What will our country get if it buys a French UDC
Plans for the acquisition of Mistral-class ships for the Russian Navy cause heated debate: do they, as they say, have a wedge of light, how they look against the background of competitors and what they are capable of, why our country cannot build such ships itself and do we even need to acquire them?
I'll start by answering the last question. The power of modern Western naval forces is based not only on aircraft carrier formations. No less, and sometimes a more important role is played by Expeditionary Strike Groups (EUG), the core of which are universal amphibious assault ships (UDC) with marine units, aircraft of different classes, military equipment and boats on board. Operations within the framework of the “fleet against coast” concept are unthinkable without UDC, they are the basis of the amphibious forces of the current fleets. The most powerful forces of this kind (as well as the numerous, well-armed marines) are in the US Navy.
AMERICA - THE HOMELAND OF UNIVERSALS
Actually, in the United States, the concept of a universal amphibious assault ship was born. This happened during the Vietnam War, when the US Navy was faced with the problem of coordinating the actions of various types of landing ships that carried out the landing of troops and performed various tasks. So, dock ships carried landing craft, tank landing craft carried ground equipment. The marines were stationed either on transport ships or on landing helicopter carriers. The latter were represented either by ships rebuilt from outdated aircraft carriers of the Essex type, or by new combat units of a special construction of the Iwo Jima type. It is not surprising that the disembarkation of diverse forces from ships of different types turned into a very difficult task that required excellent coordination.
In addition, it was necessary to remove the landing ships from the landing zone in order to protect them from the effects of enemy coastal batteries. The optimal distance was considered to be 140-180 cables (about 30 km). Moreover, the landing time still could not exceed 30 minutes, so that the enemy did not have time to pull up reserves. As a result, it was necessary to create high-speed landing boats, including air cushion boats, capable of quickly delivering heavy equipment to the coast, including tanks.
A vivid example of a modern UDC are the ships of the Tarawa and Wasp type in the ranks of the US Navy. Their displacement ranges from 34 thousand tons ("Tarava") to more than 40 thousand tons ("Wasp"). In size and appearance, they roughly correspond to heavy aircraft carriers during the Second World War. These UDCs can carry a fully manned expeditionary battalion of the Marine Corps (up to 1,900 men, in fact a regiment), up to 40 aircraft, including heavy helicopters such as Chinook or Sea Stallion, Supercobra combat rotorcraft, vertical takeoff and landing fighters. Harrier ". Among other things, the UDC have docking chambers in which there are from two to eight (depending on size) amphibious assault ships on an air cushion with a carrying capacity of 30 to 200 tons, or a larger number of smaller landing boats with a carrying capacity of several tons.
Separately, it is worth mentioning the new UDC "America" - the lead ship of this type is currently under construction. Unlike "Tarawa" and "Wasp", it does not have a docking camera, due to which the size of the hangar deck and the number of the aircraft wing are significantly increased. Thus, this UDC is designed for the landing of airmobile units of the Marine Corps - more flexible than traditional "heavy" battalions and is able to provide them with more effective air support.
At first glance, this decision looks like a rollback to the ships of the Iwo Jima class and the rebuilt Essex, but this is not so. The more spacious hangar and flight decks allow the "America" with a displacement of 45,000 tons to carry more aircraft than Iwo Jima (18,000 tons) and Essex (30,000 tons), with heavier ones - up to MV-converters. 22 Osprey.
The introduction of F-35 short take-off and vertical landing fighters into the air wing dramatically expands the capabilities of America, whose tactical and technical characteristics in all respects surpass the performance characteristics of the outdated Sea Harriers.
In general, "America" is becoming an ideal tool for new wars - local conflicts of low and medium intensity, where the role is played not so much by the power of armor and the weight of the salvo, as by the speed of reaction and mobility that this ship fully provides. Combined with UDCs of the Wasp type, which remain in the US Navy, America will give the Pentagon the ability to flexibly respond to changes in the situation, directing precisely the forces that are needed in a given place and at a given time into the zones of flared up or potential conflicts.
