Clash of the Titans. "Gerald Ford" against "Zamvolta"
As you know, being rich and healthy is better than being poor and sick. The existing order of things, in which the fleet of one state in quantity and quality is an order of magnitude ahead of the fleet of the other side, has generated a distorted understanding of the strength and weakness of the naval forces. It has become customary to admire the full power of the Sixth fleet and laugh at the lone SKR “Shrewd” with air defense systems of the 60s. No doubt, it’s easy and simple to think in terms of “battleship Yamato versus eight aircraft carriers of the 58th operational formation” - the outcome of the battle is obvious in advance, without any complicated calculations.
Over the past 100 years, the oceans have plied a lot of decent fleets - each with its own characteristics and combat techniques. It happened that they fought with each other - and then it was impossible to predict the outcome of the battle. At the moment, American sailors are not equal in strength to the enemy. But global hegemony is a temporary phenomenon. What will happen when the dashing Captains of heaven will run into the same crazy Saviors of galaxies?
What if we compare the power of two modern ships of different classes, if both rivals are “advanced” combat units, created on the same technological level, with the most modern means of detection and weapons? Will there be a situation that, despite the 8 -fold difference in size and cost, their combat value will be the same?
The purpose of this metaphysical comparison is to try to find the answer about the most effective and balanced image of the fleet. The fleet to be built by Russia in the near future (regardless of the author’s opinion, the surface component of the Russian Navy needs to be updated as soon as possible).
Unfortunately, the equipment needed for comparison so far is available only on one side of the ocean - the supercarrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) and the stealth shock destroyer USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000). Launched in the fall of 2013, both ships represent the quintessence of the most advanced technologies in the field of shipbuilding, radio electronics, metallurgy, physics of composites and all related fields of science and technology
Storm Hammer
The largest and most expensive warship in stories of humanity. Its length is 337 meters. Total displacement 112 thousand tons. Crew 4660 man.
Ford opened a new era in the history of supercarriers - an optimized layout with three lifts and a reduced island superstructure. Electromagnetic catapults EMALS. Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) landing system with "intelligent" aircraft energy absorption - which reduces the stress on the structure of carrier-based aircraft and allows you to safely land "Drones". Nuclear reactor A1B, not requiring recharging for 50 years. Dual band radar system DBR. The PAWDS plasma system for burning household waste is an important element for a ship with a crew of many thousands. Self-defense systems based on PU Mk.29 (ESSM), RIM-116 and automatic anti-aircraft guns "Phalanx". Finally, a powerful air wing - F-35B, F / A-18E / F multi-role fighters, specialized EA-18G electronic warfare aircraft, X-47B reconnaissance and strike UAVs, E-2D AWACS aircraft, a squadron of anti-submarine and search and rescue helicopters of the MH- family 60… Formidable power!
Issue price - 17,5 billion. Taking into account all the research and development, but excluding the cost of aircraft.
Dreadnought of the XXI century
An inimitable stealth destroyer, as if descended from the screens of science fiction films. The length of the “Zamvolta” reaches 183 meters, the total displacement - 14,5 thousand tons. Staff crew 142 sailor. Amazing external forms - curtain sides, nose-breakwater, lack of masts and chimneys, superstructure, resembling a truncated pyramid in shape - “Zamvolt” shouts to an unwitting observer: Pay attention to me! Of course, this is a joke - all other things being equal, the radar visibility of this ship should be several times lower than that of similar-sized cruisers and destroyers of other countries. Enemy radar will not be able to detect the presence of "Zamvolta" from a long distance. According to the Pentagon, its effective dispersion area corresponds to the EPR of a fishing boat.
Due to the specific hull lines, the Zamvolta will have a too dim and weakly expressed wake track. Foam breaker breaks immediately after the stern of the ship, which will make the Zamvolt almost indistinguishable from space orbits. And an effective system for supplying air to the lower part of the hull, together with streamlined contours and low-noise mechanisms, will make the Zamvolt difficult to detect for the submarine's direction finders. Stealth destroyer completely dissolve against the backdrop of the ocean.
