Readiness of the British AUG for a collision with the Russian Navy. News from Collingwood
The first half of the week was marked by another bout of hysteria by the British political establishment regarding a possible military confrontation between the British Armed Forces and the Naval fleet and the aerospace forces of Russia. The hype was raised from the filing of the newly elected head of the British defense department Gavin Williamson, who, in an interview with The Daily Telegraph, made an extremely provocative and resonant statement about the "death of thousands of citizens of Foggy Albion from the impending strike of the Russian Armed Forces on infrastructure and energy facilities." To make the picture even more serious, Williamson referred to some photographs from the British Army and Defense Intelligence DI (“Defense Intelligence”), allegedly depicting “suspicious intelligence activity of Russians near British power stations”; and also pointed out that the Russian side (obviously, it was a question of the underwater component of the fleet) is exploring the architecture and computerized control points of energy branches (communications) connecting the island state with Western Europe. At the end of the interview, he summed up that “Russian Armed Forces are preparing a cyber attack or missile strike” at the above facilities.
Such attacks occur in London regularly, especially when the English Channel is crossed by our flagship warships - TAKR Ave. 11435 Admiral Kuznetsov and TARKR Ave. 1144.2 Peter the Great, or in the waters of the North Atlantic appear the smallest acoustic signs of the presence of our multipurpose 971 Akula / Improved Akula nuclear submarines. The question arises: what else did Mr. Williamson expect after the weekly reconnaissance flights of RC-135V / W “Rivet Joint” strategic electronic intelligence planes several dozen kilometers from the most important radio-technical units of the Western Military District located in the Kaliningrad and Leningrad regions? Moreover, Wilmson’s statements cannot but cause outright laughter against the background of the continuing dependence of Great Britain on Russian gas.
So, for example, in 2016 end consumers in Foggy Albion received about 4,0 billion cubic meters. m. of Russian gas through its subsidiary Gazprom Marketing & Trading (GM&T); Until 25 May 2016, Gazprom held a 10% stake in Fluxys Interconnector Linited, which owns the Interconnector two-way gas pipeline connecting the UK with the main stream in Belgium. Firstly, over 22 years of participation in this project, Russia is already well acquainted with all the features of the architecture of this communication. Secondly, despite the sale of this percentage of shares from Interconnector, a large share of the gas purchased by Great Britain remains Russian. Thirdly, in the list of Moscow's goals in the event of a regional conflict, items that provide for depriving the enemy's population of energy resources or creating an environmental catastrophe in Western Europe do not prevail.
At the same time, London, one of the main European “chain dogs” of Washington, does not stop at just accusatory rhetoric, but prepares to translate into reality a number of operational-strategic concepts of naval operations with the participation of “fresh” AUG on the basis of flagship aircraft carriers R08 HMS "Queen Elizabeth", R09 HMS "Prince of Wales", destroyers of the class "Daring" and "global frigates" of the class Type 26 "GCS". It is quite predictable that, against the background of the development of advanced shipborne air defense systems of the Sea Ceptor type and supersonic anti-ship missiles Perseus with a modular, split gear from 401's individual targeting combat units, the above concepts of the Royal Navy of Great Britain can present Our Northern and Baltic fleets have a certain threat, the extent of which must be clarified.
According news reports full of events in Syria, the Donbass, as well as around the Olympic Games in South Korean Pyeongchang, very faded and at first glance the news from the British Collingwood, where the largest naval school of the British Navy, equipped with a modern computerized base for simulating combat terminals, looked uninteresting information management systems installed aboard frigates, destroyers and aircraft carriers of the Western European fleets. The equipment allows you to create a network-centric information field in which almost any tactical situation at the maritime / oceanic theater of operations can be simulated.
According to the Military Parity news resource, citing www.royalnavy.mod.uk, 19 in January 2018, the Multi-National Fleet exercises were held at the base of the school in Collingwood, in which the crews British aircraft carriers "Queen Elizabeth" and "Prince of Wales", destroyers Type 45 "Dragon" and "Diamond", frigate Type 23 "Montrose", as well as frigates of the naval forces of France, Germany and Denmark (frigates of the classes "Horizon" and "FREMM", "Sachsen", as well as "Ivar Huitfeldt"). One of the stages of preparation for the confrontation with the naval forces of a powerful enemy, which only the Russian Federation plays here, is on the face, especially as the American rear admiral and the operations director of the Pacific Command of the US Navy, Patrick Kirby, attended the exercise. But it is necessary to ask the question: has the fleet of Her Majesty reached such a technological level in order to completely “forge” the naval strike groups of our Navy in the Baltic Sea and the North Atlantic?
