Hypersonic rockets, robots and 50 years in service: the project of the submarine "Husky"
A few days ago, 14 December RIA News published some statements by the official representative of the St. Petersburg Maritime Bureau of Engineering "Malachite". Oleg Vlasov, Head of the SPMBM Robotics Sector, talked about ongoing work, some achievements and plans in the context of the prospective project of the Husky nuclear submarine. According to him, to date, the Malachite Bureau has completed preliminary work and prepared an advance project. The latter was planned to be submitted to the high command of the naval fleet.
December 20 the same news agency published a new statement O. Vlasov. This time the representative of the Malakhit SPMBM revealed some features of the future submarine. He pointed out that the project organization had determined which technical capabilities could be realized during the development and construction of new ships. On the basis of this, the shape of the future submarine was formed, and certain characteristics were determined. According to O. Vlasov, the Husky can serve 52 of the year.
On Wednesday night, it became known that Admiral Vladimir Korolyov, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, would have to visit Malachite 20 on December 12 and familiarize himself with the advanced design of the promising Husky submarine. Such news and the events that followed have attracted public attention. However, it immediately became clear that any technical details of the project, revealing certain features of the future submarine, will not be announced yet.
The bulk of information about promising submarines of the Husky type has not yet been disclosed and is unlikely to become public in the near future. As in the case of any other new project in the field of armaments or military equipment, access to basic data on future submarines is open only to a narrow circle of participants in research and development work, as well as to customer representatives represented by the Navy command and representatives of various military departments.
However, in the recent past, officials have repeatedly touched on the topic of promising nuclear submarines and pointed out some of their features. In addition, an approximate schedule of work was announced, according to the results of which the navy will receive promising submarines with weapons of various types and new capabilities.
In mid-November, a ceremony was held in Severodvinsk to take out the Prince Vladimir submarine from the boathouse. Speaking at this event, Admiral V. Korolev, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, raised the theme of the development of the submarine fleet in the distant future. According to him, the research work within the program with the Husky code will be completed next year. After this stage of work is completed, the navy will decide on the future fate of the project.
If the command makes a positive decision, the Malachite SPMBM and related organizations will begin to develop a technical project and begin preparations for the future construction of a new type of lead ship. Earlier, the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Vice Admiral Viktor Bursuk, stated that the development of a multi-purpose nuclear submarine was incorporated into the new State Armaments Program, designed for the period from 2018 to 2025. Thus, there is an opportunity to start developing a full-fledged Husky project as early as next year.
The lead ship of the Husky type, according to W. Bursuka, will be laid closer to the middle of the next decade - in 2023-24. Construction of such a submarine, associated with known difficulties, will take several years. Construction, testing and refinement will continue throughout the second half of the twenties. At the turn of the next decade, the industry will be able to transfer a new submarine to the customer. After that, the full-fledged serial construction of new submarines can start.
The design of the nuclear submarine with the Husky code, attributable to the conditional fifth generation, is being developed with a background for medium and long-term. As a result, it is, as far as is known, proposed the use of a number of original ideas that were not previously used in the domestic military shipbuilding. In addition, on board the submarine there will be a significant number of new devices and instruments, which are still not part of the equipment of serial ships.
Perhaps the most interesting feature of the Husky project is the proposal to build unified submarines for various purposes. It is proposed to build multi-purpose nuclear submarines and missile submarine cruisers capable of fighting enemy ship groups on the basis of the same corps, properly modified and manned by various units. In this case, most of the elements of the hull, nuclear power plant, shipborne systems, etc. will be the same for the two submarines. Differences will be in the composition of weapons and related equipment. Also, you may need to refine the robust corps to install the necessary weapons.
According to various estimates, in terms of their size and displacement, the new Husky submarines may be close to the existing ships of the Ash project. This will equip them with the required weapons of one kind or another. However, one cannot exclude the possibility that the multi-purpose submarine and the missile cruiser will noticeably differ from each other not only by their internal equipment. The presence of large ammunition of missiles of one type or another can lead to a corresponding increase in the size of the body.
The need to use new devices and solutions that reduce the noise of the ship in a submerged position was mentioned earlier. Vice-Admiral V. Bursuk said that in this parameter the new Husky submarine should be twice as large as the existing submarines of the Pike and Ash Trees projects. How exactly such problems will be solved is not specified. At the same time, significant progress has been made in this area in recent projects, and promising nuclear submarines have every chance of being less noisy than their predecessors.
Basic information about the weapons of future domestic submarines have not yet been announced, but there are already a number of assumptions. There are reports of a multi-purpose weapons modification of the basic nuclear submarine, the main task of which is planned to make the search and destruction of enemy submarines. According to a number of mass media, this version of the Husky submarine will be able to carry missiles and torpedoes of various models, including those planned for use in the future. Apparently, the Kaliber missile system with cruise missiles of various purposes can become one of the means of defeating various targets.
