From all of the above, we draw a disappointing conclusion: even after the re-equipment of the Admiral Kuznetsov TAVKR strike complex with new modular launchers of the 3S14 UKSK type, the surface component of our only AUG cannot be considered a self-sufficient naval link in the construction of long-range anti-ship defense lines until the appearance of modifications of the Ts. with a range of more than 900-1000 km. Only the submarine component of the AUG, represented by the multipurpose nuclear submarines carrying the Onyx and Caliber anti-ship missiles, can temporarily compensate for this strategic gap. The only way to maintain the high combat stability of the aircraft carrier "Admiral Kuznetsov" can be considered the improvement of naval air and missile defense systems capable of holding back the deadly onslaught of the numerically and technically superior carrier-based aircraft of the US Navy with hundreds of precision weapons. It is in this direction that significant steps are being taken today.
MODERNIZATION OF ANTI-MISSION MEANS OF TAVKR "ADMIRAL KUZNETSOV" AND TARKR "ADMIRAL NAKHIMOV" WILL ALLOW TO MAINTAIN THE BATTLE RESISTANCE OF OUR AUG UNTIL THE APPEARANCE OF "MORE PERSPECTIVE" KORA
In early March 2017, the Russian Internet, referring to the resource dfnc.ru ("New Defense Order"), spread the news about the general outline of the modernization of anti-missile defense systems of the heavy aircraft-carrying missile cruiser, project 1143.5 "Admiral Kuznetsov". As the main measure, the re-equipment of the obsolete 3S87 combat modules of the 3M87 "Kortik" anti-aircraft missile and artillery complex to the promising BM ZRAK "Pantsir-M" was named. The possibility of the second stage of modernization was also discussed, in which the ship's short-range air defense systems "Dagger" will be replaced by the advanced modular "M-Tor" with significantly increased ammunition and the ability to equip a fundamentally new anti-aircraft guided missile. Strengthening of the anti-missile "umbrella" of the TAVKR "Admiral Kuznetsov" will be carried out on the same slipway of the 35th shipyard near Murmansk, simultaneously with the renewal of strike weapons, which will begin this summer. How can you characterize the anti-aircraft qualities of the aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov today?
If his striking abilities in oceanic theaters of military operations do not look very impressive, then the same cannot be said about air defense here. Initially, this grandiose warship was endowed with three types of cannon, missile-cannon and missile weapons at once to repel massive missile and air strikes from deck tactical aviation and missile strikes from warships and submarines of the US Navy, which had the Harpoon anti-ship missile, anti-radar HARM”and anti-ship versions of“Tomahawks”- BGM-109B / E. The far line of defense is represented by 4 Kinzhal anti-aircraft missile systems, which provide all-aspect coverage of the ship starting from a distance of 12 km and ending with an ultra-small dead zone of 1500 m.
Similar to the guidance radars of self-propelled air defense systems "Tor-M1 / 2", antenna posts K-12-1 with 3P95 radars of the "Dagger" complex have a large "dead zone" funnel (in the 60 ° zone) in the upper hemisphere due to the limitations of the elevation sector of view range of 0-60 degrees. This makes this line extremely vulnerable to air attack weapons that dive onto the ship at large angles, for example, the British ALARM PLR. Each of the 4 3R95 guidance radars has 4 target channels for firing at targets with 9M330-2 missiles, and therefore, in practice, simultaneous firing of 16 air targets arriving from different directions is achieved, but with a slight clarification. If the strike echelon of low-altitude anti-ship missiles moves from one direction, then the Admiral Kuznetsov's crew can use only 3 K-12-1 antenna posts with 3P95 stations to intercept, turning the ship at a 15-35-degree angle to the attacking missiles (one antenna post " Dagger "in any case will be blocked by the superstructure). Consequently, the number of enemy missiles simultaneously intercepted by the "Daggers" will be 12 units. The presence of the Dagger anti-aircraft missile systems alone already brings the defensive potential of our aircraft carrier from air strikes to the level of the US Gerald Ford, equipped with 2 inclined launchers Mk 49 Mod 3 of the ASMD anti-aircraft missile system and 2 PU Mk 29 Mod 1 for medium-range anti-aircraft missiles RIM-7P and RIM-162 ESSM (not counting, of course, the longer range of RIM-162 missiles, but based only on a comparison of the channelization of the antenna guidance posts K-12-1 and Mk 91 Mod3).
