Will the new Tsushima wait for us?
The results of the year are summed up every December. Do not bypass this custom and the Ministry of Defense. However, this time, the military began to sum up the results of November 7. It might seem that the open meeting of the board of the Defense Ministry of the Russian Federation, at which the results of the 2012 – 2017 five-year plan were evaluated, was timed to coincide with the centenary of the Great October Socialist Revolution. But this is a mistaken impression. In fact, there was another reason. Five years ago - 6 November 2012 of the year - Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu headed the country's defense department.Since Sergei Shoigu was somehow inconvenient to talk about the achievements of the ministry himself, the head of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces - First Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Army General Valery Gerasimov acted as the leading speaker. He painted an impressive picture of the changes that took place in the Armed Forces of the country during the five-year period. However, even a simple layman could appreciate the sharp increase in combat readiness of troops and fleet, notice the re-equipment of them with new models of weapons and military equipment.
And yet, Valery Gerasimov’s report had one topic that could not but cause doubt. This is a naval construction. For some reason, the Ministry of Defense is traditionally exaggerating here. “Over the past period, the situation with the equipping of the Navy with modern weapons has stabilized,” noted the Chief of the General Staff. - It received more than 150 ships and vessels, including more than 60 warships, including 15 carriers of high-precision Caliber missiles.
Yes, the shooting of this missile system at terrorists in Syria was not only highly effective, but also produced a huge response in the world. But the results of military shipbuilding in general are not impressive.
In Russia, the navy receives, to put it mildly, not very many combat units. Therefore, it is not difficult to track this process. Since 2012, the fleet has been replenished with three strategic nuclear-powered submarine missile cruisers (SSBN) of the Borey project, one multipurpose nuclear submarine (YPS) of the YN project 955, six diesel-electric submarines of the 885 project "Paltus", two frigates of the 06363 project, four 11356 project corvettes, one Dagestan rocket ship of the 20380K project, five small missile ships (MRK) of the 11661 Buyan-M project, one small artillery ship of the Makhachkala project of 21631 Buyan and the basic minesweeper Alexander Obukhov of the 21630 project "Alexandrite". That is, we have 12700 combat units available. Even if we add to them 24 anti-sabotage boats of the 14 Rooks project, two boats of the similar purpose of the 21980A project Mongoose and 12150 Patrol boats of the 11 Raptor project, whose total displacement is 03160 T, 23 of the 8 landing boats of the 21820 project boats, the ShpNXX of the Shymnénénénou-29 -35-ac-15 K-15-year-15 Shp-XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXYYYYYYYYYYYYY. “Serna” and 11770 (BK-02510), still “over 16” does not work.
Why do we need such annotations, it is impossible to understand.
As for the overall picture, over the past 10 years, in the period from 2007 to 2017, the vast majority of units transferred to the fleet are basic boats: small raid and diving boats, floating cranes and floating targets. According to the accepted international classification, they are referred not even to auxiliary vessels (auxiliaries), but to service crafts. Of course, the fleet cannot do without them, but they have nothing to do with combat units.
HOLE FROM BUBLIC
Compensating for the shortage of real combat units, the fleet is addicted to all sorts of shows that are designed to demonstrate its growing power. Often, such events are held in the presence of Supreme Commander Vladimir Putin.
So, on September 6 of this year, the head of state visited the newest corvette “Perfect” of the 20380 project, anchored in Ajax Bay near Russian Island, where the Eastern Economic Forum (WEF) was held at that time, which was attended by heads of several states and governments, as well as big business in the Asian region. We find it difficult to answer the question why it was necessary to arrange a ship inspection during the operation of the WEF. But this event was served in the media widely.
