Russian and Ukrainian shipyards have many years of experience in design, construction and modernization of river warships of various classes and sizes. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, several hundred of these ships have been built on them - including gunboats, artillery armored boats, minesweepers and others. They adapted them to combat operations on the great Russian rivers, canals, large internal lakes and shallow areas of the sea, such as the Gulf of Finland - the water area is dotted with thousands of small islands and rocks. All these ships successfully passed the exam in real combat operations during the First World War, the Civil War, local conflicts in the Far East and the Second World War. The compact and versatile design, combined with powerful weaponry, is extremely effective when deploying your own army, in particular in the main directions of attack, such as during the Manchu operation in August 1945.
Rich traditions
In the post-war period on the territory of Ukraine, many ships were built at two shipyards - in Nikolaev and Kerch. After 1967, both shipyards made several series, a total of 120 armored boats of Project 1204 "Bumblebee". Initially, these boats were armed with one 76 mm short tank cannon installed in the turret of the PT-76 tank, and two 14.5 mm 2M6 machine guns located inside one turret. All boats of the Bumblebee project formed the backbone of the border troops of the KGB of the USSR in the 70s and 80s and were used on the Danube, Amu Darya, Amur, Ussuri and other rivers. Currently, a small number of these boats make up the fleet of Russian and Ukrainian border guards. The collapse of the USSR and the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact in the early 90s caused the suspension of all serious conceptual work on modern river vessels headed by the Marine Design Bureau in St. Petersburg.
After the proclamation of Ukraine's independence, all former Soviet shipyards and companies of the military-industrial complex were transferred to the new government in Kiev. The largest research and design center is located in Nikolaev. Currently, it is known under the name SRDSC (State Research & Design Shipbuilding Center, State Enterprise "Research and Design Center for Shipbuilding") and works at many shipyards, in particular, in Nikolaev, Kiev, Ochakov, Sevastopol, Feodosia and Kerch. Since 1992, SRDSC has prepared many projects for high-tech warships, including destroyers, frigates, corvettes, boats of the border troops, etc. Most of these projects have remained projects due to the chronic lack of funds in Ukraine. The enterprise has built only a relatively small number of very small vessels for domestic and foreign coast guard.
Several SRDSC projects were presented at the 1997 Defense Industry Exhibition in Kielce.
Later SRDSC presented two small boat projects, the first modernized and the second completely new.
The first project, named "Cayman 50", was an improved version of the 1204M project. This boat is powered by two new diesel engines, armed with two armored BMP turrets: on the nose of the vehicle - BMP-3, and in the stern - BMP-2.
The second project is called "Gyurza" (Desert Viper). This is a boat of a new generation, it is equipped with modern elements of stealth technology. The basis of its armament is also made up of turrets: from the BMP-2 on the bow and on the stern of the BTR-70/80.
According to reports, the government of Uzbekistan, which seeks to strengthen the protection of state borders, is showing the greatest interest in buying boats from these two projects. Initially, it was planned to purchase by the Uzbek Ministry of Defense, first of all, up to 10-15 Cayman boats of project 50, in order to strengthen the forces operating on the Amu Darya and Syrdarya rivers, as well as in the Aral Sea in the interior of the country. The lack of budgetary resources in Uzbekistan has led to a significant shift in the timing of the start of this ambitious program.
Only after the events of September 11, 2001, the military-political situation changed radically. Uzbekistan has become a member of a serious anti-terrorist coalition in the Central Asian region. The government in Tashkent in 2001-2002 received financial support from the United States totaling $ 215 million. Some of this amount was spent on the purchase of modern river boats, in this case, two armored artillery boats of the Gyurza project, which were designed to protect the Uzbek-Afghan border.
The contract between the government of Uzbekistan and the shipyard of JSC "Leninskaya Kuznya" (Kiev) was signed on June 29, 2003. At the end of October 2004, the first 2 boats on board the An-124 Ruslan transport aircraft were sent to Uzbekistan.
At the end of November 2004, both boats were tested and put into operation by the Uzbek border flotilla, numbered 01 and 02. Currently, both boats are in the Termez river port on the Amu Darya and carry out tasks to counter illegal migration, smuggling, etc.
The boat "Gyurza" has a very flat modern exterior architecture, using elements of stealth technology, such as a strong slope of the superstructure and walls on both sides, in the cross-section of the hull the boat has the shape of a flat hexagon. This results in a significant reduction in radar reflectivity. To reduce background heat, engine exhaust gases are discharged below the waterline. The entire hull was divided into six watertight compartments.
Inside the superstructure in the form of a truncated octagonal pyramid, there is a large wheelhouse with 13 bulletproof glass windows, and equipped with all the necessary means of navigation and communication. The boat is constructed from several basic materials, including:
• ship steel: boat bottom, transom, bulkheads and partially both sides, • multilayer, composite steel and aluminum armor, which cover all the walls of the superstructure and along the sides at the height of the combat and engine rooms (it protects only from 7.62 x 54R mm), • steel armored turrets, • lightweight aluminum alloy, from which masts and small items of equipment on board are made.