The middle ABM line is covered by 8 anti-aircraft missile and artillery combat modules 3S87 of the Kortik complexes, assembled in 4 twin pairs, which are symmetrically placed on the onboard weapon compartments together with vertical launchers 4S95 for 9M330-2 / 9M331 missiles of the Kinzhal complexes. Each BM 3S87 has a radio command automatic guidance system that controls the 9M311K anti-aircraft missile and two 6-barreled 30-mm GSh-6-30K cannons, starting from the target designation of the Ka-band guidance radar and the optoelectronic complex. One complex can simultaneously fire at 1 air target, which, according to the calculations of the Instrument Design Bureau, makes it possible to repel a strike at once by 3 or 4 subsonic anti-ship missiles launched in turn. The effective range of the artillery unit of the "Kortik" complex (2 paired 6x30-mm AP AO-18) reaches approximately 1.5-2 km, the height of target destruction is about 2.5-3 km at a rate of fire of 75 shots / s.
The "dead zone" of the "Kortika" cannon unit is about 400-500 meters. The missile part is represented by the 9M311 short-range anti-aircraft guided missile, which destroys targets at ranges up to 8 km and altitudes up to 3.5 km. The missile radio command beam forms a 700-meter corridor of calculated maneuvers during interception. The "dead zone" of the missile unit is 1500 m. When assessing the aggregate anti-missile qualities of the "Daggers", it is necessary to take into account the constructive factor of the location of the 3S87 combat modules. And here a picture emerges that when a swarm of enemy anti-ship missiles approaches from one direction, only 4 Kortik combat modules can be used to repel a strike, the remaining 4 will be completely obscured by the towering flight deck of the aircraft carrier. As a result, the total target channel of 4 Daggers, 8 Kortikov and 6 AK-630 anti-aircraft artillery systems (2 twin guns are installed on the remote side weapon platforms and 2 more complexes at the corners of the stern) is 30 simultaneously intercepted air targets at the time of the all-round repelling a missile strike and 18 targets - when repelling a massive anti-ship missile strike from one air direction.
Today, no modern nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of Western design possesses such anti-aircraft capabilities, including the current Nimitz class, the French R91 Charles de Gaulle, as well as the promising American CVN-78 USS Gerald R. Ford and the British R08 HMS Queen Elizabeth.
For the sake of fairness, we note that the only advantage of the aircraft carriers of the classes "Charles de Gaulle" and "Queen Elizabeth" in terms of missile defense can be considered only the placement of vertical launchers of the A43 "Sylver" type, which are designed to use anti-aircraft guided missile-interceptors of the "Aster-" type. 15 "as part of the shipborne SAM PAAMS. Despite the fact that these modifications of the Aster are intended only for the defense of the 30-kilometer line around the aircraft carriers, they are structurally almost completely identical with their long-range versions of the Aster-30 (the only difference is the smaller acceleration stage of the Aster-15). "Fifteenths" are also equipped with transverse gas-dynamic engines, allowing these missiles to maneuver with overloads of 62 units. Consequently, the French and British aircraft carriers have the ability to intercept ballistic targets by the method of high-precision kinetic destruction with a direct hit "hit-to-kill".
The anti-aircraft guided missiles 9M330 of the Dagger complex and 9M331 of the Kortik complex, unfortunately, do not have such capabilities. Nevertheless, given that our TAVKR "Admiral Kuznetsov" only in a critical case may need to deal with the enemy's maneuvering ballistic missiles, the lack of such capabilities in the missile defense system is not a serious flaw, because the main task (the destruction of dozens of anti-ship missiles) is performed perfectly well. For what reason, then, was the decision taken to update the air defense systems of the Admiral Kuznetsov heavy aircraft-carrying missile cruiser?
