The most popular British and American media, as well as our eminent news TV channels, are unlikely to tell about this, because most of the events will most likely end up behind the screen of obscurity and will not be subject to disclosure. We will try to consider the event in more detail, relying on the operational and strategic situation in the North Atlantic region, where in the foreseeable future a number of large-scale conflicts between the Russian Federation and NATO may develop both on the basis of the transformation of the existing “Baltic tension” into a military confrontation, and in view of the beginning of “Arctic Race "for control over vast areas of the continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean. We are talking about the Atlantic cruise, which began on Saturday, October 14, of a small naval strike group of the Baltic Fleet of the Russian Navy, consisting of two improved corvettes of project 20380 ("Smart" with w / n 531 and "Boyky" with w / n 532) and one medium sea tanker pr.160 "Cola" for the purpose of demonstrating the St. Andrew's flag in various parts of the Atlantic Ocean. The hike was announced by the representative of the BF Roman Martov.
At first glance, the tasks of the grouping voiced by Roman Martov will be quite standard for this type of campaign and will be limited to conducting training anti-submarine and anti-aircraft operations against a simulated submarine and air enemy, as well as measures to replenish supplies in the oceanic theater of operations. The corvettes are equipped with Redut shipborne anti-aircraft missile systems with 3x4 vertical launchers 3S97 for 12 transport and launch cups, which accommodate either 48 9M100 self-defense missiles (range 12-15 km), or 12 long-range 9M96E / 2 (range from 40 to 150 km depending on the trajectory); the latter are capable of intercepting maneuvering ballistic objects by the method of kinetic destruction "hit-to-kill" and various low-altitude airborne weapons. Anti-ship missions are assigned to the 3K24 Uranus complex, represented by 2x4 KT-184 launchers with Kh-35U anti-ship missiles. Anti-submarine operations are performed by the compact 324-mm torpedo complex "Packet-NK", designed to defend against enemy submarines within a radius of 20 km and against torpedoes within a radius of 1400 m.
Despite the fact that such an arsenal of our miniature KUG is insignificant in comparison with the number of anti-ship weapons of the NATO Naval Forces in the North Atlantic, this is only the surface of the iceberg, where the main assets and tasks, both literally and figuratively, are hidden “under water”. As you already understood, our two corvettes and a tanker will not operate in the Atlantic alone, but under the reliable cover of the submarine component of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy, which is on regular combat duty. It is on the latter in this game of cat and mouse that the main spectrum of the most difficult tasks will be entrusted.
The first thing that will form the basis of the above tasks is the complete exclusion of opening one's own location using the enemy's hydroacoustic, radar and magnetic means (RSL, active-passive sonar systems on enemy ships and submarines, as well as magnetic anomaly sensors on anti-submarine aircraft). Deeply improved modifications of MAPLs pr. 971 K-328 "Leopard" and K-154 "Tiger" ("Improved Akula") K-157 "Vepr" ("Akula-II") and K-335 "Gepard" ("Akula-III"). The acoustic signature of the first two versions of these torpedo-attack submarine cruisers is almost the same as the modernized Los Angeles-class submarines equipped with low-noise propellers. The noise factor of the "Tiger" and "Vepr" is about 4 - 5 times less in comparison with the early project 671RTMK "Shchuka". The noise level of the submarine K-335 "Gepard" (a modernized version with the NATO nickname "Akula-III") is even lower and is at the level of the multipurpose nuclear submarines of the project 885 / M "Yasen-M" and the early "blocks" of the state "Virginias"; This was achieved thanks to a perfect double-hull beam-type structure, where all mechanical units (steam generating unit OK-650M.01, single-shaft steam turbine unit OK-9VM, main circular pumps, etc.) are placed on shock-absorbing frames and platforms, also called stacks.
What does this mean in relation to the current cruise of our KUG Baltic Fleet to the North Atlantic? Considering the fact that the Icelandic minimum will begin to exert maximum influence on the region by the time the maneuvers of our KUG begin, causing the appearance of a large number of cyclones and a difficult hydrological situation, it will be extremely difficult to detect the low-noise "Pike-B" by the sonar means of the NATO OVMS. Such hull bow sonar systems, such as AN / BQQ-10, as well as wide-aperture passive airborne AN / BQG-5A (installed on Virginia class submarines) will be able to track the K-335 Gepard at a distance of about 35-40 km only with excellent hydrological conditions, as well as if the speed of "Shchuka-B" is slightly higher than 7-8 knots. In our case, the guarding corvettes "Pike-B" (or one submarine) will "sneak" through the waters of the North Atlantic at a speed of 4-5 knots, making it almost impossible to detect them. In addition to covering our corvettes "Soobrazitelny" and "Boyky", the list of tasks of the nuclear submarines of the Northern Fleet will undoubtedly include acoustic reconnaissance of modern submarines of the NATO countries.
