This material is the final part of the discussion of A. Nikolsky's article "The Russian fleet goes under water." In his desire to prove that AUG is the best and most effective form of fleet organization, A. Nikolsky raised a number of interesting questions, but, alas, gave rather strange answers to them. This time we will try to look at the situation from a different angle and assess how high the survivability of an aircraft carrier ship is, and how difficult it is to build such a ship.
It took up to 30 hits from Granit missiles to sink an American aircraft carrier
I am afraid that 30 hits of Granites with conventional warheads will not be enough to sink the Nimitz.
The island superstructure will fall off, the decks will swell from the intolerable heat, everything that can burn will burn, and not a single living person will remain from the crew, but the radioactive charred box will still rise above the water, tilting slightly to the port side.
100,000-ton Leviathans have a colossal buoyancy reserve - you can hammer their side above the waterline as much as you like, but they will start sinking only when they receive significant damage to the underwater part of the hull. During World War II, the ruins of aircraft carriers that were burnt down and left by the crews drifted for another day, until they were finished off by submarines and their own escort (for example, the death of the aircraft carriers Yorktown and Hornet).
it took 10 - 12 to disable it.
… let's take as an average 25 Onyx hits to disable an aircraft carrier.
Senator John McCain looked sadly at the number "25" and thought about something
- How much explosive contains every Onix's warhead?
- The mass of the warhead is 250 kg, of which about half is explosive. Plus a hundred liters of unburned T-6 kerosene and the kinetic energy of parts of a rocket that hit the ship at three speeds of sound.
- Sounds bad …
What's the fun there? Again this McCain smoked in the wrong place!
The next flight is delayed. For a long time
Oooh, tomorrow this place will hurt!
Poor fellow. Probably, it got 10 Granit anti-ship missiles …
They say that scars adorn
In his youth, Senator McCain witnessed (according to the popular version - the culprit) of a terrible fire on the aircraft carrier Forrestal: a 127-mm Zuni rocket spontaneously launched from one of the aircraft, striking an attack aircraft standing opposite, fully fueled and prepared for departure. The fuse stopped the explosion, but fuel poured out of the torn up tank of the Skyhawk, immediately ignited by the red-hot debris of the rocket.
A firestorm engulfed the entire stern of the ship. Explosions of fuel tanks, fireworks of detonating bombs … Wounded by shrapnel in the head, legs and chest, McCain crawled with the last of his strength on the sooty deck - just to get away from the burning kerosene lava. We can say he was lucky. But 134 of his colleagues were less fortunate - they all burned down and suffocated in the smoke.
The fire on board the Forrestal raged for three hours (strong smoke from the interior, which made the combat posts on the lower decks unsuitable for service, continued for another 14 hours). 21 burning aircraft were thrown overboard, several dozen cars were damaged. The aircraft carrier temporarily lost its speed, completely lost its combat capability and the ability to perform any tasks. Two days later, the Forrestal's burnt box moored in exhaustion at a base in the Philippines. The refurbishment was estimated at a quarter of the cost of building a new aircraft carrier.
This is what a single unexploded Zuni did, accidentally flying across the deck of the Forrestal!
Floating airfields have extremely low resistance to combat damage. Crowded aircraft, refueled tanks and ammunition - all these fire-hazardous things are neatly placed on the upper (flight) deck, where they are devoid of any constructive protection. The slightest splinter, a spark - and a fiery hell begins.
The Yankees introduced draconian security measures, took away matches and lighters from the entire crew, and, on pain of death, forbade to remove the fuses from the bombs before the plane moved to the launch catapult. A forced irrigation system for the flight deck was urgently developed - when activated, the Nimitz turns into Niagara Falls. Fire shutters, an advanced fire extinguishing system on the hangar deck, armored tractors capable of quickly pushing an emergency aircraft overboard. Improving the reliability and quality of ammunition manufacturing. Regular training of personnel (the second specialty of an American sailor is a firefighter).
The measures taken turned out to be effective: over the past 45 years, there has not been a single destructive fire on board US Navy aircraft carriers. Even the most serious accidents (a collision of aircraft on the deck of the AV Nimitz, 1981 or a jammed descent of an aircraft cannon on board the same AB, 1988) did without catastrophic losses: the fire was quickly localized, the wing lost a couple of dozen aircraft, but the ship itself did not receive significant damage.
This will be a fire show!
But no amount of fire brigades and deck irrigation systems will save the Nimitz. when detonating hundreds of kilograms of brizant on the flight deck. The blast wave, debris and hot products of the explosion will completely burn out all nearby spotting with aircraft. In a crowded arrangement of aircraft, the entire deck in an instant will turn into a sea of raging fire and a shapeless heap of wreckage of Hornets, Prowlers and Hawkeys.
Will the deck surface be able to maintain its working condition, or will it be punched in 9 places, as happened on the Forrestal? Will catapults, aerofinishers, airplane lifts and ammunition elevators, deflectors, fuel dispensers and an optical landing aid system (a system of lanterns with a low beam angle) be able to survive?