Already in the next decade, advanced supersonic anti-ship missiles, the speed of which will exceed 2, 5-3M, and, possibly, even higher-speed anti-ship missiles based on ultra-long-range missiles RIM-174ERAM, will enter service with the carrier-based aircraft and warships of the OVMS of the NATO countries, the development of which back in February 2016, former US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter announced. One of these concepts can be considered the aforementioned Franco-British anti-ship missile CVS401 "Perseus". The product is equipped with a supersonic ramjet engine, which achieves a speed of about 3200 km / h (at high altitude), 2150 km / h (in low-altitude mode) and about 2500 km / h (when diving). At the same time, the Kortik anti-aircraft missile and artillery systems are technically unable to effectively intercept the Perseus missile, since the maximum target speed for them is only 1.5M (1800 km / h). Yes, and "Perseus" is one of the highly maneuverable anti-aircraft missile systems that perform intensive anti-aircraft maneuvers: it would be extremely problematic to shoot it down with GSh-6-30K and 9M311K missiles, even if its speed matched the characteristics of the Kashtanov.
The shipborne SAM "Dagger" will also face great difficulties in intercepting missiles such as the "Perseus". Despite the speed of the target being hit at 700 m / s, which overlaps the speed ranges of the Perseus at low altitudes, the problem may lie in the insufficient flight performance of the 9M330-2 / 331 missile defense system. Its available overloads reach 20-30 units. depending on the flight speed; this will not be enough to defeat CVS401, making maneuvers with overloads of 20-25 units. Even bigger problems await the Dagger if the final leg of the Perseus is to take place in a 70-degree dive. As mentioned earlier, to intercept a target suitable from such an angle, the K-12-1 antenna post is not technically adapted (the maximum beam elevation angle for 3P95 is only 60 degrees).
It is no secret that the promising brainchild of the European corporation MBDA will be equipped with an active radar seeker based on AFAR, which clearly indicates the ability of the CVS401 to conduct electronic countermeasures to enemy air defense shipborne weapons during their overcoming. Also "Perseus" has "smart" equipment, represented by two warheads of individual guidance. BB, structurally similar to the M982 "Excalibur" active reactive projectiles, have aerodynamic rudders for flight correction, and their RCS is calculated in hundredths of a square meter. Their exit from the Perseus armament containers on the approach section of the trajectory will not leave the Daggers and Daggers a single chance to successfully repel the strike.
As for the even higher-speed anti-ship versions of the SM-6 anti-aircraft missile, which are in development, their interception cannot be performed even with the help of the Kinzhal air defense missile system: the speed limit of the target of 2520 km / h will not allow. Conclusion: against the promising air attack weapons of the 21st century and the existing anti-radar missiles and UABs attacking with large dive angles, the air defense system of the TAVKR "Admiral Kuznetsov" has very dubious capabilities, and therefore its update is more than justified.
Let us dwell on the Pantsir-M1 (Mace) anti-aircraft missile and artillery system, which should replace the Kortik. The product uses a fundamentally new millimeter / centimeter radar guidance 1PC2-1 "Helmet" based on a phased array, as well as a much more advanced optical-electronic sighting system 10ES-1-E based on high-resolution matrices. A radar detector with a phased array is also attached to the combat module, which has a target detection range of the "Harpoon anti-ship missile system" (EPR 0, 1 m2) of the order of 23-26 km, which is 2 times more than that of the latest modification of the "Kortik-M" complex (11,400 m). Moreover, thanks to the advanced computing base, the reaction time of the combat module (from 8 to 4 seconds) has been reduced by 2 times to small targets that suddenly "come out" due to the radio horizon. That is, at the moment the Kortik-M starts firing on an unobtrusive anti-ship missile of the AGM-158C LRASM type (let's take its EPR for 0.05 m2), it will have time to approach the defending ship at a distance of 7 km, in the case of the Pantsir-M the line of the beginning of the fire effect of 57E6E anti-aircraft missiles will be 11-12 km (taking into account the ballistic limitations of missiles).
In simpler terms, if "Kortik-M" will have about 28 seconds to intercept, then "Pantsiru-M" - 45 seconds. During this time, one module "Club" is able to intercept 7 targets of the LRASM type (based on the performance of the complex, estimated by the developer at 10 targets / min, as well as from the target channel of 4 simultaneously intercepted objects). One combat module "Kortika" for the allocated 25 seconds will destroy no more than 2-3 LRASM missiles. As you can see, in terms of fire performance alone, "Club" is ahead of "Kashtan" by about 2, 5 - 3 times, and there are also other criteria.