The strength of the carrier-based strike groups of the British Navy can be considered their anti-aircraft and anti-missile capabilities. The main role here is played by destroyers of the Type 45 class "Daring", and later will be connected to the promising multi-purpose frigates Type 26 "Global Combat Ship", built at the shipyard Scottown (in Glasgow, Scotland), owned by the company BAE Systems. The first ones are equipped with the PAAMS anti-aircraft / missile system, the distinctive feature of which is the integration with the S1850 radar detector (L / D range of the lower frequencies of the decimeter waves from 1 to 2 GHz) capable of detecting small-sized ballistic objects at a range of 200 - 250 and 150 km altitude, as well as the more advanced high-frequency radar S-band decimeter waves (2-4 GHz) "Sampson", allowing you to track on the pass around 1000 VTS and at the same time target the 12 target designation Objects to Aster-30 interceptor missiles. The advantage of the British S-band AFAR-radar "Sampson" before the most common X-band APAR (from "Thales", is used on the frigates "Saxony", "Ivar Huitfeldt" and "De Zevere Provinsien") is a higher radiation permeability with wavelength 7,5 - 15 cm through the atmosphere, which allows detecting objects with 0,01 2 EPR at a distance of about 120 km.
The Aster-30 family of anti-aircraft missiles is undergoing a continuous modernization program that aims to increase the effectiveness of intercepting operational-tactical ballistic missiles and MRBDs equipped with anti-missile defense systems. In particular, the development of the Aster-30 Block 1NT modification is in the active stage, which will receive advanced active radar HOS of millimeter Ka-band, capable of striking with much greater accuracy both high-speed and small-sized ballistic objects, and "complex" maneuvering at low altitudes anti-ship missiles with low ESR (millimeter range here has indisputable advantages). Also, due to the equipment of transverse control gas-dynamic engines, any modification of the Aster-30 missile defense system is able to maneuver with overloads up to 62 - 70 units, making lightning "throws", in contrast to rockets with a gas jetting system of thermal shock sources, which require a certain time to realize the required angle attacks. What follows from this? Aster-30 will be able to intercept supersonic anti-ship missiles, making anti-aircraft maneuvers with overload to 25 units, which is why the heavy anti-ship missiles P-700 (3М45) "Granit" are unlikely to be able to oppose anything to this SAM. “Only assertive” PKI 3М55 “Onyx” can “deal” with “Asters”; and even here the 100% breakthrough of this “umbrella” is not guaranteed.
CAMM anti-aircraft missile launch
The British are “smart” and the capabilities of the closest ship-based missile defense system that performs the functions of self-defense of individual ships or the entire AUG (in the case of the medium-range CPCR). If the outdated Duke-type 23 frigates are equipped with “ancient” Sea Wolf anti-aircraft missile systems, whose interceptor missiles operate at speeds around 1,1, and the Type 2 parabolic targeting radar provides only 911 target channels, the new Type 2 frigates “ GCS "will receive the Sea Ceptor KZRK equipped with unique small-size CAMM SAMs 26 kg with 100 km radius and CAMM-ER with 25 km range (the latter is developed by the Italian division of MBDA, 45 times as heavy) and 1,6-mm caliber . Both versions are equipped with active radar homing heads, ANN with the possibility of radio correction from the carrier or third-party target designation, as well as the gas-jet system of deflection of the thrust vector, which allows the rocket to maneuver vigorously at the stage of generating a solid propellant charge, and therefore breaking through the “C Septor” umbrella not so easy. The active guidance system used in the “Sea Ceptor” allows the British to achieve several times more targets hit at the same time than the “Dagger” or “M-Tor” (190 targets) air defense systems. Naturally, the CAMM SAMs are noticeably inferior in the so-called “jerk maneuverability” to Asters-4 due to the lack of gas-dynamic transverse-control engines, but this does not at all indicate the inability of CAMMs to hit modern RCCs.
