Whoever has a fleet, he owns the sea
Out of the depths of the ages and waters, the outlines of Victory appear.
In the name of His Majesty ... the ship of the line ... in the name of military victories ... isolated from the treasury 61 136 fnl. Sterling.
According to modern experts, in the 18th century, the creation of an 104-gun sailboat was equivalent to building an atomic aircraft carrier (1% of the military budget of a superpower).
At the time of Admiral Lazarev, mentor Nakhimov and Kornilov, a three-point battleship with rigging and armament cost 2,5 million rubles. bills (estimate 1836 g.). The smaller double-deck LC is 1,8 million. Despite the fact that the ships were built by slaves, serfs, assigned to state-owned factories. For completeness: in the middle of the XIX century. The annual military budget of the Russian Empire exceeded 300 million rubles.
Turn down the next page.
Launched in 1938, the heavy cruiser Prince Eugen cost the Germans 109 million Reichsmarks.
The cost of another Teutonic engineering masterpiece, the battleship Bismarck, was 196,8 million rm.
Aha Feel trick? In past centuries, the cost of ships was strictly correlated with their size. And suddenly in the twentieth century, this dependence was broken.
In comparison with the battleship "Prince" seems to be a fragile toy. Three times smaller displacement, combat qualities are not comparable. However, the difference in their value is much less great than the differences in combat capabilities. The most powerful ship of the Atlantic was more expensive than the very mediocre cruiser 1,8 just times.
The reason for the amazing situation?
Means of detection and control of fire. Exact mechanics, optics, radio engineering, analog devices and computing devices. High art!
The aiming complexes and combat control devices interacted with tracking systems and unique drives capable of moving multi-ton gun designs with precision of the surgeon's hands.
Despite the differences in parameters, the systems described above were performed on a single, highly sophisticated technical level. And it was they who largely determined the cost of building a cruiser and battleship. The guns themselves, a dead array of armor and thousands of tons of hull structures could not fundamentally change the situation. As a result, 14-th. the cruiser of serial construction cost the budget as half of the 40-th. ton "Bismarck".
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Nowadays the situation on navy became truly unique.
The epic with the French “Mistral” flew in the amount of one billion euros. Let me remind you that this was the cost of TWO helicopter carriers, taking into account Russian-made communication systems installed on them (50 million euros, according to media reports). Also among the indirect costs were the preparation of future bases and the training of crews.
Let's remember what “Mistral” is. They are scornfully called “barges”, but honestly, where have you seen such barges?
Six seats for helicopter take-off and landing operations. Two 30-ton lifts. Fuel fittings for refueling aircraft. Equipped hangar. Indoor pool and gates to exit 4 landing boats. Cargo deck with ramps for tanks and wheeled vehicles. A hospital with modern (and expensive) equipment. Team “amphitheater” with communications. Kubrick and cabins to accommodate 400 marines - with all amenities, including gyms. There is also a galley and cold stores for food for five thousand people.
200-meter helicopter carrier with a standard displacement of 16 500 tons. (with a full load and a dock-filled chamber, the displacement of the Mistral exceeds 30 thousand tons, although in this case it is not considered).
Two giant UDC. 2 x 16,5 = 33 thousands of tons of hull structures and modern equipment.
For the same cost (~ € 1 billion) you can buy ... one modern air defense frigate, having a standard displacement of about 5 th. Tons.
"Mistral" and HMS Argyll, similar in size to the frigate air defense "Horizon"
In other words, the unit cost of building one ton of the frigate “Horizon” is six times higher than that of the landing helicopter carrier.
In practice, the comparison of the “unit cost” of one ton of frigates and UDC is not used anywhere. Being absolutely correct from the point of view of mathematics, it bears no more sense than the calculation of the proportions of an ideal sandwich.
All those involved in the rearmament of the Navy know that modern frigates and destroyers are more complicated and more expensive than any ships that even surpass them.
That is why the developed and affluent countries that build aircraft carriers for export (for example, Spain with its famous Navantia) are unable to build a horizon-level frigate on their own.
Although what is “Horizon”?
A joint French-Italian project that is simplified version British destroyer “Daring”. That one - yes, a masterpiece. What is its main radar with AFAR capable of viewing a bird from a distance of 100 km? He is able not only to look, but also to transfer commands to fired missiles. On board the destroyer, there is a mass of various jokes, for example, a second, “long-sighted” radar capable of seeing satellites in space orbit.
The rockets will find the target on their own, even if it managed to disappear over the horizon.
That's why the price of “Dering” (above one billion, but already pounds). Plus a couple of hundred million ammunition.
Appearance and dimensions are almost identical to “Horizon”.
Peculiarities of classification will be left out. The frigate is not because it has three masts with straight sails. Beautiful word outlived its era. Now it is a rocket ship of the ocean zone. Floating battery air defense missile defense, the British called it a destroyer, the French - a frigate. Although with the same success could be called a brig.
Here are a couple of interesting examples.
Incredibly, the cost of the hull of the American destroyer is 5% of the total cost of the ship.
And at the unit cost of construction, the destroyer ton is twice the cost of one ton of a giant nuclear aircraft carrier, with all its reactors, control systems and 100-meter catapults.
Japanese helicopter carrier "Izumo", which caused a stir in the APR. Almost a quarter of a kilometer in length, the standard displacement 19,5 thousand tons. The cost of construction amounted to 1,2 billion (in US dollars).
For comparison: the cost of building a modest destroyer "Akizuki" (2010) amounted to almost 900 million (the same USD).