The representative boat "Uragan" famously approached the board of the "Perfect", which became part of the Pacific Fleet 20 in July of this year and became the first large enough surface ship to replenish this alliance over the entire post-Soviet era. At the ramp, the head of state was met by the captain of the 3 rank Blinov and the 36 division commander of the Pacific Fleet surface ships based on Fokino in the Vladivostok area, the captain of the rank 1 Kovalev. "Perfect" is assigned to the 36-th division temporarily, since it is intended for service in the Kamchatka flotilla. The compound, headed by Kovalev, consists of the nuclear-powered missile cruiser Admiral Lazarev (formerly Frunze), which is awaiting scrapping, the Guards missile cruiser Varyag and two destroyers of the 956 project, one of which is the Stormy, from the year 2005 has been located under repair at Dalzavod, and the second, “Fast,” rarely goes to sea, since they are simply afraid to release it. That is, in essence, the compound has only one active ship - the Varyag cruiser, which was commissioned 28 years ago.
It was not the commander of the ship Blinov, but the division commander Kovalev who took the head of state to acquaint him with the “Perfect”, apparently according to the seniority of the military rank. He began his excursion from acquaintance of the high guest with the anti-submarine / anti-torpedo complex, reinforcing his report with a poster demonstration of the system. Listening to the explanations, the president nodded approvingly. The paradox was that the Supreme Commander was not shown a complex, but in the literal sense of the word, a donut hole, since the launcher of the complex on the “Perfect” was somehow missing. There was only a bed from her. Where did she go? She did not have time to do for those 11 years that the ship was built? Or just not set? Maybe someone stole and sold for scrap? No answers to these questions were given. However, they were not set.
Then Kovalev led the president and his retinue into the ship’s nose, where he pointed to the place where the missiles of the newest anti-aircraft missile system (ZRK) should be located. It is clear that they were not there, because this complex has not yet passed state tests. Since 2011, 20380 project corvettes have been running around the seas and oceans without anti-aircraft guided missiles, that is, in fact, they are unarmed from air strikes. When the commander of the 36 Division spoke about the combat capabilities of the air defense missile system, the president also nodded his head, but somehow without enthusiasm. He is certainly aware of this problem, which was probably discussed more than once at meetings held annually in Sochi with senior commanders of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and leaders of the defense industry.Today, X-35 anti-ship missiles of the Uran and 100-mm universal А-190 anti-ship missiles and the XNUMX-mm anti-ship missiles allow the corvette to function as a large missile boat and a patrol ship, as well as to fire at coastal targets. However, the main tasks of ships of this class related to the provision of anti-aircraft (air defense) and anti-submarine (PLO) defense are not available to him.
CREATION OF MYTH
However, the most striking naval event of last year was the Chief (it’s written in official documents with a capital letter) naval parade in St. Petersburg and Kronstadt on the occasion of Navy Day, which was celebrated on July 30. “We made a decision to revive the Main Naval Parade, which will be held in St. Petersburg,” said Vladimir Putin on the eve of the holiday, speaking at a joint press conference with Finnish President Sauli Niiniste. - I assure you, this is not a rattle weapons, this is a restoration, a revival of traditions that have been more than 100 years old. ” Sergey Shoigu spoke in the same spirit. “On this holiday, we will recreate one of the most important military rituals, which itself is a source of pride for our country, a spectacle vivid and unforgettable,” he said. By the order of the Minister of Defense even the medal “For participation in the Main Naval Parade” was instituted.
Anyone who is more or less familiar with history The Russian fleet knows that the imperial parades and naval parades were conducted from the time of Peter the Great. In 1939, this tradition was revived by Joseph Stalin on Navy Day. But never organized any major parades - either with a capital or a lowercase letter. The main parade is a modern invention, or rather a myth.
WHAT DID WE SEE ON HIM?
