It so happened that due to the difficult economic background and the lack of the proper technical condition of the shipbuilding facilities in St. Petersburg, our state will not be able to afford the serial production of new heavy missile aircraft-carrying cruisers of Project 23000E "Storm" until 2019-2020. It was then that the 350-meter A-slipway of Baltiysky Zavod OJSC should receive the necessary technical equipment to implement such an ambitious project, and Severnaya Verf Shipyard PJSC could be adapted for the construction of ships with a displacement of more than 80 thousand tons. Today it is necessary to concentrate all efforts on the modernization of the existing TAVKR pr. 1143.5 "Admiral Kuznetsov", as well as the 279th separate shipborne fighter aviation regiment (OKIAP) based on it.
MODERNIZATION OF THE IMPACT COMPLEX OF TAVKR "ADMIRAL KUZNETSOV"
As the Russian news agency TASS reported on April 22, 2017, citing sources in the military-industrial complex and the Ministry of Defense, already in September this year, our only heavy aircraft-carrying missile cruiser "Admiral Kuznetsov" will join the same modernization program that is coming to an end at the heavy nuclear missile cruiser (TARKR) "Admiral Nakhimov". Work will begin on one of the slipways of the 35th ship repair center of the plant (a branch of Zvyozdochka Shipyard JSC) in Roslyakovo (near Murmansk). Their cost is estimated at about 40 billion rubles, and the main option is the re-equipment of the anti-ship / strike complex of the aircraft-carrying cruiser from the long-range heavy anti-ship missiles P-700 "Granit" for a wide range of cruise missiles of the 3M14T "Caliber-NK" family (including the 3-stroke PKR 3M54E1 and PLUR 91RE1), supersonic anti-ship missiles 3M55 "Onyx" and developed hypersonic multipurpose anti-ship missiles "Zircon". The modernization process consists in dismantling 12 inclined launchers SM-233A for the P-700 "Granit" anti-ship missile system and installing in their place 36 transport and launch containers of the modular universal shipborne firing complex 3S14 UKSK.
In one of our previous articles, the feasibility of converting the multipurpose nuclear attack submarine cruisers of pr. 949A Antey from supersonic Granites to subsonic Caliber and supersonic Onyx was considered. It turned out that the submarines will receive huge advantages in delivering massive long-range strikes with strategic 3M14K TFRs against enemy targets in about 2000-2600 km (after all, the number of "Calibers" will increase 3 times, up to 72 units). At the same time, anti-ship capabilities will decrease. Why? As you know, the 3M45 "Granit", with its entire 7, 36-ton weight and 8, 84-meter length, is a highly specialized long-range anti-ship missile with a 1, 5-flywheel approach speed, an integrated electronic warfare system 3B47 "Quartz" and 4-processor artificial intelligence, allowing a group of 12, 20 or 24 missiles to form a tactically correct strike squad even without adjustment from the carrier or anti-submarine aircraft complex. With a mixed flight profile "high-altitude - low-altitude" strike echelon "Granites" can operate autonomously at a distance of up to 450-500 km, which is the largest range indicator in the class of existing supersonic anti-ship missiles (at the same time, the low-altitude segment can reach more than 200 km).
The anti-ship version of the "Caliber" 3M54E1 has a range of only 220 km, where the supersonic 3-fly section is only 20 km. "Onyx", accordingly, is capable of operating at a distance of 350 km with a mixed flight profile. From this it is easy to determine that the modernized multipurpose nuclear submarine of the Antey class, performing the anti-ship operation, is forced to approach the enemy's AUG approximately 100-150 km closer than the early modification with the Granites. This carries additional risks: for example, a greater chance of detection by sonar stations of Virginia or Los Angeles class submarines accompanying the US Navy AUG, or RSL, deployed by P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine aircraft. But if "Antaeus" in the oceanic theater of operations approach the US AUG unnoticed and attack it with a 3 times large arsenal of "Onyxes" or anti-ship "Granites" it will be, though difficult, but feasible, then turn the same unexpected move for a heavy aircraft-carrying missile cruiser " Admiral Kuznetsov "will be almost impossible, because this is a huge surface ship, which is tracked by the American reconnaissance group of satellites and aircraft of the" Rivet Joint "type in all parts of the planet.