The greatest interest in the command of the Russian Navy is caused by the British multipurpose nuclear submarines of the Astute class. These submarines will become the main underwater component of the "A2 / AD" zone, which will be formed in the Norwegian and North Seas in the event of an escalation of the conflict in the North Atlantic region. The estutes, which came out on duty from naval bases in Scotland, will be able to quickly build up their presence anywhere in the North Atlantic, unlike the American Virginias. Also, obtaining information about the acoustic profile of these submarines is important in view of their upcoming participation in the "Arctic race", where London claims a very decent underwater jackpot in the Arctic region. This is evidenced by a publication provided on April 10, 2016 by the British edition of The Sunday Times, with reference to the command of the Royal Navy of Great Britain, which reports the imminent resumption of combat duty of British nuclear submarines in the Arctic Ocean. Astute class MAPLs, developed by BAE Systems, are one of the most modern western nuclear attack submarines along with French Barracuda class submarines and American Virginia submarines under construction. In comparison with the latter, the Estute class is distinguished by the presence of the most powerful missile and torpedo arsenal of 38 Tomahawk missiles and Spearfish torpedoes, used from 6 bow 533-mm torpedo tubes (in different proportions depending on the operation being performed).
In fact, any of the Astute class submarines is capable of reaching the launch lines of 40 UGM-109E Tomahawk Block IV missiles from the Barents Sea in all cities in central Russia. It is for this reason that it is extremely important to carefully study all the known physical fields of submarines of this class for an easier and more successful search and destruction of them on the distant approaches to our sea borders. Nevertheless, such acoustic reconnaissance cannot be classified as an easy task, because despite the small maximum immersion depth of 300 - 350 m (Shchuka-B can dive to 600 m), the Estyut has decent acoustic secrecy indicators, which practically not inferior to the first modifications of "Virginia" and "Akula-II". In particular, the submarines are equipped with a modern "quiet" water-jet propulsion device from Rolls-Royce, and the design of the power plant provides for all the noise-reducing and anti-vibration options used on most famous submarines, including the Pike-B. A steam generator, a steam turbine unit, turbine generators, mechanisms for supplying missile-torpedo / mine weapons to torpedo tubes and other units are installed on specialized shock-absorbing platforms that reduce the noise level to 55 - 65 dB. The submarine's hull is covered with a specialized sound-absorbing envelope. Nevertheless, in this case, the crews of our Pike-B class submarines can “probe” the acoustic signature of the Astute. To do this, they have at their disposal a unique high-energy hydroacoustic complex MGK-540 "Skat-3" with fully digitized computing facilities, as well as an interface for processing and displaying information.
The complex is represented by a powerful nasal hydroacoustic station with a cylindrical phased acoustic array based on more than 5 hundred hydrophones, as well as extended onboard high-sensitivity GASs, providing Project 971 Shchuka-B with an azimuthal zone of a confident view of 260 - 300 degrees. The capabilities of the complex are supplemented by the low-frequency GAS "Skat-3" with a flexible extended towed antenna located in the UPV gondola on the tail vertical stabilizer. MGK-540 "Skat-3" possesses the highest sensitivity and hardware-software filters for selection of real noises from underwater and surface vehicles against the background of various acoustic anomalies. Due to this, the bearing range of underwater targets (under the most favorable hydrological conditions) can reach 220-230 km (the third zone of acoustic illumination, which is full of significant fluctuations). Prospect 955 Borey strategic missile submarine cruisers equipped with a similar sonar system MGK-600B Irtysh-Amphora-B have similar detecting qualities. This is comparable to the Type 2076 sonar system of the Astute submarine, which features more than 13,000 hydrophones.
In addition to the MGK-540 Skat-3 SJC, Shchuka-B carries on board a lot of additional hydroacoustic stations, including: GAS fixing the onset of cavitation of MG-512 "Vint-M" propellers, GAS detecting the underwater sound speed MG- 543 "Reflector", as well as GAS search for bottom and anchor mines MG-519 "Arfa-M". And, despite the fact that the long-range anti-submarine aircraft P-8A "Poseidon" has been operated by the US Navy for more than 4 years, and several aircraft are being tested from the American airfield of the Jacksonville Navy (Florida) for further transfer to the British Air Force, none of the machines was able to monitor the treacherous waters of the North Atlantic for the presence of our low-noise attack submarines off the coast of the UK, USA or Norway. Very soon, the "Shchuk-B" in such Atlantic campaigns will also be joined by the 4th generation submarine attack cruisers, pr. 885 "Yasen" and 885M "Yasen-M", which will ultimately make the NATO AUG in the Atlantic Ocean defenseless against "An anti-ship strike against even a pair of such submarines.