The situation with the explosion of the Onyx (or Caliber) warhead on the hangar deck looks no less creepy (a missile can pierce the deck, side, or fly through the openings of aircraft lifts) - an explosion in a confined space will instantly destroy the aircraft standing inside. As for the fire extinguishing systems, an explosion and fragments will blow away all the blinds, tear out pipelines, sensors and nozzles, which is called "with meat". The electric light goes out. Kerosene will pour out of the torn pipelines - the fire will spread dashingly along the gallery and the third deck …
Will the Yankees be able to save the ship, or will they be forced to remove the crew and sink the damaged Nimitz? Everything will depend on the specific situation: What is the probability of a repetition of enemy attacks? Was the aircraft carrier able to keep going? How does the reactor feel? Did you manage to localize the fires and avoid catastrophic explosions of fuel storage and ammunition?
Most likely, the answer to all questions is yes. Even the most powerful and destructive of modern anti-ship missiles succumb to numerous armored bulkheads and inert gas cofferdams. This "floating island" is too large to be destroyed with conventional weapons that do not damage the underwater part of the hull.
We will not be able to get to the reactors and ammunition storage facilities, but a single hit from an anti-ship missile system with a high probability will disable the AV - everything will happen as on the Enterprise: six decks, the rooms of the air-controllers, the optical signaling system, the self-defense air defense system will burn out,several dozen aircraft - the aircraft carrier will lose the ability to use the air wing and completely lose its combat effectiveness. …
The enemy ship is no longer able to complete the assigned mission. It is badly damaged and will not return to service soon. Isn't it a great result?
And if he dares to return to the shores of Europe, he will receive a new portion of change.
Burnt feed of AV Enterprise. The damage caused and the condition of the ship are visible to the naked eye.
And, consequently, the missiles will hit the aircraft carrier point-wise: one - into the room of the aerofinishers and four more - at the catapults. Total: only five "Onyxes" - and "Nimitz" is unarmed. Well, if you are shooting at a Chinese frigate, or even better at an Afghan village, then you can not only get into an aerofinisher, you can also hit a window
A. Nikolsky is wrong to be ironic about high-precision weapons. The Japanese kamikazes similarly planned to destroy the Essex with well-aimed ramming strikes into the elevators and superstructure, however, in practice, it turned out that one strike on the deck crowded with aircraft was enough to cause a disaster.
The only thing that is remarkable in this story is the flight profile on the final leg of the trajectory. In view of the specific layout of aircraft carrier ships, the most logical is the attack algorithm implemented in the American anti-ship missile "Harpoon" - when approaching the target, the missile makes a "slide" and, like a fiery meteorite, falls on the deck of the ship.
Since 2006, the American aircraft carrier's wing has included up to 60 F / A-18E Super Hornets, performing equally well as attack and fighter roles.
It is probably worth noting that the Carrier and Air Wing are two independent quantities that exist separately from each other.
"Air wing" is the organizational and staff unit of the US Navy, indicating the number of aircraft assigned to the "Nimitz", and has little to do with the number of aircraft DIRECTLY aboard the ship. If you load all of these 80-90 vehicles on board, they will tightly block the decks, elevators, catapults and the runway, as a result, the Nimitz will turn into a non-combatable aircraft, and the aircraft locked in the hangar - into useless ballast.
The Yankees act wisely: on board the Nimitz, depending on the situation and climatic conditions, there are no more than 50-60 units of aircraft (fighters, AWACS, electronic warfare, PLO, helicopters). The rest are scattered over the nearest air bases in the allied countries of the United States in readiness No. 1, in order to report to the ship at the first call (compensation for combat losses, re-arrangement of the air group depending on the changed conditions, etc.).
AUG can be constantly covered by four loitering F / A-18E. Each Super Hornet carries 10 AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles and is capable of shooting down 5-6 Onyxes. Total: AUG air patrol will shoot down 22 Onyx.
1. It is highly unlikely that 35-40 F / A-18Es will be able to provide a round-the-clock air patrol of four fighters for at least one week. A modern jet is not a kite. Dozens of man-hours of maintenance are required for each hour of flight, and the degree of operational readiness of aviation units, as a rule, is far from 100%.
2. The flight time of the Kalibr anti-ship missile system is no more than two minutes.
There is no need to launch missiles at maximum range. Despite all the objections of skeptics, there is a lot of reliable evidence of a breakthrough PLO AUG by submarines from different countries. Submarine carriers "Caliber" have high chances to approach the AUG at 50 km, having the opportunity to clarify the position of the enemy with the help of their own hydroacoustic means, and then shoot him at close range.
Just two minutes … How big is the chance that a combat air patrol (AWACS aircraft + Hornets) will be near the launch site of the anti-ship missile system, and not two hundred miles to the north?
Low-flying anti-ship missiles are extremely difficult to detect objects. Their small size, against the background of the underlying water, which in itself is a wonderful reflector - there is no reason to even hope that the Hawkai radar will be able to detect them a hundred miles away. Further, the reaction time of the fighters - they need to turn around and take the required position in space, detect and take on the accompaniment of low-flying anti-ship missiles. Finally, the AIM-120 missiles need time to reach the target, which by that time can already separate the warhead and go to supersonic (2, 9 M).