Let's start with the appearance of the participants. All admirals, generals and senior officers were dressed in ridiculous buttoned-up buttons and richly embroidered with gold thread uniforms of the late Stalin era. The parade was hosted by Vladimir Putin and Sergei Shoigu. They bypassed the construction of ships on the Neva on a white-painted boat P-344 of the Raptor type, made not in a patrol but in a VIP version and intended for traveling by the head of the defense department of the Russian Federation. Usually this “combat unit” of the Russian Navy, assigned to the Baltic Fleet, stands at the landing stage of the National Defense Control Center of the Russian Federation on the Frunzenskaya Embankment of the Moscow River. But on the occasion of the main parade the boat was driven to the Northern capital. And, as we will see, not his alone.
After the ships were examined, the Commander-in-Chief and the head of the military department left the P-344 on the Admiralty Embankment and climbed the podium installed on Senatskaya Square. Along the tribunes along the Admiralteiskaya Embankment, the sailors carried the symbol of the parade — the unfolded panel of the aft St. George flag of the Azov battleship. He was the first to receive him for his heroic actions in the 20 Battle of Navarino in October 1827 of the year. However, the banner did not look old. And who would allow to take out the 290-year-old relic from the Naval Museum, where is it stored? This assumption was confirmed after not having had time to bring the flag to the building of the Admiralty, as he jolted merrily in the wind over the dome of his Western tower. So, there were at least two copies of the relic.
Then came the appropriate speeches, greetings and congratulations. Before the podium solemn march proceeded foot ceremonial calculations. And now the time has come for the most spectacular part of the event - the passage of ships on the Neva. It really was great.
The first, a wave of the wave, quickly ran through numerous anti-diversion boats of the Rook type and Raptor patrols. This "extras" was a success due to the fact that for a month or more these boats delivered to the Northern capital not only from the Baltic, but also from the Black and Caspian Seas, as well as from the Northern Fleet. By the way, anti-submarine aircraft IL-38H, flown from the Far East, took part in the airborne unit of the Main Parade.
For small boats followed by minesweepers, missile and landing boats, small rocket and anti-submarine ships - most of them are still Soviet-built. The frigate “Admiral Makarov”, the “Resistant” corvette, the large landing ship “Minsk” and the diesel-electric submarine (DEPL) “Dmitrov”, that is, ships of 2 rank, remained on the barrels, of which the last two are heritage Soviet era, and the frigate has not yet entered into the Navy.
Then an equally impressive second section took place - Kronstadt. Logically, the Supreme Commander, the Minister of Defense and the persons accompanying them were to board the helicopters and fly over to the island, to which they are within reach. But they did it easier: they put down a huge screen on which a television report was broadcast from Kronstadt. All the same could be organized without leaving Moscow. Indeed, until the middle of the 50 of the last century, naval parades were organized in the capital. Torpedo boats, large and small hunters, and even small submarines lined up along the embankment of the Central Park of Culture and Rest. Gorky, that is, opposite the current National Center for Defense Management of the Russian Federation. Katerny parade to arrange and now is easy. At the same time, it is possible to conduct TV reports on the big screen not only from Kronstadt, but also from Baltiysk, Sevastopol, Novorossiysk, Severomorsk and Astrakhan. And from Vladivostok - to show the festive salute and ships, decorated with illuminations.
But back to the Kronstadt branch of the parade.
It consisted mainly of large ships and submarines of the 1-th and 2-th ranks. The wake structure stretched for several miles. The Marshal Ustinov missile cruiser, which completed a five-year repair in December last year, the large anti-submarine ship Vice Admiral Kulakov and Vladikavkaz diesel-electric submarines represented the Northern Fleet. The large landing ship "Alexander Shabalin", the IPC "Zelenodolsk" and "Kazanets" were delegated by the Baltic Fleet. The new diesel-electric submarines “Veliky Novgorod” and “Kolpino” of the 06363 project, later famous for delivering massive high-precision strikes against terrorist objects in Syria, were still only preparing for the transition to the Black Sea.
