New ships for the Caspian Flotilla
It is the question of the ownership of minerals and other natural resources of the Caspian, according to many experts, in the future could cause military clashes. Therefore, regardless of its own peace policy regarding the sea, Russia should be engaged in the development of its forces in the Caspian Sea. In the past few years, such actions from single cases began to turn into a noticeable trend. First of all, it is worth noting the general intentions regarding the Caspian flotilla. According to the State Weapons Program-2020, by 2018, the material part of the Flotilla should be updated by 90%. In addition, when creating new ships, all features of their future service in the Caspian conditions are taken into account.
Currently, two small 21631 "Buyan-M" project artillery ships are being built at Zelenodolsk Shipyard at once: "Grad Sviyazhsk" and "Uglich". In addition, two ships of a similar class (the Astrakhan and Volgodonsk), but the earlier 21630 “Buyan” project are already serving in the Caspian Sea, and the third, the Makhachkala, will be commissioned this year. In addition to the 21630 and 21631 projects built or under construction, about a dozen more are planned to be built.
The projects “Buyan” and “Buyan-M” are interesting not only because they will become the basis of the striking force of the Caspian flotilla. In a sense, they are representatives of the newest type of ships. The last 10-12 years of Western military and designers are working on promising ships of the coastal zone. Thus, the American program LCS involves the creation of ships, similar to corvettes, adapted for operations near the coast. The reasons for American interest in such ships are worthy of a separate discussion and we will not dwell on them. But you need to consider the reasons for launching the construction of domestic projects of small rocket ships, largely similar to LCS. A considerable part of the borders of Russia passes through water bodies of shallow depth, including rivers. In such conditions, border guards or naval sailors need exactly ships like the "Buyanas." The dimensions of these ships are quite suitable for working in such conditions: the length of the hull 62 meter, draft - 2m and the displacement of the order of 500 tons (for the project 21631). Armament of ships is also sufficient for possible clashes in the conditions of lakes, rivers or the same Caspian Sea. The main caliber "Buyan" - 100-mm artillery installation A-190. In addition to it, the crew of the ship has two tomb installations with 14,5-mm machine guns KPV and launcher A-215, intended for firing unguided rockets of the BM-21 “Grad” complex. To protect against enemy planes and helicopters, the "Buyans" are equipped with two 30-mm anti-aircraft guns AK-306. The 21631 project ships will also receive a launcher for the Caliber or Onyx anti-ship missiles. It is worth making a small reservation. Due to the nature of the service in the Caspian Sea, only two “Buyana-M” will serve there. The rest is planned to be included in the Black Sea Fleet. The main tactical task of the ships of the 21630 and 21631 projects is to patrol the coastal zone. In addition, the hull design allows them to move in the mouths of rivers, naturally, with the corresponding depth of the latter.
At the beginning of this year, the composition of the Caspian flotilla was added to the patrol ship "Dagestan", belonging to the 11661 project. This ship is a “sistership” of the current flagship of the Flotilla - “Tatarstan”. Storozheviki with a displacement of about one and a half thousand tons are both artillery and rocket armament. So, for the fight against poorly protected targets, there is an 76-mm AK-176 gun mount and two KPV machine guns. In addition, Tatarstan and Dagestan have two torpedo tubes, two AK-630 anti-aircraft guns and two launchers for the X-35 or Caliber missiles. In terms of their capabilities, the 11661 project ships are a bit more powerful than the “Buyans”. At the same time, the presence of missile weapons at Buyanah-M compares their capabilities. The watchdogs of the 11661 project of the Caspian Flotilla have the same objectives as the ships of the 21630 and 21631 projects: coastal patrols and participation in various special operations, including anti-poaching.
Currently, only at the outfitting walls of the shipyards there is a whole “squadron” of ships that will serve in the Caspian flotilla. These are two small artillery ships of the projects “Buyan” and “Buyan-M”, two watchdogs of the 22460 “Rubin” project, boats of the 12200 “Sobol” project and several other boats and auxiliary vessels. Currently, out of more than thirty warships and boats in the Caspian flotilla, only half a dozen are less than 10-12 years old. The existing rates of construction of new equipment do not yet give any guarantees, but their further build-up may well lead to the full implementation of plans for re-equipment. However, even without “overclocking,” domestic shipbuilders are fully capable of updating the material part of the Caspian flotilla, if not by the required 90%, then at least by 50-70%. At the same time, an increase in the pace of construction will entail not only updating the Flotilla, but also the development of the shipbuilding industry as a whole.
On the materials of the sites:
http://vpk-news.ru/
http://mil.ru/
http://arms-expo.ru/
http://atrinaflot.narod.ru/
Information