The first half of the week was marked by another fit of hysteria of the British political establishment regarding a possible military confrontation between the British Armed Forces and the Russian Navy and Aerospace Forces. The hype was raised at the suggestion of the newly elected head of the British Defense Department, Gavin Williamson, who, in an interview with The Daily Telegraph, made an extremely provocative and resonant statement about “the deaths of thousands of citizens of Foggy Albion from an impending attack by the Russian Armed Forces on infrastructure and energy facilities.” To make the picture more serious, Williamson referred to some photographs from the British Army and Defense Intelligence (DI), allegedly depicting "suspicious Russian intelligence activity near British power plants"; and also pointed out that the Russian side (obviously, it was about the submarine component of the fleet) is investigating the architecture and computerized control points of energy branches (communications) connecting the island states with Western Europe. At the end of the interview, he summed up that "the Russian Armed Forces are preparing a cyberattack or missile strike" on the above targets.
Similar attacks happen in London on a regular basis, especially when the English Channel is crossed by our flagship warships - TAKR pr. 11435 "Admiral Kuznetsov" and TARKR pr. 1144.2 "Peter the Great", or the slightest acoustic signs of the presence of our multipurpose ships appear in the waters of the North Atlantic. nuclear submarine cruisers pr. 971 "Akula / Improved Akula". The question arises: what else did Mr. Williamson expect after the weekly reconnaissance flights of the RC-135V / W "Rivet Joint" strategic electronic reconnaissance aircraft a few tens of kilometers from the most important radio-technical nodes of the Western Military District, located in the Kaliningrad and Leningrad regions? Moreover, Wilmson's statements cannot but cause outright laughter against the background of Britain's continued dependence on Russian gas.
So, for example, in 2016 end consumers in Foggy Albion received about 4.0 billion cubic meters. m. of Russian gas through its subsidiary Gazprom Marketing & Trading (GM&T); Prior to May 25, 2016, Gazprom held a 10% stake in Fluxys Interconnector Linited, which owns the Interconnector two-way gas pipeline connecting the UK with the main stream in Belgium. Firstly, over 22 years of participation in this project, Russia is already well acquainted with all the features of the architecture of this communication. Secondly, despite the sale of this percentage of shares from Interconnector, a large share of the gas purchased by the UK remains Russian. Thirdly, in the list of Moscow's goals in the event of a regional conflict, items that provide for depriving the population of the enemy's country of energy resources or creating an environmental catastrophe in Western Europe do not prevail.
At the same time, London, which is one of the main European "watchdogs" of Washington, does not stop at only one accusatory rhetoric, but is preparing to implement a number of operational-strategic concepts of naval operations with the participation of "fresh" AUG based on flagship aircraft carriers. R08 HMS Queen Elizabeth, R09 HMS Prince of Wales, Daring-class destroyers and Type 26 GCS-class global frigates. It is quite predictable that against the background of the development of advanced naval air defense systems of the Sea Ceptor type and the new generation CVS-401 “Perseus” supersonic anti-ship missiles with modular multiple “equipment” of 2 individual targeting warheads, the above concepts of the Royal Navy of Great Britain may represent for of our Northern and Baltic fleets, a certain threat, the extent of which must be clarified.
Behind the news reports, eventful events in Syria, Donbass, as well as around the Olympic Games in South Korean Pyeongchang, the news from British Collingwood, where the largest naval school of the British Navy is located, is located, and is equipped with a modern computerized base for imitation. terminals of combat information and control systems installed on board frigates, destroyers and aircraft carriers of Western European fleets. The equipment makes it possible to form a network-centric information field in which practically any tactical situation in a naval / oceanic theater of operations can be modeled.
According to the news resource "Military Parity" with reference to www.royalnavy.mod.uk, on January 19, 2018, the exercises "Multi-National Fleet" were held at the school in Collingwood, in which the crews took part British aircraft carriers Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales, destroyers Type 45 Dragon and Diamond, frigate Type 23 Montrose, as well as frigates of the French, German and Danish navies (frigates of the Horizon and FREMM classes, "Sachsen" and also "Ivar Huitfeldt"). One of the stages of preparation for a confrontation with the naval forces of a powerful adversary, in the role of which only the Russian Federation acts here, is evident, especially since the American Rear Admiral and Director of Operations of the Pacific Command of the US Navy Patrick Kirby was present at the exercise. But it is worth asking the question: has Her Majesty's fleet reached such a technological level to completely "hold down" the ship's strike groups of our Navy in the Baltic Sea and North Atlantic?