The secrets of the “Silver Bullet of the Pentagon” are not limited to stealth - the Yankees have made great strides in creating detection tools. One of the main know-how is the AN / SPY-3 multifunctional radar with three active PAR. In addition to tracking the horizon, the Raytheon radio-electronic miracle allows you to automatically scan the sea surface for the presence of mines and periscopes of submarines, to perform the functions of a navigation radar and a complex of electronic reconnaissance. Among other things, the SPY-3 performs the functions of radar targeting anti-aircraft missiles - radio command control of the autopilot on the cruise and the "illumination" of the target. And thanks to AFAR, the number of simultaneously illuminated goals can reach many dozens!
... At this point, the story of the superearsum makes an unexpected turn, and we finally move to the genre of "alternative history." Although who knows, maybe not such an alternative ...
The fact is that the Zamvolta radio electronic detection complex was originally built according to the DBR (Dual Band Radar) scheme. This is not surprising - on warships, two specialized radars usually perform the function of general overview and search for low-flying targets. For Zamvolt, AN / SPY-3 (centimeter range) and survey AN / SPY-4 (decimeter, also with three AFAR) should have been such. The existing samples of both radars exist in reality, they were reserved for space in the superstructure of the destroyer - alas, in the 2010 year, the Yankees were faced with the need for hard financial cuts.
It was decided to save money and abandon AN / SPY-4, because in the US Navy there is no shortage of ships with early warning radars (AN / SPY-1 of the Aegis system). As a result, the Zamvolt is positioned as a strike ship with object defense.
In our abstract comparison of “the whale with the elephant” I suppose it is acceptable to assume that the “Zamvolt” was completed according to the original project - with a complete set of radar stations to monitor the far and near zones. Let it add extra hundreds of millions to the final cost of the ship, but the destroyer will be able to provide a zone theater air defense — as the Yankees assumed, before the 2010 financial constraints of the year. In the future, we will consider this option.
The same applies to the ammunition - in reality, in the cells of the peripheral guards Mk.57 there will be a self-defense missile system RIM-162 ESSM, with a max. 50 km launch range (more long-range weapons are useless due to the absence of a long-range radar). But this does not mean a ban on equipping the destroyer with heavier and longer-range ammunition - the Mk.57 OHM can carry almost the entire range of missiles used by the US Navy, including heavy 2,7-ton containers with Tomahawks. In our case, “Zamvolt”, as it was originally intended, will be armed with a Zender family of “Stenderd” - with a firing range of over 200 km.
Now everything is in order, you can move on ...
Price
The price is extremely high. The construction of the Zamvolta flew into the US budget in 3,5 billion dollars, and, taking into account the development of the super ship and its super-weapon, it reached incredible 7 billion dollars!
Advanced Electric Demonstrator - ship-layout, built on the program "Zamvolt." Its cost is included in the final cost of the destroyer. With serial construction, R & D costs will not be so sensitive - the cost of destroyers must inevitably decrease.
It would seem that the difference in the cost of the aircraft carrier (17,5 billion) and the destroyer is quite small. The aircraft carrier is more expensive in 2,5 times, with incomparable size and combat capabilities. But this is only the tip of the iceberg ...
The Zamvolt, unlike the aircraft carrier, does not require an aircraft wing - fifty Fighter Hornet fighters at a price of 80 million dollars apiece (weapon cost FY2012). It is possible to calculate F-35C for the sake of interest - but then the calculation will take a very comical form.
It should be taken into account that airplanes are an expensive expendable material; during 40-50 years of the ship’s life, its wing will be renewed at least twice (moral and physical aging, accidents and combat losses). The red line highlights the cost of jet fuel, infrastructure, parts and man-hours of those. services, qualifications of pilots and their regular training. According to Henry Hendrix, US Navy Caprang, the cost of the bombs delivered in this way exceeds 2 million per unit - it is cheaper to shoot Tomahawks in local conflicts (despite the fact that there is an even simpler and more effective way to which we will return a little lower) .
It is curious that to manage the "Zamvolt" 30 times smaller crew required - what this means probably does not require explanation. Salaries are one of the main expenses of a fleet staffed with 100% contract soldiers.