To the south of the sea channel, the North Sea heavy SSBN Dmitry Donskoy and the heavy nuclear missile cruiser Peter the Great stood on barrels. They did not participate in the defile, because with their size it is difficult to do. Of course, it was dumb, as is customary to say now, to overtake these huge ships from the North to the Baltic around Scandinavia. Their campaign triggered a reaction from Western European countries, but it did not seem to be the one they were counting on in the Russian Defense Ministry. After all, it is known that “Dmitry Donskoy” - the largest submarine in the world - is not used as a combat one, but only as an experimental one, with the help of which new types of weapons are tested. Now, if she carried hundreds of two or three cruise missiles, as previously envisaged, the effect of this “cruise” would undoubtedly be quite different. It is also known that Peter the Great is in need of repair, but when its time comes, no one can say yet. And is it necessary at all? These two atomic monsters in the northern seas and the Baltic were not followed by NATO warships, but by environmental control vessels who constantly took water samples to increase its radioactivity. But the fears of Western European countries were in vain. Everything went without incident.
REVIEWS OF LIABILITY
Special mention should be made of the frigate "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov" of the 23500 project and the large landing ship (BDK) "Ivan Gren" of the 11711 project who participated in the main parade of the 2017 of the year, although just like the Admiral Makarov were not included composition of the Navy. Both of them belong to the champions of protracted.
Ivan Gren laid 23 December 2004 of the year - 13 years ago! The project was reworked several times at the insistence of the customer. When the idea of "mistralizing" the airborne forces of the fleet arose, they generally gave up on the BDK. But after Paris turned to Moscow, to put it mildly, with its back and tore up the deal on the helicopter carriers, Gren was remembered again. To speed up its refinement, the project was once again “improved”, that is, simplified. During the tests last summer, it turned out that the ship’s magnetic field exceeds all permissible norms and the BDK can play the role of a minefield breaker, since sea mines with magnetic and combined fuses would inevitably have worked if Gren was near them. At the end of October 2016, the BDK was taken to the dock to "refine the demagnetization system." It provided for the replacement of cables, for pulling which required the dismantling of a number of pipelines and other equipment. This operation is akin to replacing blood vessels in humans with the temporary movement of vital organs. Only in the spring of this year, factory running tests were resumed, and on November 30, the BDK began to implement the state testing program.
A little less built frigate "Potters". 1 February next year marks 12 years since its inception. The ship went through numerous stages of testing, but was not accepted by the fleet due to the non-operational weapon system. This was again 29 November, said Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov. He expressed the hope that by the end of December rocket launches will be successfully completed and the frigate will enter service. Vice-Admiral Viktor Bursuk, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy for Armaments, echoes him. “Now Admiral Gorshkov is completing state trials, we are waiting for him this year, like Ivan Gren,” he told TASS correspondent. “Both of these ships are now in the final stage of state tests, as is the frigate of the 11356 project Admiral Makarov. But such assurances we hear not the first year ...
"Admiral Makarov" has long been ready. It was delayed for more than a year by the testing of a new version of an anti-aircraft missile for the Shtil-1 air defense missile system, which, as they say, was finally completed successfully. Probably, Ivan Gren will be ready for the New Year. But with the "Gorshkov" is not so simple. The ship also fulfilled most of the state test program, but problems again arose with the latest air defense system installed on it. However, this problem is not new. This complex was to receive the Novik frigate of the 12441 project, built back in the 1997 year, that is, 20 years ago. But the ship was never completed due to the unavailability of a number of weapons systems. Now the Novik, which was first reclassified into an educational-experimental ship and renamed Borodino, decided, as the sailors say, to “cut it into needles,” that is, to send for scrap.
Our new corvettes have been walking without working air defense systems for many years. However, they belong to the ships of the near sea zone, which in case of a threat from the air can, at least theoretically, be covered by airplanes of the base aviation. The frigate "Gorshkov" is called upon to operate in the distant sea and ocean zones. There you can’t call an interceptor to repel attacks by attack aircraft and cruise missiles.
It seems to the author that the fleet and the Ministry of Defense have long been ready to give the go-ahead for the inclusion of the Gorshkov in the Navy. But this, it seems, at least until recently, was opposed by the president. Now new elections are coming, and the head of state may flinch in order to please the electorate.