We are all well aware that in the course of a modern anti-ship operation, our main enemy will not be stingy with the introduction of such air decoys / electronic warfare systems as the ADM-160 "MALD-J" into the LRASM attack echelon. Following at the same speed as the anti-ship AGM-158C (about 0.9M), they will imitate the EPR of the first in order to "load" our shipborne air defense systems with false target channels, and also actively use the built-in electronic countermeasures. It is easy to understand that in such a jamming environment, the stable operation of the radar channel of the 1PC2-1E "Helmet" guidance station is almost excluded and, it would seem, the effectiveness of "Pantsir-M" is under a big question mark. But the sea "Shell" has a more than worthy answer to this question as well.
As you know, the combat module of the complex is equipped with an auxiliary optical-electronic sighting system 10ES1-E, operating in the television-optical and infrared sighting channels. The medium-wave infrared direction finder operates in the range from 3 to 5 microns, and with a normal meteorological visibility range (MVR) of 10 km, it is capable, together with a TV channel, to detect anti-radar missiles of the "HARM" type at a distance of 15 km, LRASM anti-ship missiles - 9-10 km and tactical fighters - up to 30 km. The AOP has an integrated receiver of the laser transponder channel, which is located in the tail section of the 57E6E high-speed anti-aircraft missile. This channel, during interception, makes it possible to accurately determine the location of the missile defense system without the need to use the "Helmet" guidance radar. The control of the anti-aircraft missile is radio command (automatic or manual), which makes it possible to reduce to a minimum the probability of a miss by means of an air attack using a complex of means of overcoming antimissile defense, in particular, infrared traps.
In addition to higher noise immunity, the use of an optical-electronic sighting device AOP in the Pantsir-M air defense system gives another important advantage in comparison with the Kortikas and Daggers installed on the Admiral Kuznetsov. One of them is a significant expansion of the firing zone of the complex: 10ES1-E provides a vertical sector of fire impact from -5 to +82, allowing it to hit complex targets approaching at an angle of 75-80 degrees. Thus, the "dead zone" crater in the upper hemisphere of the "Admiral Kuznetsov" air defense system will decrease from 60 to 16 degrees! This will significantly affect the defensive capabilities of the TAVKR. The maximum speed of the target at the "Palitsa" is exactly 2 times higher than the performance of the current ZRAK "Kortik" (3600 versus 1800 km / h, respectively). This will allow the updated "Admiral Kuznetsov" to resist almost any existing and even promising air threats from the beginning of the third decade of the XXI century. Their list includes all types of anti-radar and anti-ship missiles, including the AGM-88E AARGM, CVS401 "Perseus" and anti-ship variants of the RIM-174 ERAM.
Special attention should be paid to the 57E6E anti-aircraft interceptor missile. The two-stage rocket has a bicaliber design with a diameter of the first accelerating stage of 90 mm, a diameter of an interceptor stage of 76 mm and a total hull length of 3.2 m. The first thing that attracts attention is the rather large mass of the rod fragmentation warhead (20 kg) in comparison with the total weight of the rocket without a transport and launch container (71 kg). A similar warhead is installed on the R-77 (RVV-AE) medium-range guided air combat missile, the weight of which is almost 2.5 times greater than that of the 57E6E. This is done to achieve the maximum damaging effect when intercepting high-speed maneuvering elements of high-precision weapons, as well as heavy military transport aircraft and well-protected enemy attack aircraft and attack helicopters. A distinctive feature of this missile is the high structural strength of the sustainer interceptor stage, which allows maneuvering with overloads from 35 to 45 units. over most of the flight path (up to 10-12 km). The following advantage is derived from this: high flight characteristics, characteristic only for missiles with a high flight speed. 57E6E possesses this almost throughout the entire flight range due to the low speed of ballistic deceleration (40 m / s per 1000 m). It turns out that at a distance of 15 km from BM "Pantsir-M" anti-aircraft missile has a speed of 2520 km / h.
