The Project 12061E (Murena-E) air cushion landing craft (DKVP), created by the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau, is practically the only Russian DKVP of small displacement currently available for construction and delivery abroad.
First there was "Squid"
"Murena-E" is a development of the project 1206 air-cushion landing craft line, carried out by the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau since the late sixties. Initially, Project 1206 DKVP (code "Kalmar") was developed as a high-speed landing craft for placement in the dock chamber of a large landing ship (BDK) of the 1st rank of Project 1174 (code "Rhino"). The project boat 1206 had a standard displacement of 70 tons, a total displacement of 113 tons, a maximum carrying capacity of 37 tons (which made it possible to deliver a tank of a similar weight to the shore).
Since the maximum length of this DKVP was 24.6 meters, and the width was 10.6 meters, there could be three such boats in the Rhino dock chamber 75 meters long and 12.2 meters wide. The main power plant of "Kalmar" included two gas turbines M-70 with a total capacity of 20 thousand horsepower, with each turbine operating both for one propeller and for one lifting fan for the air cushion. This provided the DKVP with a maximum speed with full load of up to 55 knots. True, the cruising range at this speed did not exceed 100 miles.
A feature of the architecture of the project 1206 boat was the presence of a completely closed hold (in contrast to American counterparts). However, initially the "Kalmar" was supposed to have an open hold. However, the reduction at the design stage of the previously planned dimensions of the DKVP (so that not two, but three boats were placed in the dock chamber of project 1174) led to the decision to make its hull completely closed to reduce splashing with the adopted layout and power of the power plant.
In 1972-1973, two prototypes of the Kalmar were built at the Almaz production association in Leningrad, which were then transferred to trial operation. Upon completion of their tests, 18 serial boats of project 1206 were built in 1977-1985 at PO "More" in Feodosia. Due to the fact that the Project 1174 landing ships were practically not operated after 1991, the Kalamars in the post-Soviet period also lost their value in the eyes of the Russian Navy command and were written off since 1992 (the last such DKVP was included in the Caspian Flotilla until 2006).
By the way, on the basis of the project 1206 TsMKB "Almaz", an artillery hovercraft of the project 1238 (code "Kasatka"), built in one copy in 1982, as well as a road minesweeper on an air cushion of project 1206T (two units were built in 1984– 1985). But both of these types have remained experimental.
Unclaimed in his homeland
Meanwhile, it was decided that for the Project 11780 universal amphibious assault ship, which had been designed since the seventies by the Nevsky Design Bureau, a modified version of the Kalmar with an increased carrying capacity was needed. He received the designation project 12061 (code "Murena"). The tactical and technical assignment for the development of the Murena was issued by the Almaz Central Design Bureau in 1979. The chief designer was at first Yu. M. Mokhov, who created the boat of project 1206, and then - Yu. P. Semenov.
The main difference between the DKVP project 12061 from its predecessor was the increased carrying capacity of 43 tons, which made it possible to transport modern Soviet tanks. Like the boat of project 1206, "Murena" is also capable of transporting two infantry fighting vehicles, or two armored personnel carriers, or up to 130 troops. Accordingly, the standard displacement of the new DKVP reached 104, and the total displacement - 150 tons. While maintaining the same power plant, the boat can reach speeds of up to 55 knots, while the cruising range has doubled - up to 200 miles. The boat is 31 meters long and 12.9 meters wide.
Another feature of the DKVP project 12061 is the significantly increased armament. Whereas the Kalmar had one twin 12.7 mm Utes-M machine-gun mount, the Murena received two 30-mm six-barreled AK-306 artillery mounts and two 30-mm BP-30 Flame automatic grenade launchers. Also included in the armament kit are Igla MANPADS. The boat can be used for the use of mine weapons, receiving a set of portable devices for setting from 10 to 24 minutes, depending on their type. The number of the crew of the project 12061 DKVP has doubled - up to 12 people.
Murena was equipped with more advanced radio equipment, including the Ekran-1 navigation radar and a complex of navigation aids.
From 1985 to 1992, the Khabarovsk Shipyard named after the 60th anniversary of the USSR handed over to the Navy eight boats of Project 12061. Due to the fact that before the collapse of the USSR, no universal landing ship of Project 11780 was laid down, further construction of boats of Project 12061 lost its meaning and was curtailed.
All eight ready-made "Muren" became part of the division of river ships of the Pacific Fleet based on the Amur (that is, in fact, the Amur flotilla), and in 1994, together with the entire division of the DCVP, were transferred to the Federal Border Service. However, the boats were not used by the guards of the sea lines. One of them was written off in 1996 due to damage sustained in an accident that occurred four years earlier. The rest of the Murena were soon put on hold. In 2004, five DKVPs were also decommissioned and then disposed of.
Two more boats remain in storage in Khabarovsk. At the same time, one of these "Muren", after partial repairs, was used to train South Korean crews.