The strength of the aircraft carrier strike groups of the British Navy can be considered their anti-aircraft and anti-missile capabilities. The main role here is played by the Type 45 destroyers of the Daring class, and later the promising Type 26 Global Combat Ship, built at the Scotstown shipyard (in Glasgow, Scotland), owned by BAE Systems, will be connected. The first are equipped with the PAAMS anti-aircraft missile system, a distinctive feature of which is integration with the S1850 decimeter radar detector (L / D-band of low frequencies of decimeter waves from 1 to 2 GHz), capable of detecting small-sized ballistic objects at a distance of 200 - 250 km and altitude of 150 km, as well as with a more advanced high-frequency S-band of decimeter waves (2-4 GHz) "Sampson", which allows escorting about 1000 VTS on the aisle and at the same time issuing target designations at 12 priority targets for interceptor missiles "Aster-30". The advantage of the British S-band AFAR-radar "Sampson" over the most common X-band APAR (from "Thales", used on the frigates "Saxony", "Ivar Huitfeldt" and "De Zever Provincien") is a higher transmission of radiation with a wavelength 7, 5 - 15 cm through the atmosphere, which makes it possible to detect objects with an RCS of 0.01 m2 at a distance of about 120 km.
Anti-aircraft missiles of the Aster-30 family are undergoing a continuous modernization program, which is aimed at increasing the efficiency of intercepting operational-tactical ballistic missiles and MRBMs equipped with missile defense penetration systems. In particular, the development of the Aster-30 Block 1NT modification is at an active stage, which will receive an advanced active millimeter-wave Ka-band radar seeker capable of hitting both high-speed and small-sized ballistic objects with much greater accuracy.and "complex" low-altitude anti-ship missiles with low RCS (the millimeter range has indisputable advantages here). Also, thanks to the equipping of transverse control gas-dynamic engines, any modifications of the Aster-30 missile defense system are capable of maneuvering with overloads of up to 62 - 70 units, making lightning "throws", in contrast to missiles with the OVT gas-jet system, which require a certain amount of time to implement the required angle attacks. What follows from this? Aster-30 will be able to intercept supersonic anti-ship missiles performing anti-aircraft maneuvers with an overload of up to 25 units, which is why heavy anti-ship missiles P-700 (3M45) Granit are unlikely to be able to oppose anything to these missiles. Only the more nimble anti-ship missiles 3M55 Onyx can "compete" with the Asters; and even here a 100% breakthrough of this umbrella is not guaranteed.
The British will also "tighten up" the capabilities of the close ship missile defense, which performs the functions of self-defense of individual ships or the entire AUG (in the case of a medium-range air defense missile defense system). If the outdated Type 23 Duke frigates are equipped with the "ancient" Sea Wolf anti-aircraft missile systems, whose interceptor missiles operate at speeds of about 1, 1M, and 2 Type 911 parabolic guidance radars provide only 2 target channels, then the new Type 26 GCS will receive the Sea Ceptor air defense missile system equipped with unique small-sized CAMM missiles weighing 100 kg with a range of 25 km and CAMM-ER with a range of 45 km -mm caliber). Both modifications are equipped with active radar homing heads, INS with the possibility of radio correction from the carrier or a third-party target designation device, as well as a gas-jet thrust vector deflection system, which allows the rocket to vigorously maneuver at the stage of developing a solid propellant charge, and therefore it will be not so easy. The active guidance system used in the "Sea Ceptor" allows the British to achieve several times more simultaneously hit targets than the SAM "Dagger" or "M-Tor" (4 targets). Naturally, the CAMM missiles are noticeably inferior in the so-called "jerky maneuverability" to the Asteram-30 due to the lack of transverse gas dynamic engines, but this does not mean that the CAMMs are unable to hit modern anti-ship missiles.