Indirect costs - not every wharf will be able to provide the 337-meter ship basing. Air wing requires a coastal air base - to accommodate aircraft during docking and repair work on the aircraft carrier. Additional fees for the passage of the Suez Canal - for the wiring of an atomic warship of monstrous dimensions and the associated risks with the Americans "tear off" in full. Etc. "little things" for all occasions.
Finally, the costs of operation and maintenance of Zamvolt are several times lower than the costs of servicing the giant Gerald Ford - I don’t have exact figures, but this is obvious, as white and black.
Alien vs. Predator
2020 year. The place of action is the Sargasso Sea (transferring actions to northern latitudes would be unfair to an aircraft carrier).
In the "spherical vacuum", the battle between Ford and Zamvolt will resemble an attempt to checkmate with two horses. A lonely black king can only lose by making a series of blunders.
The pursuit of “Zamvolt” is a deadly task: at any moment the hunter risks turning himself into a game. To see a stealth destroyer, long-range radar detection aircraft will have to move closer to him at a distance of less than 100 miles - flying at high altitude the slow and clumsy E-2D “Hawk” will be an excellent target for ship-based air defense missile systems. Moreover, the destroyer itself can, until the last moment, use passive information collection systems without giving out its presence.
Having lost target designation, the strike group will find itself in a delicate situation - to fly forward, into the unknown, means sure death - they will repeat the fate of “Hokai”. A volley of HARM missiles, which are induced by radiation from an enemy radar, means throwing several million green wrappers into the ocean - to launch HARM, you need to know the bearing on the target with high accuracy. In the end, the HARM itself and its carrier can be destroyed by the ship’s air defenses, and the HARM guidance system can be neutralized by switching the Zamvolta radars to the passive mode. The function of memorizing the coordinates of the place where the radiation was last sent from is useless - by the time HARM reaches the calculated point, the ship will be hundreds of meters away from it.
Light subsonic aircraft-based anti-ship missiles (and the Yankees do not have others) will face similar difficulties, even though they are even more vulnerable when a ship’s air defense breaks through.
To use laser-guided bombs with the Zamvolta system not suppressed, suicide.
In turn, “Zamvolt” also can not detect and catch up with “Ford” - the probability of their “close acquaintance” with each other tends to zero. Draw.
The real situation is much more interesting: at the time of the beginning of the attack, both opponents are within arm's length, within the line of sight. This was exactly the kind of naval battle that Soviet strategists saw - the Russian Navy practiced tracking the ships of a “likely enemy”, constantly “holding a gun” at the temple of the US Navy.
In just a few minutes, Zamvolt will kill any enemy squadron from its guns. Modern ships have nothing to oppose the six-inch projectiles - just one hit in the flight deck of the "Ford" threatens to fire disaster.
The Ballad of Guns
Superhero requires a super weapon! Shot! Shot! Recharge Shot! In the automated cellars of the Zamvolt, the tips of 600 shells gleam dully. The 320 of these deadly things is stored in the extra packing.
According to statistics, 30% of the world's population lives no further than 50 km from the sea coast. In the seaside strip 200 km wide, more than half the cities of the whole world are concentrated! Hamburg, Istanbul, Tokyo, New York, Shanghai, Madras, Rio de Janeiro ...
Americans recognize that most of the operations in which AUG participated in the last 30 years could have been successfully carried out with the help of naval artillery.
Two 155-mm AGS naval guns are capable of sending an 24 projectile to the target every minute. Due to full automation and effective cooling, the power of Zamvolt artillery is equivalent to an 12 land-based howitzer battery of the same caliber.
The claimed AGS firing range is up to 160 km (even if the real firing range is four times shorter, it will be a worthy result). Correction of fire - ground-based TacP groups, drones and own ship's OMS. It is terrible to imagine what will happen to coastal cities, ports and naval bases of the enemy, if a squadron of five “Zamvolts” approaches its coast.