In this case, of particular interest is another rocket complex, which is likely to be used in the second modification of the Husky. This version of the submarine is designed to attack surface targets in the course of the fight against the ship, including carrier-based, enemy groups. According to some information, in such a role will be used the 3K22 “Zircon” complex with the 3М22 rocket. The main feature of the latter is the ability to fly at speeds that are 5-8 times the speed of sound.
Hypersonic flight speed significantly increases the real combat potential of the rocket. It gets the opportunity to approach the target in the shortest possible time, and intercepting such a rocket is extremely difficult. Probable enemy carrier strike groups control a space with a radius of several hundred kilometers, and their air defense can fight against flying threats of various kinds. A hypersonic rocket can pass as quickly as possible through the defense zone, leaving no time for the enemy to react correctly.
Perhaps it is for the use of Zircon missiles that the submarine will need an additional compartment, increasing its overall size and displacement. Together with such an element of design, the "anti-aircraft" submarine will receive new combat capabilities. There is reason to believe that, in its combat effectiveness, one Husky submarine with hypersonic ship missiles will be equal to several torpedo or rocket ships of previous models.
As the first representative of the new generation of submarines, ships of the Husky type will have to carry a variety of sonar and electronic equipment, characterized by high performance. Project developers should use compact and highly efficient instruments capable of ensuring proper observation of the surrounding space, including the detection and tracking of a significant number of targets. The main means of observation will obviously be a hydro-acoustic complex with a large nasal antenna.
The military and the designers have repeatedly mentioned their intention to equip the Husky submarine with robotic means. Thus, according to recent statements by Oleg Vlasov, remotely controlled systems of various classes will be on board the submarine. Such devices will work both in water and in the air. In this case, the exact composition of the complex of robotic tools, their appearance and the range of tasks to be solved have not yet been clarified.
From the announced information, it follows that the new type of submarines will receive additional surveillance equipment in the form of underwater crewless systems and unmanned aerial vehicles. With the help of such equipment they will be able to increase their informational awareness in various situations. The presence of additional sources of information about the situation can give significant advantages over the enemy. In particular, the Husky submarine, using its own reconnaissance aircraft, will be able to quickly and easily find enemy enemy naval connections, and in addition, such a system will simplify data collection and subsequent preparation for rocket firing.
According to recent news, Malachit SPMBM has already formed the overall look of a promising nuclear submarine and has completed work on an advance project. Now the finished documentation must examine the customer in the face of the command of the Navy. If the Navy approves the existing proposal, the development of technical documentation will begin in the near future. This process, obviously, will start next year - immediately after the start of the new state armaments program, which provides for the costs of creating a submarine of the future.
The development of a full-fledged project will take several years, and by the mid-twenties, one of the shipbuilding enterprises will be laying the main ship of the Husky type. It is not yet known what modification this submarine will relate to. According to the announced plans, the submarine will be handed over to the customer before the beginning of the thirties. Perhaps, by this time it will have time to start the construction of other ships of the series. How exactly the construction of two types of standardized submarines will be organized will be known later.
The number of Husky submarines required by the fleet has not yet been named. It can be roughly presented, taking into account the current quantitative and qualitative composition of the submarine forces. Anyway, the Navy can order a significant number of new submarines, comparable to the number planned for the construction of "Ash". These ships will come to the fleet combat personnel from the end of the twenties, and their construction will probably last until the end of the thirties or the beginning of the forties. By this time, much of the submarines currently serving will become morally and physically obsolete, and will therefore be written off.
The Husky project has already passed the first stage, during which the overall appearance of a promising submarine was formed. After the approval of the preliminary design, the designers of the Malachite and related enterprises will continue to work, thanks to which shipbuilding will be able to proceed with the assembly of structures in the future. All such work is carried out in our time, using modern technology and experience. At the same time, the project is being created with a large future margin. According to the developers, the Husky submarines will have to serve for half a century. This means that the lead ship, entering service in the late twenties, will be decommissioned only by the eighties.
Creating a new technology with a uniquely long service life is a particularly difficult task for shipbuilding. Nevertheless, the successful solution of this task will give the Russian navy new opportunities and increase its potential. As a result, over the course of several decades, naval sailors will be able to exploit equipment with high characteristics and wide combat capabilities, which have a positive effect on the country's defense capability.
On the materials of the sites:
https://rg.ru/
http://ria.ru/
http://iz.ru/
http://tvzvezda.ru/
http://flot.com/
http://militaryrussia.ru/blog/topic-856.html
- Ryabov Kirill
- RIA News / ria.ru
Information