On January 9, 2020, a new round of the epic with the project 20386 corvette frigate developed by "TsMKB" Almaz became known to the public. This time TsMKB "Almaz" again jumped above its head and finally turned the project into a frigate, and not just a frigate, but nothing less than a frigate of the "ocean zone".
We look at the photo.
So what do we see? Fixed one of the shortcomings of the old project - a weak strike weapon. Now, instead of the Uranium missile launcher, the model has two 3S-14 launchers, capable of at least using the Kalibr missile launcher, and possibly Onyx and sometime in the future Zircons. The launcher in front of the cannon is the Redut launcher. The fact that Admiral Evmenov said about 32 "Caliber" is some kind of mistake, obviously there are 16 missiles in strike weapons and the same number in the anti-aircraft missile system.
For this, however, the ship had to be lengthened. And, which is logical, not only the bow, where the "Caliber" nestled, but also the stern. The reasons, apparently, in the need to avoid constant trim on the bow and the desire to provide high speed and better seaworthiness by contours, the ship is now not a "near sea zone, capable of" occasionally "performing tasks in the distant", but "ocean". Recall that even the Project 22350 frigate, the most powerful warship in its class, belongs to the far sea zone.
We'll come back to frigate 22350.
Background
Those who closely follow the domestic shipbuilding know in detail the story of the "corvette" of project 20386. It is worth retelling it, however, in general terms for those who missed this information.
So, since Soviet times, the main striking force of the Navy has been nuclear submarines of various types. However, they are very vulnerable to foreign submarines when leaving bases and in a number of other cases. Similarly, foreign submarines pose a great threat to domestic surface ships and vessels.
In order to make it as difficult as possible for any enemy to operate in the near sea zone, in the USSR, small anti-submarine ships - IPC were built in large numbers. Despite their small size and displacement, these ships turned out to be very effective anti-submarine warriors in our specific conditions.
After the collapse of the USSR, the renewal of the fleet stopped, the modernization of the previously built ships was not carried out. Under these conditions, the number of IPCs was continuously decreasing, and Russia's vulnerability to foreign submarines grew.
Since the early 2000s, the construction of project 20380 corvettes began. These ships were the first ships capable of fighting submarines built in the post-Soviet era. I must say that they were characterized by a number of both conceptual and design flaws, and the quality of manufacture of the first ships was simply appalling. There were changes of contractors, criminal cases, landings … as a result, on the corvette "Loud", handed over to the Pacific Fleet by the Amur shipyard, more or less everything worked.
Of course, even in fully operational condition, these ships were far from ideal. So, they do not have radio correction of missiles, which greatly reduces the potential of the Redut anti-aircraft missile system and makes it problematic to repel an air strike. They do not have a bomb launcher, which makes it impossible to combat the ground submarines and deprives the ship of some other advantages. They have poorly located anti-aircraft artillery mounts AK-630M. There are questions about the real radar stealth and the justification of the superstructure made of composite materials. The biggest disadvantage of these ships as anti-submarine - there are no anti-submarine missiles (PLUR), which sharply reduces the potential of this ship as a submarine hunter. And they are expensive. The price of such a corvette calls into question its massive construction in quantities sufficient to cover the BMZ.
For the sake of fairness, let us make a reservation that the modernization of the project could solve most of these problems, and the revision of the REV composition "in the right direction" on newly built ships would make them cheaper.
The corvette 20385, planned to replace this ship, had a reinforced composition of weapons and more powerful electronic weapons, the basis of which was a multifunctional radar complex from JSC "Zaslon". It also had 16 launch cells in the Redut air defense missile launcher instead of 12, and one 3S-14 eight-round launcher, with which it was possible to launch a wide range of guided missiles, including PLUR and KR of the Caliber family.
However, since 2013, strange things began to happen in the domestic shipbuilding system. The Navy refused to continue the 20385 series. Today, there is a conviction in society that the reason was the impossibility of obtaining imported MTU diesel engines and gearboxes for them due to sanctions. In practice, information about the termination of construction of 20385 was announced in the media before the Ukrainian crisis. Sources of information at the same time complained about the high cost of the resulting corvette.