Conclusion: to perform a successful anti-ship "star" strike on the AUG of the British Navy, the arsenals of 3М45 "Granit" anti-ship missiles deployed, for example, on two Anarky-K-949 Voronezh and K-119 project, for example, will be absolutely insufficient Smolensk ”, as well as on the Admiral Kuznetsov TAKR, since the total number of PAAMS and Sea Ceptor target channels on frigates and destroyers covering the Queen Elizabeth may exceed 410, 48 and more simultaneously intercepted objects, while "Granites" at low heights ah velocities do not shine (60M) and their radar signature corresponds fighter "Super Hornet" (ESR is about 1,5 sq. m). This will require approximately the same “Onyxes”, “Calibres” in the 1М3Е version, or a smaller number of promising hypersonic “Zircons”, which the fleet will not have for 54 - 4 years.
At the same time, alone or with a small number of escort ships (2 EM Type 45 and 1 frigate Type 26), the aircraft carriers “Queen Elizabeth” and “Prince of Wales” are virtually defenseless against the anti-ship weapons in service with the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy, because unlike aircraft carriers such as Сharles de Gaulle and Admiral Kuznetsov, the British are equipped with extremely primitive anti-aircraft / missile defense means, among which are marked: 3 combat modules with 20-mm anti-aircraft artillery systems Mark 15 “Phalanx CIXI” , XNU MX module with 4-mm anti-aircraft automatic guns DS30M Mk30, as well as a number of heavy machine guns for self-defense against the "mosquito fleets" of the enemy. The first two types of ZAK are not able to cope even with 2-3 subsonic X-5U Uranus anti-ship missiles. Consequently, the British AUG also has a serious breach in the “anti-missile umbrella”, because the Russian Defense Ministry’s spokesman, Major General Igor Konashenkov, called the British aircraft carrier “an aviation platform and a convenient large-scale naval target for Russian missile weapons” in response to the then head of the defense departments Michael Fallon, in which he tried to put the TACR "Admiral Kuznetsov" on the bar below the "Queen Elizabeth" on the originality of the external architecture.
Consider the anti-ship abilities of the AUG of the British fleet. Here for our Anglo-Saxon "colleagues" everything is not at all rosy. Despite the presence of the ambitious project of the promising RPC CVS-401 “Perseus” from the MBDA corporation, its implementation “in the gland” is unlikely to take place before the initial combat readiness of the Zirkon RPC (developed by the “NPO Mashinostroenia”), for which the main rates today in the Ministry of Defense and the Navy; and the Perseus’s speed data (in the 3M on the flyover) are not unique in the face of updating the surface component of the Russian Navy with promising Pantsir-M air defense missiles, as well as the expected introduction of 22X2DM missiles into the Redut ammunition missile system. At the current moment, these are obsolete subsonic anti-ship missiles of the AGM-9 “Harpoon” family (installed on Dearing Class EM), which are not a threat even to surface ships of the Baltic Fleet (SK Avenue 96 and corvettes of 84 Ave.) equipped with complexes "Dagger", "Redoubt" and "Dirk".
If we compare the capabilities of the aircraft carriers "Admiral Kuznetsov" and "Queen Elizabeth" in a duel situation, without looking at the first powerful antimissile umbrella, the composition of the wing wing will also be extremely important, and the picture here has not yet been determined. At Queen Elizabeth and its sistership, the structure of the wing has been clearly defined. In emergency tactical situations (during high-intensity military conflict), aircraft carrier deck can take the 30, and the 24 hangar is the unobtrusive 5 generation F-35B fighter aircraft, while in peacetime this number can be 20 machines. The first flight tests of the Lightning navy from the deck of the Queen Elizabeth are scheduled for the second half of 2018, in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the United States, and by the year of the 2023 the first wing of the aircraft carrier should be formed. Despite all the mockery of the F-35B, and the fairly honored status of a "clumsy penguin" for the "whipped" airframe design and low angular speed of turn in comparison with most tactical fighters of the 4 + / ++ generation (Su-35С, MiG-35, "Typhoon", "Rafale" F-22A), the machine has an effective reflective surface of the order of 0,1-0,2 sq. M, is equipped with one of the most advanced on-board radar systems AN / APG-81 based on active phased array, as well as advanced optical-electronic sighting infrared complex AN / AAQ-37 DAS with constant aperture of 6 matrix of high resolution infrared sensors. What does this mean in the framework of the deck tactical wing?