The destroyer turned out really modest - just 5000 tons of standard displacement; with limited ammunition. Unlike “Derring”, there are not enough stars from the sky: “Akizuki” was created to cover its “elder brothers” - big Aegis destroyers, copies of the American “Burkows”. And in this role is quite good: the destroyer is equipped with an impressive range of radio equipment, including the main radar FCS-3A with eight active antennas. Instantly respond to the appearance of a threat in the near zone. Because of the high cost.
As for the Izumo light helicopter carrier, it is, with a small difference in size, significantly more expensive than the French Mistral. If specifically - twice.
The reason lies in the presence of a set of detection tools. As on the destroyer, it is equipped with a full range of facilities, including a sonar and a radar with AFAR. Strictly speaking, the “trimmed” version of the OPS-50, which is not capable of directing missiles (which it does not have), is installed on Izumo, however, taking into account the cost of such options, the cost of the helicopter carrier also exceeded $ 1 billion.
What will be the Russian response to “Akizuki” and “Izumo”?
In the near future, the hopes of the Russian Navy are linked to the series of frigates of the 22350 Ave. (the head ship is Admiral Gorshkov) and the Polyment-Redut ship-based air defense system.
The basis of the complex is a multi-purpose radar “Polyment”, consisting of four phased antenna arrays fixed on a tower-like superstructure of the frigate. Plus an unknown type detection station, hidden under the fairing at the top of the superstructure.
There is also a compromise version of the Redut air defense missile system to arm the new corvettes of the 20380 Ave. (20385). Where, instead of the “Poliment” radar, the 5P27 “Furke” radar is used to detect and target missiles.
Very well, you say. What is the price of these solutions?
Six years ago, according to official data from the Severnaya Verf, the construction cost of the corvette reached 600 million dollars.
So much money for the ship with a displacement of 2000 tons? What surprises you, the size of the ship itself have little value! A complex of radio equipment of this corvette can be envied by many destroyers.
As for the larger (4000) and much stronger armed frigate (powerful Polimer radar, 32 cells for anti-aircraft missiles instead of 12-16 on the corvette, not counting the strike weapons), at the end of the “zero” Gorshkov cost was estimated at third of the cost of the destroyer “Zamvolt”.
That is why the domestic USK is ready to perform any task of our military, except for the construction of frigate / destroyer class ships.
All sorts of boats, MAKs and rescuers are baked like pies, it is important that reconnaissance ships float to the water, the black silhouettes of submarines glide. But as for the small frigate, this is a question for tens of billions of rubles.
The problem is (and what to hide, then?), That with the existing level of corruption, you can eventually complete the construction of any ship, turning the “long-term construction” into a profitable business.
Anyone other than an air defense ship. A ship whose capabilities are similar to black magic. Get a bullet in a flying bullet! Pierce the space with your own rays hundreds and thousands of kilometers and bring interceptors on the plane / satellite / missile warhead.
The development of such a destroyer and first of all his weapons, will require the involvement of hundreds of research teams from all over the country.
Without proper concentration of efforts and restrictions on personal enrichment of the responsible persons, it is impossible to build such a masterpiece.
Marine Guard
As we could see in the examples given, any comparison of fleets in terms of the number of pennants and the total tonnage (!) Of ships would give a fundamentally wrong idea about the capabilities of the Navy of a particular country.
The differences between the carriers of the zonal air defense systems and the ships of other classes are too great. A fleet possessing such equipment goes beyond the traditional limits, turning into a kind of sea space forces.
The 21 February 2008 of the SM-3 rocket was launched from the Lake Erie cruiser in the Pacific Ocean and three minutes after the launch, the reconnaissance satellite USA-247 at an altitude of 193 27 km / h was struck.
4 April 2012 of the French horizon-class frigate on the rocket test site near the island of дуle-du-Levant near Toulon intercepted the GQM-163A Coyote supersonic low-altitude target flying at a speed of 1 km / s at an altitude of less than 6 meters above sea surface (which no easier than knocking down a satellite — too little time).
For the same reason, all reflections on the “mosquito fleet” and the construction of rocket boats instead of the “excessively expensive” destroyers and frigates seem naive.
Nine women cannot bear a child in a month just as nine RTCs with “Calibres” will not replace one frigate at sea.
Why do ships need such a strong air defense?
90% of all naval attacks over the past half century have occurred with the use of airborne attacks. Without anti-aircraft systems at the current level of development aviation and missile weapons when meeting with an enemy slightly more advanced than ISIS, the ship will be torn to pieces in seconds.
Of course, one can hope for EW funds (as if they are cheaper!). But this does not negate the need for the physical destruction of the threat. Indeed, besides the destroyer itself, tankers and ships of the convoy, which should be carried out through a dangerous area, can be located nearby. Finally, the target can be an enemy reconnaissance satellite in Earth orbit.
Why are these systems so fantastic?
The author does not deny the significant corruption component of these projects. War is a profitable business, under the secrecy you can hide any theft, tragedy and error, the covert struggle of elites and the defense of fake dissertations.
Still, the technical level of these devices is proud of the modern technology. Designed and assembled into a manual array of thousands of receiving and transmitting elements, megawatt radiation power, millions of lines of program code. All this is capable of working outside the walls of sterile laboratories, in storm conditions of the open sea. With full integration into the complex of other radio equipment and ship weapons.
One of the four antennas of the radar SPY-1
The sonars and multi-kilometer towed antennas capable of detecting mines in the water column at a distance of ten miles from the ship are no simpler than the underwater lighting system.
In this case we are talking about piece products - unique systems that are not used anywhere else, except for high-ranking warships and yachts of the oligarchs.
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