The required anti-ship effectiveness of the Admiral Kuznetsov with the 3M54E1 Caliber and 3M55 Onyx anti-ship missiles will be achieved only in limited naval theaters of operations, when the naval strike groups of the opposing sides will converge at a distance of 250-350 km long before the outbreak of escalation. As for the huge ocean theaters, the surface basing of "Calibers" and "Onyxes" here will not give serious advantages to either the aircraft carrier "Admiral Kuznetsov" or the nuclear missile missile system "Admiral Nakhimov", because the American carrier-based F / A-18E / F will be able to start an anti-ship operation against our flagship at a distance of about 1,500 km, using hundreds of adopted LRASM anti-ship missiles. The range of "Super Hornets" with outboard fuel tanks and AGM-88 "HARM" anti-radar missiles also reaches 1000 km, which is why our "overseas colleagues" have much more opportunities in the exhausting game against "Admiral Kuznetsov" and his escort even after equipping launcher 3S14 universal shooting complex UKSK. What countermeasures do we have?
THE INDISPENSABILITY OF MULTIPURPOSE NUCLEAR SUBMARINES IN THE SOLUTION OF ANTI-SHIP TASKS OF THE RUSSIAN NAVY IS EXPLAINED BY THE LOW FUNCTIONALITY AND NUMBER OF DECK AND AIRCRAFT
Firstly, these are the same multipurpose nuclear submarines of project 949A "Antey", which will be able to accompany the surface component of our AUG far ahead and be the first to strike at American aircraft carriers, cruisers and destroyers. Two submarines of this class, K-132 "Irkutsk" and K-442 "Chelyabinsk", are now being converted from inclined launchers SM-225A to transport and launch containers for "Caliber" and "Onyx". Their total ammunition load of missiles will be 144 units, of which more than half may be on the anti-ship versions of the 3M54E1 and 3M55 missiles. This should be enough to disable at least one American aircraft carrier strike group.
Secondly, they are much quieter than Project 949A Antey, multipurpose nuclear submarines of Project 971 Shuka-B. These submarines can approach the western AUG at a minimum distance of tens or one and a half hundred kilometers. After that, about two dozen anti-ship missiles 3M54E1 "Caliber-PL", launched from 4,533-mm torpedo tubes from a depth of about 50 meters, can be used. The Shchuka-B also has advanced torpedo armament, among which one can find the Fizik and Fizik-2 multipurpose deep-sea torpedoes (UGST / UGST-M) with a cruising range of about 50 km. Torpedoes have been in service with Russian MAPLs and SSBNs since 2015 and are equipped with an advanced multi-element sonar homing head. Can cover our AUG led by "Admiral Kuznetsov" and the world's most advanced multipurpose submarines pr. 885 "Ash". The range of their torpedo and missile armament, as well as its ammunition capacity, is significantly superior to the arsenal of submarines of the Shchuka-B class.
Meanwhile, the individual anti-ship capabilities of the "Admiral Kuznetsov" and his escort (not taking into account the above-mentioned multipurpose SSGNs and MAPLs), due to the 220-350-kilometer range of the anti-ship "Calibers" and "Onyx" strike aviation. Truly a "saving asset" in this case can be considered the project of a hypersonic long-range anti-ship missile 3M22 "Zircon" (SCRC 3K22). These missiles are also unified with the transport and launch cells 3S14 UKSK and will allow the "admiral" series of flagships of our Navy to deliver massive strikes on the enemy's ship warrant 7-8 times faster than the LRASM missiles allow today, and 3-4 times faster than the promising French-British long-range anti-ship missile CVS401 "Perseus". But here, too, there are a lot of unresolved issues.
So, even the approximate timing of the arrival of the Zircon anti-ship missile system for service with the Russian Navy is unknown; there is only a reservation that this will happen no earlier than 2020, while in order to establish parity with American ships in the implementation of the anti-ship defense of the Zircon, our surface component is needed before the year 20. The maximum achievable range of the hypersonic 3M22 is also unknown. Some sources are inclined to about 300-500 km, while others speak of 800-1000 km. It is in this run-up that the real effectiveness of the "Zircons" in the huge oceanic theater of military operations can be hidden. If this is only 500 km, then the current problem remains with the superiority of the radius of the anti-ship strike of the American carrier-based aircraft with LRASM and Harpoon missiles (1300-1700 km versus 500 for our Zircons). If the range of the Zircons exceeds the 1000 km mark, then the conversation will be completely different. But, apparently, this will not happen until 2025, when almost all new US Aegis ships will receive more sensitive and multichannel AN / SPY-6 AMDR radars. We need simpler and faster technical solutions that would be able to maintain the combat stability of our only (until the 20s) aircraft carrier strike group in confrontation with the enemy in the vast ocean theater of operations.