This is a huge advantage in the destruction of high-speed targets in pursuit (in the rear hemisphere), as well as in the fight against tactical aircraft in the long-range sectors. Simplest examples:
In the final part of our work, we will consider the prospect of a possible re-equipment of the TAVKR "Admiral Kuznetsov" with more modern "M-Tor". The final decision on replacing the "Daggers" family with "M-Torahs" has not yet been worked out. What is the reason for this uncertainty is difficult to say at the moment, but it is obvious that the root of the issue lies in the assessment of the “cost-effectiveness” criterion. The "overheated" "Tor-M2KM" is a kind of structurally scattered set of the familiar ground version of the "Tor-M2". In the ship version, it is represented by: an uninhabited tower - antenna post 9A331MK-1 (a "trimmed" tower "Tora" with a guidance radar and a hardware and software communication bus with the ship's BIUS "Sigma"), as well as two or more quad anti-aircraft missile modules 9M334, in which there are 4 transport launch containers for 9M331D missiles and an earlier modification of the 9M330-2 type. These modules can be installed in any prepared area of the surface ship structure.
If we consider the TAVKR "Admiral Kuznetsov", then there are two models of conversion to the "M-Tor". The first is the least expensive. It consists in dismantling four old Kinzhal K-12-1 antenna modules and installing new autonomous combat modules (ABM) 9A331MK-1 in their place. At the same time, the previous 4S95 vertical revolving launchers are preserved, which can be unified with all versions of the 9M330, including the 9M331D. This method looks the least costly and most effective, since it is only necessary to modify the mechanism for turning the antenna posts 9A331MK-1, located on the superstructure of "Admiral Kuznetsov". At the same time, there is no need to "saw through" the structure of the dismantled weapon bays PU 4S95 for the new square 9M334. In the end, all that remains is to replace the electronic equipment of the ABM "M-Tor" communication interfaces with the good old 4S95 drums. But there is a catch here. The 9M331D anti-aircraft guided missiles, upgraded in terms of the motor part, although they have an increased range of up to 15 km and an interception height increased to 10 km, still structurally correspond to the earlier versions of 9M330 missiles, which means they have similar overload limits and a high ballistic deceleration rate.
Meanwhile, the most promising anti-aircraft guided missiles for the ammunition load of all versions of the complex, starting with the Tor-M2E, with the index 9M338 (or R3V-MD), have appeared on the horizon. These antimissiles are more compact, which makes it possible to increase the previous ammunition load of the 9M334 anti-aircraft missile modules exactly 2 times due to the dismantling of the large 1x4 launch sections 9Ya281 (the width of the launch cell is 539 mm square) and the placement of compact TPK 9M338K (they have a circular section with an outer diameter of 240 mm). The maximum flight speed of the new missiles is 1000 m / s, which is 20% faster than the missiles of the 9M330 family, the height reaches 10 km, and the range is 16 km. SAM 9M338 retained the previous radio command control, but the maneuverability and guidance accuracy have significantly improved. So, according to the statement of the general director of JSC Concern EKR Almaz-Antey for scientific and technical cooperation Sergei Druzin, during training interceptions of 5 9F841 Saman targets (EPR about 0.4 m2), 3 kinetic lesions were achieved (in fact, “hit -to-kill ). At the same time, it was not indicated whether the 9M33M2 blank targets of the Osa complex performed anti-aircraft maneuvers.
Of course, it is hard to believe in direct hitting the target with radio command control, but knowing that even the first versions of the Tor and Tor-M1 guidance stations equipped with a phased array antenna have a resolution of 1 m, and this is quite possible. Nevertheless, these anti-aircraft missiles were adapted only for the 9M334 surface-to-air missile modules of the ground-based "Thors", while the technical specifications for the revolving 4S95 revolvers for the geometry of the new R3V-MD product were also developed. It is worth noting that the small dimensions of the new cylindrical transport and launch container 9M338K fully correspond to the dimensions of the 4C95 cells, due to which the process of their integration has moderate labor intensity and cost. Directly at the edge of the launching hole (in the upper part of the TPK 9M338K), you can see a connector for synchronization with the OMS interface of the Tor-M2 family complexes, which is used for prelaunch preparation of the rocket, testing for the operability of its avionics (aerodynamic rudder control machines, a fuse, a radio station for receiving control commands, etc.), and therefore its implementation in the classic revolving PU 4S95 is a matter of little time. But it is not yet reliably known whether the representatives of the fleet, the developers of M-Tor and the specialists of the 35 SRZ branch of Zvyozdochka, JSC have expressed a desire to carry out such a modernization experiment, and whether it is spelled out in the 40-billion budget of the contract, it also remains only guess.