EUROPEAN AND SOVIET VARIATIONS
There are also universal amphibious ships in the fleets of other countries. For example, the command of the British Royal Navy has the Ocean UDC. It has a smaller size in comparison with the "Tarawa" and "Wasp" (displacement - a little more than 20 thousand tons), it carries up to 800 marines, about 20 aircraft and 2-4 landing boats. The Ocean is inferior to American ships and in speed: 18 knots against 24-25.
A very interesting combat unit with great capabilities is the Italian aircraft carrier Cavour, which combines the properties of an amphibious assault helicopter carrier, a light aircraft carrier, an anti-submarine ship and a command ship: it has special premises and equipment for the work of the headquarters of the expeditionary force and attached specialists numbering more than 140 people … "Cavour" is capable of delivering a battalion of marines (325-500 people) to its destination and landing it using EH-101 helicopters (up to 16 vehicles on board). Air support for the landing is provided by Sea Harrier aircraft, and in the future, the ship will probably be based on the F-35.
The Spanish ship "Juan Carlos I" also has considerable capabilities. True, unlike the Cavour, it is more "sharpened" for amphibious operations - it does not have such a high speed (21 knots versus 28-29 knots), but it is equipped with a dock-camera and transports up to 1000 marines with equipment and weapons. The ship can also be based not only on helicopters, but also on airplanes such as "Harrier" and F-35B.
It should be noted that the need for such combat units was also understood in our country. In the Soviet Union, an active development of the UDC of project 11780 was carried out, and even two ships of this project were ordered - "Kremenchug" and "Kherson", but the collapse of the USSR did not allow them to be put into operation. In terms of their performance characteristics, they were a cross between Ocean and Tarawa. With a displacement of about 25 thousand tons, the Soviet UDC was supposed to carry up to two battalions of marines (1000 people), up to 30 aircraft and, of course, air-cushion landing ships - from 2 to 4 (depending on the size) or a larger number of smaller ones. the size of the landing craft.
However, the domestic UDC, which our naval wits managed to christen "Ivan Tarava", also had a number of advantageous differences from western ships. Soviet designers initially included in the project a powerful power plant, which allows the development of a course of up to 30 knots, and very powerful weapons, including medium-range air defense systems and an AK-130 artillery mount, which significantly increased the survivability of the ship and its ability to support the landing.
It should also be noted that the high speed made it possible to use the Project 11780 UDC as an anti-submarine ship. Currently, such "generalists" are very much needed by the Russian Navy, including for conflicts such as the war with Georgia in August 2008 or for patrolling the dangerous waters of the Gulf of Aden.
NEEDED BUT WITH CHANGES
However, now the Russian defense industry is not able to quickly revive the project 11780. To update the amphibious forces of the fleet, Russia, apparently, chose the French Mistral-class UDC. According to available information, negotiations on the construction of these ships are in the final phase. Only the question of the degree of participation of Russian enterprises in the manufacture of the second and subsequent UDCs remains unresolved (so far, it is planned to purchase four such ships for the Russian Navy). Moscow's interest in this contract was announced by President Dmitry Medvedev.
What exactly do we intend to buy, for what purpose, what will be the terms of the proposed agreement and what tasks will the Mistral be able to solve as part of the Russian Navy?
The Mistral UDC, built according to the BPC 160 project, is a modern "force projection" ship intended primarily for use in local conflicts.
Like other UDCs, this ship can provide a long-term presence of a Marine Corps group with air support at a remote theater of operations and the landing of Marine units, including on an unequipped coast, using landing boats and helicopters. The Mistral is also capable of performing the functions of a command ship (command ship) of a formation that solves peacekeeping tasks or carries out a "flag demonstration" in the conflict area. In addition, it is possible to use the UDC as a base and a floating hospital in emergency zones.
The number of the landing force on this ship with a displacement of 21,000 tons ranges from 450 (for a long voyage) to 900 (for a shorter time) marines, the air wing has either 16 heavy or up to 30 light helicopters.