The only adequate measure here is the earliest comprehensive modernization of the 279th separate shipborne fighter aviation regiment with an emphasis on cardinal improvement of the strike component. Su-33 (T-10K) heavy fighters should become the main carrier-based multipurpose aircraft complexes here, the suspension points and avionics of which should be immediately adapted to use aviation versions of the Yakhont-M and 3M51 Alpha anti-ship missiles. Initially, the Su-33 anti-ship weapon configuration was worked out, providing for the placement on the central suspension (between the nacelles) of the X-41 (3M80) Mosquito supersonic anti-ship missile, but in practice, as part of the 279th OKIAP, it was never used. It is obvious that now this configuration can become quite popular in our carrier-based aircraft.
An excellent quality of the Su-33 multifunctional fighter is the large volume of the fuel system of 12,100 liters, which brings the combat range with two Alphas or one Yakhont-M on board to about 1200 km. Naturally, another 220 or 450 km is added to this radius. As a result, we get the radius of an effective massive anti-ship strike of the deck IAP "Admiral Kuznetsov" up to 1420-1650 km, which is quite consistent with the indicators of the deck bundle "F / A-18E / F - LRASM" in range and surpasses them in the ability to break through the anti-missile defense "Aegis”- cruisers and destroyers due to 3 times higher flight speed and maneuverability of 3М51 and 3М55 missiles in comparison with AGM-158C LRASM. It is known that in a normal (more or less peaceful) situation on board the TAVKR "Admiral Kuznetsov" there are only 10 Su-33s. In conditions of escalation, the carrier-based wing of the naval Flankers can be expanded to 14 aircraft, making it possible to strike at once with 28 anti-ship missiles. Moreover, "Sushki", even with anti-ship missiles on board, is about 200 - 250 km / h faster than "Super Hornets", and therefore the former can reach the firing lines to the enemy AUG much faster than 2-3 times more will arrive at this place number of F / A-18E / F.
But, to our great regret, to date, there is no significant progress in the program of updating the avionics and multitasking of carrier-based heavy fighters Su-33. The huge modernization potential of "Thirty-third" simply stands still, from which both the prestige of our aircraft-carrying cruiser and the fighting qualities of the miniature segment of carrier-based aircraft suffer. The only thing that has been undertaken over the past few years is the decision on a very modest, according to modern tactical and technical criteria, modernization of the airborne electronic equipment. In particular, the specialized computational aiming and navigation subsystem SVP-24-33 Gefest, developed by Gefest and T, should be gradually integrated into the radio-electronic architecture of all Su-33s. For the first time embodied in the sighting complex of the experienced front-line bomber Su-24M, the multi-platform high-performance computerized subsystem SVP-24 "Hephaestus" made it possible from the "free maneuver" mode to hit stationary ground targets with simple free-fall bombs with circular probable deviation (CEP) characteristic of such high-precision missiles like the Kh-29L / T or the KAB-500Kr / -OD corrected bombs. At the same time, the Su-24M could avoid entering the radius of action of short-range self-propelled anti-aircraft missile systems using missiles with an infrared homing head.
The updated Su-33M will be distinguished by similar qualities. At the same time, the total functionality and potential in the air-to-ship / ground and air-to-air missions of the aircraft will not change at all. Firstly, in the radar architecture of Su-33 fighters, the old Cassegrain N001K "Sword" radar with a target detection range with an EPR of 3m2 is of the order of 115-120 km. The RLPK-27K computing facilities, namely the Ts100 on-board computer (speed of about 180 thousand operations / s), allow the station to take bearings in the view mode of 24 targets, accompany only 10 air targets on the way and capture 1 of them. By modern standards, this is an extremely low figure. Even worse, there are still no: the possibility of using guided air combat missiles with active radar medium-range homing heads R-77 (RVV-AE), as well as the ability to work on surface / ground in autonomous mode (using its own radar).
