Target ships. Invisible heroes of the teachings
The target ship, according to the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, is a target ship, a ship or a ship specially equipped for conducting artillery fire, missile and torpedo fire on them. The control of the target vessel is usually carried out by radio or by simple towing. According to other interpretations, the target vessel is a specially built naval combat training support vessel, which carries out practical launches of cruise (anti-ship or anti-submarine) missiles, artillery and torpedo firing, as well as bombing. It is the latter definition that accurately describes the heroes of this material, because warships that have served their lives honestly often become the target, and specialized target ships were originally created for shameless execution. In addition, you can’t get enough of served ships for all firing.
Large targets from the Soviet legacy
Target ships of the project 1784, which were still being designed in the USSR, were the largest vessels of this specialization. Oddly enough, but these ships proved to be very tenacious. So, SM-178 and SM-294, despite the fact that they were built back in the 70s, are still successfully used in the Black Sea navy. The targets of the project 1784 were repeatedly modified, and in total up to 40 units of similar equipment were produced. Project 1784, as well as 1784B and 1784M, were built in Vladivostok (Dalzavod named after the 50th anniversary of the USSR), Tallinn, the village of Zhovtnevoe, Nikolaev and other shipyards of the USSR. These vessels had the following performance characteristics:
- displacement - from 900 to 932 tons;
- length - 106,3 meters;
- width - 14 meters;
- draft - 1,8 meters;
- engine - non-self-propelled vessel.
It is interesting that one of the largest target ships of the project 1784, which Ukraine inherited during the division of the fleet, was sawn into metal in the year of the "revolution" the coup of 2014. Somewhat symbolically coincided these events ...
Small targets
The younger brother of the target ships of the project 1784 are the small ship shields (MCS) of the project 455. They are uninhabited steel catamaran ships. This design improves stability. These are vessels of increased unsinkability. The hull is divided into many waterproof compartments, and the height of the freeboard is minimal.
On the deck, a mesh is stretched between the vertical masts. At the top of each mast of the ship’s shield, special angular radar reflectors are installed for the greatest radar visibility of such a small target. This allows you to practice guidance on the target of ship missiles and test artillery firing radars. Special thermal radiators are located on the deck to conduct training firing at the small shield with anti-ship missiles on the infrared channel (IR channel).
Photo: photo A. Brichevsky. MKSC project 455
The effectiveness of firing is recorded by the breaks of the grid stretched between the masts, as well as video and photo equipment. In this case, a small shield is used both in a stationary state and in dynamics, i.e. when the shield tows another vessel at a safe distance.
Small boards have the following performance characteristics:
- displacement - 53 tons;
- length - 22 meters;
- width - 6,6 meters;
- draft - 1,5 meters;
- engine - non-self-propelled vessel.
Modern target ships
One of the largest target vessels produced in modern Russia are the vessels of project 436bis from the family of the 436th project, which includes 436BA and 436BR. They are being built at the Sokol Shipyard, in the village. Sokolskoye at the Gorky reservoir, and at the Shipyard named after October Revolution ”in Blagoveshchensk. These vessels are, in fact, an enlarged copy of the small shields of the Soviet period. Like small shields, Project 436bis ships are catamarans with a steel hull and numerous watertight compartments.
On the deck, as expected, there are vertical masts with a mesh stretched between them. It is on this grid that targeted shooting is conducted during training firing. Also on the tops of the masts are mounted corner reflectors in the amount of 11 pieces. All other equipment is not much different from the little brothers.
Large target vessels of project 436bis have the following performance characteristics:
- displacement - 142 tons;
- length - 68 meters;
- width - 8 meters;
- draft - 1,3 meters;
- engine - non-self-propelled vessel.
Rubber crafts instead of steel
Separately, it is worth mentioning the target ships of our "sworn friends", that is, the Americans. The list of American targets is very extensive. In the U.S. Navy, the following equipment is used as targets: full-scale targets (i.e. decommissioned ships), directly targeted special purpose ships, simulators of high-speed targets, towed and self-propelled shields, buoy fields for artillery fire and inflatable sea targets.
It is worth paying attention to inflatable targets, which, of course, are much cheaper than our solid steel catamarans. Inflatable targets, similar to buoys, are equipped with corner reflectors and fixing equipment. The range of American “rubber” understudies is very wide.
American Tomato Killer
One of the most interesting targets of the USA is the “killer tomato,” that is, the typical BUSHIPS target. When assembled, this target is placed in a small suitcase, and after assembly it is a kind of target balloon of a somewhat cubic shape with 4,2 m sides. The “Tomato Killer” thus imitates small vessels for conducting artillery and rocket firing.
Of course, inflatable models of targets are also being developed in Russia, but this mainly concerns models of sea mines. So, in 2017, the Ministry of Defense planned to purchase over 60 inflatable mine targets for Kronstadt and Kaspiysk with the aim of training personnel to defeat drifting surface objects from a rifle weapons and precision weapons. It is worth pointing out that in September 2019, the Caspian Flotilla successfully conducted training firing at targets simulating sea mines.
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