship's equipment also includes 2 hovercraft, 4 helicopters and light defensive weapons.
Now is the time to announce the details of two major projects that became known last week:
November 5, 2013 began testing the universal amphibious assault helicopter carrier USS America (LHA-6) … The head UDKV class of the same name, with a continuous flight deck - outwardly similar to the plump Mistral.
USS America (LHA-6)
The helicopter carrier with a displacement of 45 thousand tons, by a strange coincidence, appeared in public WITHOUT a stern docking camera. As the designers explained, the space was given for the expansion of the air group (however, they promise to return the docking camera on subsequent ships). As a result, "America" lost the ability to land even trucks and light armored vehicles - the only opportunity for the delivery of personnel - 12 MV-22 Osprey convertiplanes and four heavy CH-53E helicopters. In addition, the UDKV air wing will include six F-35B fighters, seven Super Cobra attack helicopters and a pair of Pave Hawk search and rescue helicopters.
The creators of "America" claim that, if necessary, their waterfaring miracle can be used as a light aircraft carrier (up to 20 VTOL F-35B), but, alas, the situation is too obvious: this time the Americans built nonsense.
Even despite the absence of any technical refinements, a stern docking camera and the unification of 45% of the nodes with the UDC of the previous project ("Wasp"), the cost of building "America" flew to the American taxpayers at 3.4 billion dollars. For comparison, the odious Mistral "Cost the Russian Navy at less than $ 1 billion per unit. But who dares to assert that the amphibious capabilities of the "America" are three times higher than that of the "Mistral"? This is an ineffective waste of funds. Using America as a light aircraft carrier is also a futile idea. Where even the powerful Nimitz cannot cope, this half-aircraft carrier with 20 F-35B verticals means NOTHING.
At the same time, the very fact of building such a large and complex ship testifies to the great potential of American industry.
Finally, the final chord of the 2013 American shipbuilding program.
November 9 at the Northrop Grumman shipyard in Newport News on the water the next generation strike aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) was launched.
The 112,000-ton Leviathan, the construction of which cost the Pentagon $ 12.8 billion (another $ 4.7 billion was spent on R&D). Gerald Ford is considered to be the largest, most expensive and complex ship in the history of mankind.
EMALS electromagnetic catapults and AAG electromagnetic aerofinishers, a nuclear power plant based on A1B reactors, capable of operating without recharging for 50 years, dual-band radar with AFAR, PAWDS plasma waste incineration system (Yankees burn in literal and figurative sense), increased automation, which allowed reduce the crew to 3200 sailors - by 800 people. less than on aircraft carriers of the "Nimitz" type … In the long term, the ship is planned to be equipped with combat lasers, dynamic protection and other promising models of energy weapons - the new American aircraft carrier risks becoming a powerful demonstrator of modern developments in the field of electronics, shipbuilding, nuclear energy and other related fields science and technology.
Although there are those who treat the newest supership with some skepticism, and believe that the supercarrier "Ford" has turned into a parody of their illustrious ancestors, such as the aircraft carriers of the Second World War "Lexington" and "Saratoga".
The Nimitz-class carriers can generate approximately 120 sorties a day. Ford-class carriers, with the new electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS), are projected to launch around 160 sorties per day, a 33 percent increase in launch capacity. This seems very impressive until one realizes that the USS George H. W. Bush, the last Nimitz carrier, cost $ 7 billion and the USS Gerald R. Ford is coming in at $ 13.5 billion. In the end, the nation is paying nearly 94 percent more for a carrier that can only do 33 percent more work
"Aircraft carriers of the" Nimitz "type are capable of providing 120 sorties per day, the new" wunderwolf "with the help of its electromagnetic catapults is capable of lifting up to 160 aircraft into the air. The last of the Nimitzes cost us almost $ 7 billion. The estimated cost of building a new Ford is $ 13.5 billion. As a result, the nation is forced to pay twice as much for a "wunderwaffe" that can do only a third more work. " rear admirals of the US Navy William Moran and Thomas Moore are outraged.
The admirals' views are shared by retired US Navy Captain Ed McNamey, and US Navy Captain Henry D. Hendrix, an analyst at the Center for American Security. Carrier ships have become irrelevant and ineffective. Ford is nothing more than an expensive toy designed to please the industrial and military lobby. Without him, many high-ranking Pentagon officers will lose their jobs, and industrial magnates will be left without orders.
The logic of equipping an aircraft carrier with an expensive superradar DBR is not entirely clear - a system consisting of a survey radar of the decimeter range and an AN / SPY-3 centimeter radar with active HEADLIGHTS (as on the destroyer Zamvolt). An aircraft carrier is not an air defense destroyer, but just a floating airfield, which is covered by a whole squadron of cruisers and destroyers. He has only primitive air defense systems. Even having discovered an enemy missile, he is unlikely to have enough strength to intercept it. We can only hope for the escort destroyers.
The AN / SPY-3 capabilities will remain unclaimed. As, incidentally, the aircraft carrier "Gerald R. Ford" itself: over the past 60 years there has not been a single operation in which these floating airfields would have been in any way useful.
Small photo gallery:
Littoral warship
Ceremony of laying down the destroyer USS John Finn (DDG-113)
This is how the built "John Finn" will look like this (pictured - USS Spruance (DDG-111)
Landing transport dock (LPD) type "San Antonio"
MLP platform at work
And here is the fast ro-ro roater, chock-full of tanks - USNS Sisler (T-ARK-311)
The cabin of the destroyer "Zamvolt", December last year
Submarine USS Minnesota (SSN-783) en route to Norfolk, September 2013