The reserve for the canceled 20385 corvettes in the form of an integrated tower-mast structure and the MF RLK was installed on the four last corvettes of project 20380 under construction, which further increased their cost.
It seemed that, since corvettes are expensive, then it is necessary either to try to make them cheaper or to develop a new, more massive project to upgrade BMZ ships, primarily anti-submarine ships. The continuation of the series in a slightly modified form was quite logical from the point of view of inter-ship unification. Instead, something completely different happened.
In 2016, the public was presented with a model of a new corvette - project 20386. The ship was distinguished by the highest technical complexity, a huge displacement for a corvette, a weakened composition of weapons compared to 20385, and a lack of unification with previously built ships in many systems. Its design included a lot of technical risks, and, most importantly, it was almost twice as expensive as a project 20380 corvette, having the same offensive weapon, the same cannon, 4 more SAM ammunition, and deteriorated compared to 20380 submarine search capabilities. It was impossible to compare it with 20385 at a significantly higher price.
The further history of this project and its analysis was done in the author's article “More than a crime. Construction of corvettes of project 20386 - error " and in a joint article with M. Klimov "Corvette 20386. Continuation of the scam" … The latter also lists the technical risks of the project.
Since then, however, much has changed, and besides, the rumors about the amusing evolution of this project, the details of which were hidden from the public for a long time, began to receive material confirmation.
It is worth voicing them, probably.
Scandals, intrigues, investigations
Starting from the same 2016, information circulated around the project, which for the time being, remained unconfirmed.
The first was that the Uranium RC would be removed from the project. This, firstly, was logical, because even small RTOs had "Caliber", and the fact that the ship with "Caliber" and "Onyx" would be replaced by a ship with "Uranus" looked somehow strange.
The same sources speculated that in 2016 prices the price of the "corvette" would reach 40 billion rubles, which would "send" it to almost the same price niche, in which there is an incomparably more powerful and truly worthy warship - the Project 22350 frigate.
A little later, closer to 2018, another well-informed source told the author that "a ship of a larger size and displacement, and a more expensive one, actually a frigate, is already being worked out to replace 20386." The source did not give details, but as we can see, he was right: at least some work is underway. In light of the fact that the 22350 series was in question and there were no bookmarks for the ships of this project for a long time, the information about their replacement with something corvette-like, and even for the same money, sounded frightening.
And again, according to the same source, at the Almaz Central Design Bureau, some figures have a bold idea to "crawl" into the niche of creating ships of large classes than Almaz has always done in the past.
Finally, after the publication of the second article, the author received a short message stating that.
All of the above gave reason to think that in reality the project is undergoing some kind of processing. It is possible that the appearance of the lead ship will remain more or less close to the known one, and the serial ones are planned with changes. At the same time, the project number may remain the same, in modern Russia there is no need to look for examples of how a project was completely redone under the same number, everything has already been found.
Future options and risks
In order to make any predictions, you need to know exactly what the shown model is. The plate says "Corvette based on project 20386", that is, it is impossible to guarantee that this is exactly the modified 20386 and that it is being built exactly like that, although it is impossible to deny this, especially given the rumors from the past that have suddenly begun to be massively confirmed.
Therefore, we will evaluate the project as if it were a separate project, and not the one, 20386, which from the end of 2018 (two years after the laying) began to be built at Severnaya Verf.
Firstly, it is already a frigate. He's as big as a frigate, heavy as a frigate and armed like a frigate. Thus, this ship is already cutting not only the renewal of BMZ forces, like the "old" 20386, but is aiming to replace 22350. Of course, it is unlikely that the 22350 series will be sacrificed for this project, but this is now, but when at least 22350M appears in the drawings, then it is quite possible that someone will try to push the idea of a "light frigate" to it - which in itself, apart from 20386, is quite good, but one must clearly understand what this "light frigate" will do in our specific conditions …
And why should it be that way.