Conclusion: the arsenals of 3M45 Granit anti-ship missiles, deployed, for example, on two Project 949A Antey SSGNs - K-119 Voronezh and K-410 “Smolensk ", as well as on the aircraft carrier" Admiral Kuznetsov ", since the total number of target channels of the PAAMS and" Sea Ceptor "air defense missile systems on frigates and destroyers covering the" Queen Elizabeth "can exceed 48, 60 or more simultaneously intercepted objects, while "Granites" at low altitudes do not shine with speeds (1.5M), and their radar signature corresponds to the "Super Hornet" fighter (EPR is about 1 sq. M). This will require about the same number of "Onyxes", "Calibers" in the 3M54E version, or a smaller number of promising hypersonic "Zircons", which will not be in service with the fleet for about 4-6 years.
At the same time, alone or with a small number of escort ships (2 EM Type 45 and 1 frigate Type 26), the aircraft carriers Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales are practically defenseless against the anti-ship weapons in service with the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy, because unlike such aircraft carriers as "Charles de Gaulle" and "Admiral Kuznetsov", the British are equipped with extremely primitive air / missile defense systems, among which are noted: 3 combat modules with 20-mm anti-aircraft artillery systems Mark 15 "Phalanx CIWS", 4 modules with 30-mm automatic anti-aircraft cannons DS30M Mk2, as well as a number of large-caliber machine guns for self-defense against enemy "mosquito fleets". The first two types of ZAK are not able to cope even with 3-5 subsonic anti-ship missiles Kh-35U "Uran". Consequently, there is also a serious gap in the "anti-missile umbrella" of the British AUG, because it is not for nothing that the official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, Major General Igor Konashenkov, called the British aircraft carrier "an aircraft carrier and a convenient large-sized sea target for Russian missile weapons" in response to the statement of the then head of the defense department of Michael Fallon, in which he tried to put the aircraft carrier "Admiral Kuznetsov" on the bar below "Queen Elizabeth" in the originality of external architecture.
Consider the anti-ship capabilities of the British Navy's AUG. Here, for our Anglo-Saxon "colleagues", things are not going well at all. Despite the presence of an ambitious project of the promising CVS-401 "Perseus" anti-ship missile system from the MBDA corporation, its implementation in hardware is unlikely to take place before the initial combat readiness of the 3M22 "Zircon" anti-ship missile system (developed by NPO Mashinostroyenia), on which the main stakes are made today. in the Ministry of Defense and the Navy; Yes, and the speed data of "Perseus" (in 2M on the approach area) is not anything unique against the background of updating the surface component of the Russian Navy with promising Pantsir-M air defense systems, as well as the expected introduction of 9M96DM missiles into the Redut air defense system. At the moment, these are outdated subsonic anti-ship missiles of the AGM-84 "Harpoon" family (installed on the "Daring" class EM), which are not a threat even for surface ships of the Baltic Fleet (SK pr.11540 and corvettes of pr. 20380), equipped with complexes "Dagger", "Redoubt" and "Dagger".
If we compare the capabilities of the aircraft carriers "Admiral Kuznetsov" and "Queen Elizabeth" in a duel situation, then without looking at the most powerful anti-missile umbrella of the first, the composition of the carrier-based wing will also be extremely important, and the picture here has not yet been determined. Queen Elizabeth and her sister ship already have a well-defined wing structure. In emergency tactical situations (during a high-intensity military conflict), the deck of aircraft carriers can take 30, and the hangar 24 stealth fighters SKVP 5th generation F-35B, while in peacetime this number can be 20 machines. The first flight tests of the Navy Lightnings from the Queen Elizabeth deck are scheduled for the second half of 2018, in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the United States, and by 2023 the air wing of the first aircraft carrier should be formed. Despite all the mockery of the F-35B, and the justly deserved status of a "clumsy penguin" for the "whipped" airframe design and low angular rate of turn in comparison with most tactical fighters of the "4 + / ++" generation (Su-35S, MiG-35, "Typhoon", "Rafale" F-22A), the machine has an effective reflective surface of the order of 0.1-0.2 sq. an advanced optical-electronic sighting complex of the infrared range AN / AAQ-37 DAS with a distributed aperture of 6 high-resolution infrared matrix sensors. What does this mean in the context of a carrier-based tactical wing?