Finally, we can mention 6 anti-aircraft artillery modules AK-630, represented by rapid-fire six-barreled 30-mm machine guns AO-18. Their effectiveness in the fight against modern maneuvering means of high-precision weapons leaves much to be desired, for the most part due to an average rate of fire of only 75 rds / s. For a non-maneuvering goal, such an indicator would be more than enough. To "finish off" the modern SVN, missed by "Pantsiri-M1" or "M-Tori", it would be more expedient to re-equip the TAVKR "Admiral Kuznetsov" with 6 new paired installations of the AK-630M-2 "Duet" type. The rate of fire of one such installation with 2 AP GSh-6-30K can reach 150 - 165 shots / s, including for ultra-small targets with an effective scattering surface of 0.01 m2. When controlling a guidance radar of the MR-123 "Bagheera" type, a more or less effective range of firing at low-altitude air targets of the order of 2.5-3 km can be provided. Technically, the Duo is capable of attacking targets attacking the ship at an angle of 90º, which almost 100% solves the problem with the "dead zone" funnel described above.
We were able to clearly find out that before the adoption of the Zircon hypersonic anti-ship missile in long-range modification for the Russian Navy's warships, as well as the radical expansion of the functionality of the Su-33M heavy carrier-based fighters (SVP-24-33 Hephaestus subsystem to this does not apply at all) the individual anti-ship capabilities of the KUG and AUG, led by "Admiral Kuznetsov", will remain at a mediocre level in comparison with the US Navy's AUG when conducting operations in the oceanic zone. Nevertheless, this situation does not mean that the TAVKR "Admiral Kuznetsov" and his escort will not be able to stand up for themselves at the moment of massive attacks by carrier-based aircraft and Tomahawks of the enemy in the open ocean. For this, our aircraft-carrying cruiser, as well as the accompanying TARK / raider pr. 1144.2M "Admiral Nakhimov" will be almost literally armed to the teeth with the latest anti-missile defense equipment. For the former, the maximum speed of the targets hit will increase by 1, 45 times (from 700 to 1000 m / s) and the channel will increase due to the re-equipment of the promising Pantsir-M air defense systems, the latter will receive an even more advanced shipborne long-range air defense system Polyment-Redut and will be able to form a territorial "anti-missile umbrella" with a radius of 40-60 km and a height of up to 35-40 km using long-range missile defense systems 48N6DM and 9M96D. Air defense missions against standard aerodynamic targets will be carried out at a distance of up to 250 km.
The main task of the only Russian aircraft carrier strike group of the Northern Fleet as part of the Admiral Kuznetsov TAVKR, the Admiral Nakhimov TARK and support ships will be to maintain combat stability in the face of the multiple numerical superiority of the US Navy (which will help to achieve the above-described modernization of air defense systems), as well as the ability to massively work on strategic ground targets of NATO countries with missiles "Caliber" with the index 3M14T. Anti-ship support will be provided by hundreds of times more secretive multipurpose nuclear submarines of the Antey, Shchuka-B and Yasen classes, capable of approaching the enemy with the same weapons many times closer than the surface component.
Such tactics of actions in the ocean theater of operations will be characteristic of our AUG up to the middle or the end of the third decade of the 21st century. Only then should the fleet be replenished with at least one TAVKR pr.23000E "Storm" with a fully functioning air wing of 75-80 carrier-based strike fighters of the transitional and 5th generations, as well as promising AWACS aircraft … These events are still very far away, but only they can radically change our precarious position in the increasingly likely sea battles with the main overseas enemy.