Compared to aviation "Ford" naval artillery loses exactly, but instead has a number of outstanding abilities: guns are equally effective day and night, they are not afraid of poor visibility, fog, snowstorms and sandstorms. They work efficiently - they do not need to take off and gain altitude: a call has been received - in a minute the specified square will be mixed with stones and sand. They don’t care about the enemy’s air defense - the gunners “roll out” the S-300’s positions and burn any strategically important object (power station, airfield, railway junction), despite all the measures taken to protect them.
In the winter of 1983-84. years, the US Navy carrier strike group was unable to suppress the position of the Syrian air defense system in the Bekaa Valley (Lebanon). The battleship “New Jersey” was called for help - firing at 45 km, the veteran fired 300 shells along the coast, and blew everything there, including the command post with the commander of the Syrian contingent in Lebanon.
Finally, the cost of ammunition delivered in this way is two orders of magnitude lower than the cost of bombs and cruise missiles.
Pilots of the aircraft carrier "Ford" just bite their teeth in frustration.
The air group "Ford" remains the last two advantages - increased efficiency when attacking moving targets and the ability to strike deep into the continent. But “Zamvolt” is not simple - on its 80 rocket launchers, in each of which Tomahawk can be stored. The warhead of the rocket - 340 kg of powerful blasting. Low-altitude flight profile. Dozen attack algorithms. The launch range of 1200 ... 1600 km.
In the end, fighting deep in the land is the prerogative of the army and the air force, and the sailors have their own equally important tasks. For example - anti-submarine defense. However, for this task, Ford is useless. For an effective PLO, a hydroacoustic station with a rocker and towed low-frequency antenna, as well as a set of anti-submarine missiles (in this case, RUM-139 ASROC-VL), are needed. All this is on board the destroyer. No helicopter can match the reaction time with ASROC, and no buoys or lowered GUS compare in sensitivity and reliability to a sonar in the destroyer's nose bulb. By the way, about helicopters - two anti-submarine “Hawk” are based on board the Zamvolt.
Of the additional features of the destroyer "Zamvolt" it should be noted:
- the possibility of integration into the missile defense system, launching interceptor missiles to destroy targets in near-earth orbits;
- an increased level of security in the form of peripheral armored DPS, playing the role of a kind of “armor belt”;
- the presence on board of the UAV and uninhabited underwater vehicles - for reconnaissance, making passes in minefields and other specific functions;
- a spacious helipad in the stern of the destroyer;
- powerful and economical HES, built according to the FEP type (full electric movement);
- this quality will be important for Russia - unlike the classic AUG, the Zamvolt rocket and artillery is able to operate successfully in the waters of the Arctic and other areas of the globe with extreme climatic conditions;
- the non-nuclear “Zamvolt” can move without restrictions in the waters of the Black and Baltic Seas. The destroyer deftly bypasses all international prohibitions, moreover, that it is almost a greater threat than Nimitz and Ford combined.
Finale
Developing the idea of the US Navy kapranrang Henry Hendrix, one should ask the following question: how much will the fleet's combat potential increase if instead of one atomic supergiant Gerald Ford build five destroyers Zamvolt at the same cost of the program and the life cycle of the ships.
Destroyers are autonomous combat units. Unlike an aircraft carrier, the formations of five such ships will not require any additional escort. They themselves are an escort - any Aegis-destroyer would envy their capabilities in terms of air defense / anti-aircraft weapons. They have no equal in effectiveness of fire support and bombardment of the enemy coast (in this they will be surpassed only by the old battleship "New Jersey", which has been preserved on the Delaver River since 2001).
As for the classic sea battle, in this matter the Zamvolt and Ford are equally ineffective. On the sea lanes, the submarines rule the ball - invisible merciless killers, ready in two accounts to deal with any enemy.
Of course, now the authoritative opinion will be heard that for a “balanced” fleet it is necessary to have both “Zamvolt” and “Gerald Ford”. It only remains to recall the popular wisdom that being rich and healthy is undoubtedly better than not being such. It should be understood that, according to the capabilities of the military-industrial complex, Russia is obviously inferior to the United States, which builds a fleet with money from the whole world and therefore think little of its value. We have to compromise. Carefully choose the best of the best - in order to have comparable opportunities at a lower cost.
"Gerald R. Ford" in November 2013
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