PARADE FLEET
Alas, it should be recognized that warships in Russia are built for a long time and often poor quality. For them, there are often no necessary engines, some types of weapons and other components. During the main parade, it remained to envy the Chinese sailors who arrived halfway through the world at an event held on the banks of the Neva and in the Gulf of Finland, on magnificent ships - the destroyer “Heifei” of the 052D type with a combat command system similar to the American Aegis and the Yunchen frigate type 054A. The PLA Navy received six 2014D destroyers from 052, eight were launched and at least one more hull is on the stocks, and from 2008 of the year, the Chinese fleet was replenished with 25 frigates of the type 054A, and three more are being completed afloat.
Incidentally, in Russia there is a class pladinits, with enviable regularity and without any problems replenishing the fleet. October 10 of this year in Kronstadt was held the signing ceremony of the acceptance act and raising the flag of St. Andrew on the communication boat “John of Kronstadt” of the Burevestnik project 21270. This vessel, or rather the executive class yacht, included in the Baltic Fleet, is intended for service trips of senior commanders, as well as the taking of parades. 27 January of this year, the Black Sea Fleet joined the Sapsan of the same type. He was a little late, as he was supposed to be commissioned at the end of last year, due to problems with domestic engines installed instead of MTU diesel engines as part of the import substitution program.
"Sapsan" and "John of Kronstadt" - the fifth and sixth boats of this type. Their main task is comfortable and safe delivery of high-ranking officials to the site of naval celebrations. So, last July 31, President Vladimir Putin, on Navy Day, inspected the construction of ships on the Neva just from the board of the Serafim Sarovsky boat of the 21270 project.
During the construction of these, even very expensive boats usually do not know the problems with financing, the supply of components, etc., almost all warships and auxiliary vessels in Russian shipyards are confronted with. But the "petrel" is not enough. In the Pacific, the patrol boat T-10 of the 299 project, called the “Hurricane”, was turned into a representative ship 02065 years ago. It was on him that the Supreme Commander approached the board of the “Perfect” corvette in Ajax Bay.
At the Sokol Shipyard 27 of October of this year for the Russian Navy a launch boat of communication of the project 1388HZ Baklan of an improved modification was launched. This is the fourth ship of this family, two more ordered. "Cormorants" are also intended for representational purposes. Compared to the “Thunderbirds”, they have higher seaworthiness, 10 days autonomy and 1000 miles cruising range.
From the same VIP-class boat P-344 Minister of Defense. This "Raptor" is not at all combat, but also a luxury yacht. At the very landing stage at the National Center for Defense Management of the Russian Federation on Frunzenskaya Embankment, two premium-class Pardus-type air cushion boats found registration, also having no military significance.
Other power departments have their own parade yachts. For example, the Coast Guard of the Border Guard Service of the FSB has two newest border boats of the special service (PKAS) of the 21600 "Khost" project. Since they are based on Sochi, it is not difficult to guess what the subject of their “special service” is. The Federal Guard Service has a large number of “cool” boats, mostly foreign-built.
Are there many smart yachts for a not too large fleet?
Under current conditions, when the naval shipbuilding plans implemented by the fleet command and shipbuilding enterprises are stalled, all these parade boats are a kind of ball gowns of a naked ship, which the modern Russian Navy is today.
Ceremonial events require considerable funds. The fun of the 2017 Main Parade of the year, active preparation for which began in two months and which included the repair of ships and aircraft, as well as numerous crew training, not to mention the distant distillation of many participants to the scene of action, required at least a billion rubles, if not more . Burned fuel, wore out the material part, the crews broke away from combat service and combat training. The event could be more modest.
In an interview with the newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda, published on December 1, Admiral Vladimir Korolev, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, said that intensive preparation for the main naval parade of the 2018 began this month. The show goes on!
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