Placing the F-35B on the deck of the Queen Elizabeth
First, the complete superiority in the ultra-long air combat over the Russian heavy deck fighters Su-33, as well as the MiG-29K / KUB, which are part of the 279-th separate fighter aviation regiment. The total number of dryers on the deck and in the hangar is usually 14 units, while the fleet Falkrum from 10 to 12 (8-10 MiG-29К / КУБ). The effective reflective surface of the first with the P-27EP / ET missiles on pendants reaches more than 12 square meters. m, in view of which the onboard radar "Lightning" able to detect its range around 215 - 230 km. Multipurpose MiG-29K / KUB, characterized by a glider with a wide use of composite materials, have ESR in 1 sq. M., Consequently, the range of their detection by AN / APG-81 decreases to 120 km; but it does not provide a significant increase in the combat potential of the 279-th OKIAP. After all, Su-33 and MiG-29K / KUB. The problem is that the radar upgrade program has not been implemented for Russian deck fighters: outdated H001 stations with a Cassegrain antenna array, as well as H010 Zhuk with a slit antenna array, are still used. These stations detect F-35B at a distance of 45 - 55 km, only 20 - 50% of the capabilities of AN / APG-81, and this is only in terms of range. And also it is necessary to take into account such criteria as the target channel, which is 8 times the parameters of H001 and 2 times ahead of the HNNXX “Beetle”, noise immunity, as well as the number of simultaneously accompanied targets. Therefore, the F-010B pilot can launch an AIM-35D from a distance, in 120 - 2 times as large as the pilots of our Su-5 and MiG-33CUB do.
The AN / AAQ-37 DAS complex also boasts an order of magnitude better performance than the OLS-33K installed on the Su-27. The first is capable of detecting warm-contrast targets at a distance of several tens of kilometers (a torch from a solid propellant rocket motor launching air-to-air missile) to 1,3 thousand kilometers (a torch from launching OTBR or medium-range ballistic missiles). In the passive mode, the DAS system is able to detect fighters in the afterburner mode at a distance of more than 100 - 150 km, while for OLS-27K this indicator is only 50 - 60 km. The next important detail is the completion of the MBDA's work on tailoring the Meteor air combat missile tail to the geometrical parameters of the F-35B internal weapons bays, which will turn the car into an even more formidable opponent. This rocket is equipped with an integral rocket-ramjet engine having a gas generator charge supply valve with a depth of regulation 1: 10. Due to this, the Meteor URVB engine can maintain thrust up to the extreme ranges (130 - 150 km), which ensures high speed and maneuverability in the approach area, at the moment when the target performs anti-missile maneuvering. With the similar domestic project of the “straight-through” RVV-AE-PD long-range missile (180-PD product), things are far from smooth: after the final stage of R & D work carried out in 2012, the news about the program was no longer published in the electronic media; the fate of the product is currently unknown.
The alignment of forces in a duel situation can change towards the 279 OCIAP only after updating the fleet with modifications of the MiG-XNUMKUB and Su-29, equipped with the most up-to-date Zhuk-AME onboard radars based on active phased antenna arrays, which receive and transmit modules of which are obtained by the low-temperature method co-fired ceramics (LTCC): their service life is several times higher than that of advertised staff receiving and transmitting modules based on gallium nitride. No less significant increase in the potential of our air wing in operations to achieve air superiority can also be achieved by equipping the Su-33: H33 Irbis-E radar, fully digitized cockpit with several widescreen color MFIs and the latest holographic HUD (by analogy with Chinese J-035B), as well as turbojet dual-circuit engines with the thrust vector deflection system AL-11F41C (“Item 1C”). Unfortunately, no progress was observed in this direction either: “Drying” received only a module with the specialized high-performance computing subsystem SVP-117-24 “Hephaestus”, designed for delivering high-precision strikes through free-falling bombs (small circular probable deviation is provided by integrating specialized radionavigation systems SRNS-33 and special calculator CB-24). This subsystem does not give any privileges in the fight against the air enemy.
No less important for the comparative review is the anti-submarine potential of surface combatants and submarines, which are in service with the AUG / KUG of the Russian Navy and the Royal Navy of Great Britain. For this part, the British fleet looks much more faded than the US Navy, all destroyers and cruisers of which are equipped with advanced sonar systems AN / SQQ-89 (V) 4-15 with the main ANS / SQS-53B / C, designed to be placed in a bulb fairing "Arley Burke" and "Tikonderog." For example, the SQQ-89 A (V) 15 variant is the first GAK of the family, built on a fully digital multiplexed data bus synchronized with the combat information and control system “Aegis”. The architecture of the complex is open, which makes it possible to quickly upgrade the hardware and software by introducing COTS products, which significantly reduces the time of modernization in wartime. The detection range of sound-emitting underwater objects for AN / SQS-53 may be more than 150 km (the second far zone of acoustic illumination).