Firstly, the complete superiority in ultra-long-range air combat over the Russian heavy carrier-based fighters Su-33, as well as the MiG-29K / KUB, which are part of the 279th separate ship fighter aviation regiment. The total number of "Dryers" on the deck and in the hangar is usually 14 units, while the fleet "Falcrum" from 10 to 12 (8-10 MiG-29K / KUB). The effective reflective surface of the first with R-27ER / ET rockets on hangers reaches more than 12 square meters. m, which is why the onboard radars of the Lightning are capable of detecting its range of about 215 - 230 km. The multipurpose MiG-29K / KUB, characterized by a glider with a wide use of composite materials, have an RCS of 1 sq. M, due to which the range of their detection by means of AN / APG-81 is reduced to 120 km; but even this does not provide a significant increase in the combat potential of the 279th OKIAP. After all, the Su-33 and MiG-29K / KUB. The problem is that the radar upgrade program has not been implemented for Russian carrier-based fighters: the outdated H001 stations with a Cassegrain antenna array, as well as the H010 "Zhuk" with a slotted antenna array, are still used. These stations detect the F-35B at a distance of 45 - 55 km, only 20 - 50% of the AN / APG-81 capabilities, and this is only in terms of range. And it is also necessary to take into account such criteria as the target channel, which is 8 times higher than the parameters of Н001 and 2 times ahead of Н010 "Beetle", noise immunity, as well as the number of simultaneously tracked targets on the passage. Consequently, the F-35B pilot can launch the AIM-120D from a distance 2 - 5 times greater than the pilots of our Su-33 and MiG-29KUB will do.
The AN / AAQ-37 DAS complex also boasts an order of magnitude better performance than the OLS-27K installed on the Su-33. The first is capable of detecting heat-contrast targets at a distance of several tens of kilometers (a torch from a solid propellant rocket of a launching air-to-air missile) to 1,300 km (a torch from a launching OTBR or medium-range ballistic missiles). The DAS system is capable of passively detecting afterburner fighters at a distance of more than 100 - 150 km, while for the OLS-27K this figure is only 50 - 60 km. The next important detail should be considered the completion of the MBDA work on adapting the tail of the Meteor air combat missile to the geometric parameters of the F-35B's internal weapons bays, which will turn the vehicle into an even more formidable enemy. This rocket is equipped with an integral ramjet engine with a gas generator charge supply valve with a control depth of 1:10. Thanks to this, the engine of the URVB "Meteor" can maintain thrust up to the maximum ranges (130 - 150 km), which ensures high speed and maneuverability in the approach area, at the moment when the target is performing anti-missile maneuvering. With a similar domestic project of the RVV-AE-PD long-range "ramjet" missile ("Product 180-PD"), things are far from smooth: after the final stage of R&D work carried out in 2012, news about the program ceased to be published in the electronic media; the further fate of the product remains unknown at the moment.
The alignment of forces in a duel situation can change towards the 279th OKIAP only after the aircraft fleet is updated with modifications of the MiG-29KUB and Su-33, equipped with the most modern on-board radars "Zhuk-AME" based on active phased antenna arrays, the receiving-transmitting modules of which were obtained by the method of low-temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC): their service life is several times higher than that of the advertised US transceiver modules built on the basis of gallium nitride. An equally significant increase in the potential of our air wing in air superiority operations can also be ensured by equipping the Su-33 with an N035 Irbis-E radar, a fully digitized cockpit with several large-format color MFIs and the latest holographic HUD (by analogy with Chinese J-11B), as well as turbojet by-pass engines with thrust vector deflection system AL-41F1S ("Product 117S"). Unfortunately, no progress has been observed in this direction either: "Sushki" received only a module with a specialized high-performance computing subsystem SVP-24-33 "Hephaestus" system SRNS-24 and special calculator SV-24). This subsystem does not give any privileges in the fight against an air enemy.
An equally important part for a comparative review is the anti-submarine potential of surface warships and submarines, which are in service with the AUG / KUG of the Russian Navy and the Royal Navy of Great Britain. In this regard, the British fleet looks much more faded than the US Navy, all destroyers and cruisers of which are equipped with advanced sonar systems AN / SQQ-89 (V) 4-15 with the main AN / SQS-53B / C HUS, designed to be placed in a bulb fairing "Arley Burke" and "Ticonderoog". For example, the SQQ-89 A (V) 15 variant is the first SAC of the family built on an all-digital multiplex data bus synchronized with the Aegis combat information and control system. The architecture of the complex is open, which makes it possible to quickly update hardware and software by introducing COTS products, which significantly reduces the time for modernization in wartime. The detection range of sound-emitting underwater objects can be more than 150 km for AN / SQS-53 (second far zone of acoustic illumination).