So far, it is obvious that this ship is not an anti-submarine - the dimensions of the GAS fairing do not make it possible to think that its main task will be the fight against submarines, and it is better for an anti-submarine frigate to have two helicopters. Although using a towed GAS, a helicopter and a PLUR from a 3C-14 it is possible to fight a submarine, there are no clearly pronounced features of an anti-submarine ship in this project.
Obviously, this is not an air defense ship - it has few missiles, there is no way to simultaneously fire from a cannon and an air defense system, and two AK-306s installed on the superstructure behind the gas ducts of the GTU are just some kind of anecdote.
That he has? It has 16 cruise or anti-ship missiles. This is the same as the first four frigates 22350 have. That is, we have before us a kind of revision of a strike ship, but light, and obtained by processing a completely different project.
That is, it is "just a ship" - a light frigate, invented without an explicit concept of combat use. The result of blind evolution, which did not come from tasks, but just like that - faster, more, more expensive.
Its advantages, apparently, will be speed and range. The downsides are complexity, price and the fact that this is again a duplicate project in relation to frigate 22350.
Thus, such a ship, if 22350 is now available, does not make sense at all, and then, when 22350 replaces 22350M, then a light frigate will apparently be needed, but different.
Returning to the frigate 22350, it is worth saying that the abstraction from "Almaz" does not stand comparison with it from the word "absolutely". It can be assumed that theoretically, the diamond supercorvette / light frigate may have higher speed and range. But even so, it makes little difference. The frigate 22350 has a total superiority in air defense due to the twice as large ammunition load of missiles and the more advanced Poliment radar, it has much more advanced air defense systems in the near zone, it has a more powerful GAS and is better able to fight submarines, it has a more powerful cannon (130 mm), his outer two ships have 24 rocket cells in installations 3C-14 against 16, and he is already in series.
False direction
Today Russia already has a project of a frigate in serial production - 22350. This ship is several times more powerful, and therefore more useful than any variation of 20386. Besides, it is mass-produced. There is no reason for the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau to spend budget funds on ships in the same class that the country does not need.
We have a gigantic, monstrous hole in the defense of the near sea zone - there are no forces capable of ensuring the deployment of NSNF, no forces capable of providing the deployment of a submarine. Old MPKs are dying, the 20380 series, instead of being modernized towards cheaper costs, was complicated (MF RLK) and then "stabbed", the 20385 series was completed on two ships, although its simplified version could also become the base ship of BMZ, when the construction of such large corvettes still there was a time.
We have huge problems with mine action forces. And if the difficulties in the construction of new minesweepers are explainable (but not their design - it is inexplicable), then the complete absence of attempts to modernize the existing ships already gives off not even stupidity, but betrayal. In our country, neither anti-submarine aircraft nor anti-submarine helicopters are produced.
We really have where to spend money without the "old" 20386, not to mention the "new". All this was true when this crazy project was just starting, and it is true now, when for some reason we were shown a model of a frigate made on its basis, even more expensive.
And if, in fact, under the brand of the "old" 20386 layouts, a new one is already being built with "Calibers" and a corresponding increase in price, then this will have no excuses at all, because one such unnecessary overgrown corvette will "eat" at least three ships simpler …
Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau has many talented designers capable of developing world-class ships using obviously low-tech components. There are interesting developments on ships of the near sea zone. There is experience. There is the ability to finally give the country what it needs for a long time - a project of a massive, simple and inexpensive BMZ ship, capable of replacing MRK and MPK. There are also such projects
Instead, we see a long-term epic on the development of budgets in any available way, on increasing the number of ROCs at the cost of serial production, which the TsMKB itself contributed a lot through its leaders, and other shameful ways of obtaining public money. Alas, but yesterday's model is from the same place, and has the same purpose. The management of this company is responsible for all of the above.
I would like to believe that fornication with giant and super-expensive corvettes and frigates growing out of them, expensive but weak against the background of competitors already under construction (22350) will someday end, and this design bureau will again, as before, serve the country's defense capability.
Who would have achieved this at last!