To implement the use of R-77 missiles in air combat and the air-to-surface mode, it is necessary to equip the new N001VEP / M radar and adapting multifunctional subsystem SUV-P-E, which is based on a more advanced and high-performance on-board computer of the BTsVM-486-2M type. The core of this calculator is the Intel Atom E640T processor with a clock frequency of 1 GHz, which is 5, 5 thousand.times more productive than the previous C100 (the MiG-29UPG for the Indian Air Force and the Su-27SKM is equipped with a similar product). Now the Su-33 has nothing of the kind. Now imagine that during a combat operation they will have to meet with the American "Super Hornets" and "Growlers", on board which have the most advanced electronic warfare equipment, radars with AN / APG-79 AFAR and ultra-long-range air combat missiles AIM-120D (180 km), I don't really want to think about the outcome of such a skirmish in combat conditions.
It is known that to compensate for the low capabilities of the Su-33 in long-range air combat, as well as the lack of the possibility of striking surface targets with high-precision weapons, the fleet ordered 24 MiG-29K / KUB multipurpose carrier-based fighters. The avionics of these vehicles are hardware and software adapted for the use of R-77 medium-range air-to-air missiles and their more modern modifications RVV-SD (Product 170-1), as well as numerous types of high-precision weapons (Kh-35 Uranium ", Kh-31AD, Kh-38MTE / MAE, etc.), but the Zhuk-M onboard radar is still built on the basis of a slotted antenna array, which has mediocre energy qualities and not the best noise immunity. The range of this station for air targets of the "fighter" type is at the level of N001K (120 km), which also limits its ability to early detection and capture of modern F / A-18E / F with an effective scattering surface reduced to 1.5 m2.
Only the ability to work on superficial targets can be considered a big advantage. Not very encouraging is the fact that the range of the MiG-29K with one outboard fuel tank and air-to-air suspension configuration barely reaches 900-950 km, which will not allow escorting heavy Su-33s throughout its entire operational range of 1200 1300 km, due to which the latter may be completely defenseless in front of the deck "Super Hornets" in long-range combat. In close combat, the Su-33s are head and shoulders above the F / A-18E / F, but, as a rule, in modern air confrontation it comes to close combat only in extreme cases. And the fighter composition of the 279th OKIAP is almost 3 times inferior to an air wing based on board any aircraft carrier of the "Carl Vinson" or "Gerald Ford" class.
The situation is not at all in favor of our carrier strike group. These difficult questions could be resolved by cardinal revision of the onboard electronic appearance of the Su-33 and MiG-29K / KUB to match the “4 ++” generation. In particular, the Su-33M could be completely unified with the Su-30SM entering the fleet by equipping the first radars with passive HEADLIGHTS Н011М "Bars", which in terms of energy and tactical capabilities are almost as good as the Hornet AN / APG-79 / KUB is much more expedient to equip the most modern airborne radars with active phased array "Zhuk-AE", capable of operating at a distance of 200 km. Accordingly, the deck "Sushki" will be able to both work out on ground targets and surface targets with tactical missiles of the Kh-59MK / MK2 family, "Yakhontami-M" and "Alfami", and perform operations to establish an air zone of restriction and denial of access and maneuver using modern air-to-air missiles RVV-SD.
But, as we see from the observed trend of modernizing the Su-33 only with ordinary computing subsystems for navigation and bombing SVP-24-33 "Hephaestus", we can only dream of a promising optional upgrade package for our only heavy carrier-based fighters. the magnificent project Su-33KUB, for which a high-performance processor with a frequency of several tens of gigahertz was to be developed. In the meantime, the air component of our carrier strike group is not able to fully support the anti-missile potential of the warrant, nor to expand the radius of the anti-ship defense. In addition, a Ka-31 AWACS helicopter with an E-801 Oko rotating ventral radar is used as a means of long-range radar detection and control at the Admiral Kuznetsov TAVKR. Not only does the helicopter have a limited range (340 km) and an operating speed of flight (about 150 km / h), the E-801 radar has a low energy potential, which implements the detection and tracking range of anti-ship missile targets of about 60-70 km and of the "fighter" type - 120-160 km; the throughput reaches 20 simultaneously tracked target tracks, which is extremely insufficient in modern conditions. The characteristics of the RLDN E-801 "Oko" helicopter complex are 2.5 times inferior to the parameters of the Yak-44 aircraft specified in the tactical and technical assignment in terms of detection range, 65 times in terms of throughput and 5 times in range. This is such an unfavorable situation.