The British Daring EMs, “sharpened” for the performance of anti-aircraft and anti-missile missions, are equipped with rather primitive mid-frequency bulb-based sonar complexes MFS-7000. Despite the fact that British analytical and naval Internet resources are trying to improve the abilities of this SAC, in reality this is not true. As it was found out from various English-language sources, the MFS-7000 is a slightly improved modification of the Type 2091 complex, originally intended for the frigates of the Brazilian Navy. Underwater objects this product is capable of tracking at a distance of about 30 - 35 km (within the first distant zone of acoustic illumination). Due to low energy qualities and short range, among the specialists MFS-7000 is often considered as the SJC to search for bottom and anchor mines. Consequently, Type 45 destroyers have virtually no chance of maintaining combat stability in confrontation with Russian ultra low noise diesel-electric submarines of 877EKM / 636.3 avenue or multipurpose nuclear submarines of 885 / M Yasen / -M nuclear submarines, which MFS-7000 is capable of "seeing "Only within 20 radius - 25 km, while our submarines, 971 Ave." Pike-B ", 885 Ave." Ash "and Ave. 877EKM" Paltus "are able to detect" Daring "in the second far zone of acoustic illumination using more powerful GAK MGK-540 "Skat-3",
MGK-600 Irtysh-Amfora-Yasen and MGK-400М Rubikon-M, respectively.
The only positive moment for crews of the Type 45 is the basing of the EH101 “Merlin” multipurpose / anti-submarine helicopter, which is capable of carrying 4 small-sized 324-mm Mp 46 / “Stingray” X-torpedoes with a maximum depth of 450 m and a radius of 7300 m, which is at a speed of 35 m and is at a speed of 7000 m and a radius of 8 / Stingray. To realize the tactical capabilities of the Merlin helicopter at ranges over 23 km, targeting from the MFS-2050 sonar complex will not be enough; you will need to issue coordinates about the underwater enemy from more informative sources (strategic patrol vehicles). otov P-2031A «Poseidon», frigate or Type XNUMX «Duke" equipped with sonar midrange active / passive complex Type XNUMX and low frequency sonar towed with an extended flexible antenna Type XNUMXZ). As for the aircraft carriers "Queen Elizabeth" and "Prince of Wales", they are not equipped with built-in hydroacoustic complexes, once again confirming the status of "aircraft".
The parity ratio with our AUG on anti-submarine qualities can be established by the surface component of the British Navy only after the introduction of anti-submarine modifications of the new Type-26 ASW frigates (Anti-Submarune Warfare). At the same time, compensation for the low parameters of the DFS sonars MFS-7000 and the absence of the SJC on Queen Elizabeth can be achieved thanks to the multipurpose underwater component, represented by modern atomic submarines of the Astute class. They are distinguished by high acoustic secrecy comparable to “Ash trees” due to the placement of mobile and noise-emitting mechanisms (steam generator, steam turbine installation, turbo-gear unit) on multi-level shock-absorbing platforms, sound-absorbing body coatings, and the presence of water jet propulsion. The crown of engineering, embodied in the "Estutah", is a powerful in-body wide-aperture Type 2076 HSC from the company "Thales", presented by 13000 hydrophones.
The product is capable of accompanying several hundred underwater objects up to the third far zone of acoustic illumination. Astute-class submarines are the most serious opponents for our multipurpose submarines. In the same turn, it should be noted that in the duel situation, the Irtysh-Amfora-Ash Ashburg MHC-600 complex boasts a range of 200 - 230 km, which is confirmed by data from verified sources. Given the equipment of the British 533-mm submarines with the Spearfish torpedoes, the capabilities of the Astute and Ash trees are partially equalized. Torpedoes of this type, developed by the BAE Systems Underwater Systems division, have a maximum speed of 113 km / h (26% faster than our torpedo UGST Physic-2) and a range of 54 km against 50 km of Physics-2. But it must also be remembered that the Astute class submarines are fully capable of using German DM2A4 super-long-range torpedoes (with a range of more than 120 km) and this noticeably changes the picture.
Information sources:
http://arsenal-otechestva.ru/article/411-modern-torpedoes
http://forum.militaryparitet.com/viewtopic.php?id=11798
http://bastion-karpenko.ru/queen-elizabeth/
http://forum.militaryparitet.com/viewtopic.php?id=19309
Information