Since the nineties, the export version of this project, called 12061E ("Murena-E"), has been offered to Moscow's partners in military-technical cooperation. The first customer was South Korea, which signed a $ 100 million contract with Rosoboronexport in May 2002 for the construction of three boats at the Khabarovsk Shipyard OJSC as part of a program to repay the Russian debt to this state. Accordingly, Seoul paid only 50 percent of the agreed amount, and the remaining 50 percent was reimbursed to the enterprise from the budget of the Russian Federation and was recorded as repayment of debt to South Korea. The settlement of the last issue caused delays in the implementation of the contract, and three Mureny-E were built and handed over to the customer only in 2005-2006.
The 12061E variant differs from the basic project 12061 by the installation of modern digital navigation equipment, Western radio communications (they were already installed in South Korea), as well as the absence of BP-30 30-mm grenade launchers (due to the termination of their production). Presumably, the integrator of the new navigation system is Perm Scientific and Production Instrument Making Company (PNPPK, the former Perm Instrument Making Production Association).
In 2010, Rosoboronexport signed a contract for the supply of two Project 12061E boats for Kuwait. In the fall of 2010, it was reported that the agreement would enter into force in the near future. The construction of these "Mureny-E" will again be the JSC "Khabarovsk Shipbuilding Plant". The parameters of the contract are unknown, but it can be assumed that it was also signed as part of the settlement of the issue of the payment of a debt to Kuwait, left over from the Soviet Union, about which there were lengthy negotiations (according to the same scheme, the recent contract for the supply of a small additional batch of BMP-3).
In the same autumn of 2010, according to D. Litinsky, a representative of the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau, it became known that South Korea seemed to be willing to purchase several more boats of Project 12061E. As it was stated, “Rosoboronexport is currently negotiating this issue. Customer representatives want the new series to take into account their wishes, based on the operating experience of the first series. In particular, they offer to supply their own navigation equipment. We look forward to signing the contract within the next year."
Presumably, we are talking about the possible construction of three more "Muren-E" for South Korea.
Among other potential customers of this DKVP, with whom Rosoboronexport actively worked, promoting the boat, were named Venezuela and Malaysia. It is known that earlier "Murena-E" was offered to China.
Application in other quality
Evaluating the Project 12061E air cushion landing craft, it should be noted that it represents a very “niche” offer on the world market. The American analogue of "Murena-E" - DKVP LCAC - with similar dimensions surpasses it in carrying capacity (60 tons, and in overload - 75) and, in addition, more corresponds to the concept of "landing pontoon", having an open hold (cargo deck) and practically without carrying weapons. In addition, the Russian boat with a fully enclosed hull is overstated and, unlike the LCAC, cannot be accommodated in the dock chambers of most modern amphibious assault ships, which limits its use and potential sales.
Thus, "Murena-E" with a closed hold, enhanced armament, navigation equipment and the possibility of laying mines is not so much an amphibious assault vehicle as a multipurpose landing boat for autonomous operations in coastal waters, a kind of high-speed reincarnation of German "high-speed" amphibious assault barges from the Second World War. Therefore, project 12061E is actually positioned as a smaller version of the small amphibious assault ship on an air cushion of project 12322 (of the "Zubr" type), suitable, for example, for states that maintain a navy with a small number of ships or have a modest budget. This also predetermines the specifics of potential customers.
However, it should be noted that the real combat value of the DKVP - expensive to operate, vulnerable and possessing low combat stability - as boats for independent action is still debatable.
The same look of "Murena-E", in our opinion, closes the prospect for the data of the DKVP in the Russian Navy. The Russian Navy still does not show much interest in small combat assets of the "coastal war", and for placement in the dock chambers of the universal amphibious assault ships of the Mistral type purchased from France, the project 12061 boat does not fit in size and height. So for the Russian Mistrals it will be necessary to create a Russian LCAC. In view of this, the likelihood of ordering boats for the Russian Navy seems to be very low.
Potential foreign buyers of Muren-E may, first of all, be the fleets of countries interested in carrying out operations on rivers or in water areas at the "river-sea" junction (these include mainly the states of Latin America and Southeast Asia), as well as shallow coasts with extensive low-lying well-accessible shores (the countries of the Persian Gulf and North Africa) or skerry areas (the same Korea). However, the rather significant cost of purchasing and operating such DKVP, with their general exoticism as combat and landing vehicles, imposes significant resource constraints on the ability to purchase boats and narrows the circle of customers.
It is possible that Venezuela and Brazil will want to acquire Murey-E in Latin America, the United Arab Emirates and Algeria in the Middle East and North Africa, and Vietnam and Malaysia in Southeast Asia. True, in all cases it will most likely be about the supply of only small quantities of DKVP in several units.
In general, the specificity of the type of boat itself and the extreme narrowness of the world market for DKVP make any forecasting in this case very uncertain. In fact, this time not so much the product is a response to the challenge of the market, but the proposal itself forms the awareness of a certain need. Moreover, it is rather narrow, specialized and peripheral. Consequently, the purchase of such boats will inevitably be a rather exotic event (and it is no coincidence that it has been carried out so far as a partial cancellation of the debt).