Enemy aircraft is completely ineffective in intercepting submarine-based anti-ship missiles.
"As of the mid-1980s, the cost of one project 949A boat was 226 million rubles, which at par was equal to only 10% of the cost of the multipurpose aircraft carrier Roosevelt ($ 2.3 billion excluding the cost of its aircraft wing)" …
Example: the cost of the last "Nimitz" - "George Bush" 6, 2 billion dollars (2009), and the cost, according to the contract, of the second boat of project 885 "Kazan" - 47 billion rubles, or 1.45 billion rubles. Doll.
The question of the peculiarities of pricing in different countries and the comparison of the cost of ships in different periods of time is worthy of a whole dissertation. The "sausage method" (comparing photos of store windows), the US inflation calculator, the salary method - the funniest thing, every time you get a different result that does not fit well with what we see today.
The figure of 226 million Soviet rubles is quite common, but one paradox arises: the frigates of the Oliver H. Perry type being built at the same time cost the Pentagon $ 194 million apiece. How did a small primitive frigate with a total weight of / and 4500 tons cost almost the same as a Soviet super-rover with two YSUs and 24 Granit missiles (surface warhead and "baton" 14 700 tons) ?? And this is without taking into account the exchange rate of the ruble against the dollar (the official exchange rate of 60 kopecks for $ 1 is not an indicator here: the real exchange rate was known on the “black market” - 1: 4). It turns out that the project 949A boat cost in dollars … 56 million - cheaper than another ore carrier! Absurd.
There is only one explanation - the figure 226 million is incorrect. The author believes that the costs of building a Soviet boat were "scattered" across dozens of ministries and departments, as a result, the real cost of the "loaf" could exceed a billion full-weight Soviet rubles.
But one thing is certain - the Soviet Navy was much smaller, simpler and cheaper than the American fleet. At the same time, he brilliantly coped with local conflicts, and in the event of a global war, he had every chance of success in a direct confrontation with the AUGs of the “potential adversary”.
Nowadays. The declared cost of the project 885 Yasen multipurpose submarine was 47 billion rubles. or 1, 45 billion dollars. Perhaps, its final cost, after fine-tuning and carrying out all the tests, will increase even more and reach 2 billion green bills. In general, this is in line with international standards. The lower wages of Sevmash workers, in comparison with Newport News Shipbuilding, are more than compensated by the greed of individuals - if the boat were built in America, it would have come out at about the same price ($ 2 billion). This is three times cheaper than the construction of the aircraft carrier "George Bush".
But, as is often the case, the cost of the product itself is a trifle compared to the cost of its operation. The life cycle of the Nimitz is estimated at $ 30-40 billion (excluding the wing). Why so much? The picture will explain a lot:
The smallest in the picture is a diesel-electric submarine of the "Varshavyanka" type. But, despite its modest size, it is capable of throwing a flock of cruise missiles at the AUG. The second "baby" is nothing more than the SSBN pr.941 "Akula" - the largest submarine in the history of Mankind. The dimensions of the aircraft carriers are simply appalling. Everything on the same scale
Fantastic "floating city" with irrational dimensions. Crew - 3200 people. (+ 2500 air wing). For comparison: the crew of the submarine "Ash" - 90 sailors.
An aircraft carrier is not just a big barge. These are tens of thousands of kilometers of cables and pipelines, four super catapults that accelerate a 20-ton aircraft in a matter of seconds to a speed of 200 km / h. The complexity of construction and operation is exacerbated by the inadequate dimensions of all parts and systems. Nuclear production plant, aircraft lifts, numerous fuel pumps, highways and fire safety systems, arsenals with a capacity of 2,000 tons of bombs … Did you know that under the flight deck of the Nimitz there is a dense network of pipelines for the water cooling system - otherwise, the deck will glow red hot from the exhaust of jet engines … And there are two football fields on the square! Now estimate the complexity of the service …
In short … the sub is cheaper. An order of magnitude.
Five aircraft carriers are five AUGs, of which four may be in combat during a threatening period.
I have to upset A. Nikolsky. To ensure the operational readiness of the formation of four AB, it will be necessary to build 6-8 aircraft carrier ships. It is enough to trace the combat path of any "Nimitz" or French AV "Charles de Gaulle" to understand that these giants spend about half of their lives at the docks and at the walls of the shipyard, undergoing current, medium, overhaul, dock, preventive or emergency repairs. followed by factory running tests.
Four AUGs are 250-270 multirole fighters. This amount is enough to gain air supremacy over most countries in the world. Only a limited circle of great countries and Israel can not be afraid of such power.
Firstly, not 250-270, but only 150.
Secondly, this amount is NOT ENOUGH for any modern local operation.
- "Desert Storm" - 2600 combat aircraft and combat support aircraft. 70,000 sorties. The contribution of carrier-based aircraft (6 AUG) - 17%;
- Yugoslavia - 1000 units of aircraft. 35,000 sorties. The contribution of carrier-based aircraft is 10%.
Draw your own conclusions.