Despite the statements of the command of our fleet about the need for such a ship for the Russian Navy, the opinions of specialists on this matter were divided. A number of experts believe that a more urgent task is the mass construction of ships of the corvette / frigate class, in the future - a destroyer, to replace the rapidly aging TFR, destroyers and BODs that have been in service since Soviet times. However, other points of view are also expressed: for example, the head of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies Ruslan Pukhov believes that the acquisition of such a UDC is justified taking into account the future needs of Russia, which in the next 20-30 years will need a stable presence of its Navy both in the near sea zone, and in the World Ocean.
One of the key regions in this regard is the Russian Far East and, above all, the Kuril ridge. It is strategically extremely important for Russia, at the same time it has practically no developed military and civilian infrastructure.
Under these conditions, the UDC is considered as a mobile element of the military infrastructure, which allows to quickly deploy the necessary forces in the disputed area and ensure their functioning. In addition to the Kuril ridge and the Far East as a whole, such ships can guarantee a military presence in other strategically important regions, including Africa, Southeast Asia, Antarctic waters and other areas of the World Ocean, where local conflicts are possible, potentially affecting the interests of Russia.
Today it is reported that the construction of domestic UDC is planned to be entrusted to the "Admiralty shipyards" in St. Petersburg.
It is necessary to dwell on the disadvantages of the "Mistral". It, like many other warships of modern fleets, was made in order to reduce the cost of the project "using commercial technologies" with significantly lower survivability requirements than those of warships. The armament of the French "station wagon" is limited to two launchers for launching melee missiles, two 30-mm air defense gun mounts and four heavy machine guns, as a result of which it needs a strong escort.
The internal layout of the ship is determined by very high requirements for comfort for the crew and marines, which sacrificed the number of troops and the usable areas of hangars and cargo decks.
The key issue at the moment is the amount of changes that can be made to the design of the Mistral at the request of the Russian Navy. At the moment, it is known that the parties have agreed to supply the ship with a complete set of electronic equipment, including CIUS and navigation system. This increases the acquisition value - Russia gets the opportunity to become closely acquainted with the modern military electronics of the West. At the same time, Russian air defense systems will be installed on the Mistral, and domestic Ka-27/29 and Ka-52 helicopters will be based in the UDC hangar, which will require a slight increase in its height. By the way, vehicles of these types landed on the Mistral deck during the visit of the French ship to St. Petersburg in November 2009.
However, it is not yet known whether the internal layout of the UDC will change and whether measures are planned to increase its survivability and combat stability. These changes, including an increase in the size of the amphibious group, the area of the hangars and cargo deck, and the strengthening of fire-fighting equipment, should increase the potential of the ship, making it more powerful and adapted to the conduct of hostilities. Taking into account the modular design of the Mistral, which is assembled on the slipway from ready-made compartments for various purposes and layouts, such changes can be made to the project quite easily. Without this, the ship can hardly be considered a successful acquisition for the Russian Navy.
After answering the question in what form it is planned to purchase the UDC, it will be possible to find out the final purchase price. Today, the cost of the ship of the BPC 160 project is about 400 million euros and, taking into account the required changes to the project, it will obviously increase. Since Russia intends to build three more Mistrals at its shipyards, it is possible that it will have to spend two billion euros.
Discussion of the contract is accompanied by a number of political curiosities: the possible appearance of the Mistral in the Russian Navy has caused anxiety among the leaders of a number of neighboring countries, from Georgia to the Baltic republics, who are afraid of using the UDC against them. By and large, such a position is a reflection of the traditional political “victim complex” for these states. It seems that by speculating on the topic of potential "Russian aggression" Tbilisi, Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn do not so much want to draw attention to the threat from the east as try to prevent the deepening and expansion of ties between Russia and France, one of the leaders of the European Union.
At the same time, the Russian military leadership has already announced that the first Mistrals will receive the Pacific Fleet. Undoubtedly, they can significantly strengthen it, but in order for the UDC to be effective, it is necessary to provide them with a full-fledged escort from ships of the frigate / corvette classes, and what this escort will be is still unclear. I would like to believe that the state of the Navy will make it possible to actively use the "station wagons", not allowing them to rust against the wall.