British "Daring" class EMs, "sharpened" for anti-aircraft and anti-missile missions, are equipped with rather primitive medium-frequency bulb sonar systems MFS-7000. Despite the fact that British analytical and naval Internet resources are trying to refine the capabilities of this SAC, in reality this is not true. As we found out from various English-language sources, the MFS-7000 is a slightly improved modification of the Type 2091 complex, originally intended for frigates of the Brazilian Navy. This product is capable of locating underwater objects at a distance of about 30 - 35 km (within the first far zone of acoustic illumination). Due to its low energy qualities and short range, among specialists, the MFS-7000 is often considered as a SAC for searching for bottom and anchor mines. Consequently, the Type 45 destroyers have practically no chance of maintaining combat stability in the confrontation with the Russian ultra-low-noise diesel-electric submarines of the project 877EKM / 636.3 or the multipurpose nuclear submarines of the project 885 / M "Ash / -M", which the MFS-7000 is able to "see "Only within a radius of 20 - 25 km, while our submarines pr. 971" Shchuka-B ", pr. 885" Ash "and pr. 877EKM" Halibut "are able to detect" Daring "in the second far zone of acoustic illumination, using more powerful SJSC MGK-540 "Skat-3", MGK-600 Irtysh-Amphora-Ash and MGK-400M Rubicon-M, respectively.
The only positive moment for the Type 45 crews is the basing of the EH101 "Merlin" multipurpose / anti-submarine helicopter, which is capable of carrying 4 small 324-mm Mk 46 / "Stingray" torpedoes with a maximum depth of 450 m and a range of 7300 m, while to implement the tactical capabilities of the Merlin helicopter at ranges of more than 35 km, target designation from the MFS-7000 sonar system will not be enough, it will be necessary to issue coordinates about the underwater enemy from more informative sources (strategic patrol aircraft P-8A Poseidon, or Type 23 Duke frigates "Equipped with a mid-frequency hydroacoustic active / passive complex Type 2050 and a low-frequency GAS with a flexible extended towed antenna Type 2031Z). As for the aircraft carriers Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales, they are not equipped with built-in hydroacoustic systems, once again confirming the status of “aircrafts”.
The surface component of the British Navy is able to establish a parity ratio with our AUG in terms of anti-submarine qualities only after the new Type 26 ASW (Anti-Submarune Warfare) frigates have entered service with anti-submarine modifications. At the moment, compensation for the low parameters of the MFS-7000 daring sonars and the absence of the SAC on Queen Elizabeth can be achieved thanks to the multipurpose underwater component represented by modern Astute class nuclear submarines. They are distinguished by high acoustic secrecy, comparable to the "Ash" due to the placement of moving and noise-emitting mechanisms (steam generator, steam turbine, turbo-gear unit) on multi-level shock-absorbing platforms, sound-absorbing hull coatings,as well as the presence of a jet propulsion unit. The pinnacle of engineering thought embodied in the "Estutes" is considered to be a powerful in-body wide-aperture SAC Type 2076 from Thales, represented by 13,000 hydrophones.
The product is capable of tracking several hundred underwater objects up to the third far zone of acoustic illumination. Astute class submarines are the most serious opponents for our multipurpose submarines. In the same turn, it should be noted that in a dueling situation the MGK-600 hydroacoustic complex "Irtysh-Amphora-Ash" boasts a range of 200 - 230 km, which is confirmed by data from trusted sources. Taking into account the equipping of British submarines with 533-mm torpedoes "Spearfish", the capabilities of "Astute" and "Ash" are partially equalized. Torpedoes of this type, developed by BAE Systems Underwater Systems, have a maximum speed of 113 km / h (26% faster than our UGST Fizik-2 torpedo) and a range of 54 km versus 50 km for Fizika-2. But it is necessary to remember the fact that the Astute class submarines are quite capable of using the German DM2A4 ultra-long-range torpedoes (with a range of more than 120 km) and this noticeably changes the picture.