The boat "Gyurza" has a high degree of automation of the main hull systems. These systems include monitoring the watertightness of bulkheads and the presence of seawater in each compartment, an autonomous fire protection system and an internal television network (CCTV). An important role is also played by the filtration ventilation system, which allows operations to be carried out in areas contaminated with chemical weapons. Inside the bow of the hull are cabins for the entire crew, including a separate cabin for the commander.
The boat is powered by two Ukrainian-made marine diesel engines 459K (this is a marine version of the 6TD tank engine used on the T-80UD), developing a power of 735 kW each. Both 459K engines are remotely controlled directly from the wheelhouse.
The maximum speed of the boat reaches 28 knots (52 km / h), but its instantaneous speed can reach 30 knots (55 km / h) in calm water.
Internal fuel tanks hold approximately 5,000 kg of diesel fuel, allowing the boat to travel up to 540 miles (1,000 km) at an economical speed of 11 knots (20 km / h). Autonomous boat sailing is 5-7 days depending on fuel load, availability of water, food, etc.
Armament
Armament "Gyurza" is typical for all Russian river boats - a standard set of weapons, including turrets from infantry fighting vehicles, developed in the 1970-1980 years. This makes possible full compatibility with the ground forces, primarily in terms of the supply of ammunition, spare parts and repair services. On the tank there is a slightly rebuilt BMP-2 turret equipped with three standard weapon models. It has only one crew member - the gunner, and instead of the commander's seat there is additional space for the fire control unit. The main weapon of the boat is an automatic cannon 2A42 of 30 mm caliber (D 95), stabilized in two planes, firing two types of ammunition: BT and high-explosive fragmentation. The maximum effective horizontal range of both types of shots is 2,000 and 4,000 m. Fire from the 2A42 cannon can also be fired at various targets of subsonic aircraft, due to the large angle of elevation of the barrel - up to 74 degrees, as well as the high rate of fire - up to 550 heights./min.
In addition, 120-mm anti-tank guided missiles Fagot are installed on the turret of the boat, designed to destroy heavily armored vehicles - mainly tanks, or concrete fortifications. And also a PKT 7.62 mm machine gun paired with a 2A42 cannon. Weapons are controlled by electric drives. The ammunition load is 600 30 mm rounds for 2A42, four thousand 7.62 mm rounds for PKT and at least four anti-tank guided missiles.
On the aft deck, right on the transom, there is an isolated place for a small turret, which is usually mounted on the hull of wheeled BTR-70s. This is a single-seat electrically controlled turret equipped with two KPVT machine guns of 14.5 mm caliber and PKT of 7.62 mm caliber. The ammunition load is 1,000 rounds of 14.5 mm caliber and 4,000 rounds of 7.62 mm caliber.
Each crew member, as a rule, is armed with light personal weapons, mainly the Kalashnikov AK-74 assault rifle of 5, 45 mm caliber. In addition, it is possible to use other models of small arms on boats, such as RPG-7 anti-tank grenade launchers, Strela 2 / Igla air defense systems, AGS 17 automatic grenade launchers, etc.
The boat is equipped with a very modern set of electronics designed to detect, suppress and destroy armored vehicles, aircraft and boats. The passive WRE system consists of several smoke grenade launchers and laser detectors. The modern optoelectronic head mounted on the roof of the superstructure is equipped with sensors typical of boats, including a daytime TV camera, an infrared camera and a laser rangefinder. The crew of a separate one also has a rich set of external communication devices that are fully compatible with similar devices of the armies of the CIS countries. This set includes four general radio stations operating in the HF (3-30 MHz) and UHF (300-3,000 MHz) bands. They are used for constant two-way communication with ground operations centers or tactical military groups of different levels - from battalion, regiment, etc.
Due to the very shallow draft - only 90 cm - Gyurza boats can be moored directly on the river bank, where they can be easily camouflaged using several portable materials such as tree branches, leaves, reeds, etc.
One can easily spot mistakes in the construction of these ships. This, of course, is too low a height and the main lines of fire of the two main calibers 30 and 14.5 mm, which can lead to the destruction of the onboard equipment of the front and rear of the hull by its bullets.
The main characteristics of the project of the artillery armored boat "Gyurza"
Standard displacement - 30,000 kg
Normal displacement -34,000 kg
Full displacement - 38,000 kg
Overall length - 20.7 m
Waterline length -19, 30 m
Overall width - 4, 85 m
Standard draft - 0, 84 m
Full draft - 0, 88 m
Height (to the top of the mast) - 6, 02 m
Main engine - 2 x 459K 6-cylinder diesel engines with a total output of 1470 kW
Auxiliary engine - diesel generator with a capacity of 17.4 kW
Maximum instant speed 30 knots (55 km / h)
Maximum speed - 28 knots (52 km / h)
Economic speed - 11 knots (20 km / h)
Cruising range 216 miles at a speed of 28 knots (400 km)
400 miles at 11 knots (740 km)
Diesel fuel (normal stock) 4,000 kg
Armor protection - both turrets 7-33 mm steel armor, 5-10 mm steel-aluminum composite materials (superstructure and partly sides)
Crew - one officer and five sailors
