Sevastopol perspectives after reunification with Russia
All the leading powers of the world have long maintained their naval bases in other countries. And this was done both with the consent of these countries, and without it. A typical example is Gibraltar, where Spain has been trying to expose the British for 200 for years, and Guantanamo, from where half a century Cubans have been dreaming of banishing the Yankees. But in all cases, these naval bases (naval base) are compact pieces of the coast.Actually, our military wanted to do the same in the 1990s during the division of the Black Sea fleet. They wanted to get the whole Great Sevastopol Bay. I note that there are 21 bays in Sevastopol, of which six are of such magnitude that any of them can accommodate the entire fleet of Ukraine. I'm not talking about the fact that Ukraine received a naval base in Odessa, Donuzlav, Feodosia and Kerch. Russia, except for Sevastopol, does not have a single naval base on the Black Sea. In Novorossiysk, for a number of reasons, only temporary anchorage of warships is possible.
However, the Ukrainian side insisted that the military facilities of both sides in Sevastopol resembled a strip strip. I myself am almost annually in Sevastopol, but so far I can not understand exactly where the territory of one fleet ended and the territory of the other began. The same situation with the berths, with warehouses, various coastal services, cultural facilities, etc.
Immediately after the seizure of Kiev by the pro-American junta, the Ukrainian media were full of articles predicting the death of the Black Sea Fleet. Sarcasm was considered options for when Russia will beg the United States to allow it to maintain the Black Sea Fleet to maintain prestige, etc. Alas, the authors of these articles were absolutely right.
Militant-zapadentsam would not even need to storm the military facilities of the Black Sea Fleet. It was enough for them to block several streets with barricades and completely paralyze the functioning of the Russian naval base. It is clear in advance that the invasion of militants would not allow Russian ships to be taken away without blood. But even in the case of fantastic luck - Kiev’s consent to the withdrawal of Russian ships within a week or even a month - less than a third of the ships of the Black Sea Fleet and up to 20% of auxiliary ships could have been withdrawn.
For example, if the cruiser "Moscow" was in full combat readiness, then the second largest combat ship of the Black Sea fleet BOD "Kerch" under its own power can go only after a few weeks. The same can be said about the huge floating hospital "Yenisei" and dozens of other vessels.
Do not forget that a significant part of the crews of the auxiliary vessels of the Black Sea Fleet have families and property in Sevastopol. They hate maydanschikov, but would they have agreed to leave everything and leave Sevastopol? But in general, where to go to the Russian fleet? Nowhere!
AMERICAN FOCUSES
Since the middle of the 1990-s, the ships of the United States and non-Black Sea countries of NATO have settled in the Black Sea on a permanent basis. And most of them tried to go to Sevastopol for a few days.
So far, they have adhered to the Montreux 1936 Convention of the Year, which prohibits non-Black Sea warships from being in the Black Sea over the 21 day. And the total tonnage of such ships should not exceed 30 thousand tons. Moreover, one state should not account for more than 20 thousand tons. However, the United States increasingly tried to circumvent the Montreux Convention. So, in 2000, a surprise visit for the command of the Black Sea Fleet was the visit to Sevastopol of American boats of the Mk V type (sometimes also of the Pegasus type, although here they should not be confused with the Pegasus hydrofoil boats that used to be in combat the US Navy), which were designed and built in the second half of the 1990-s under the special order of the US Special Operations Command. The priority task of these boats, which are classified only as a “Special Operations Boat” (Special Operations Craft), is to ensure the actions of the US Navy special forces units, as well as units of special operations forces of other types of US aircraft, for which the boat can receive a group of 16 special forces.
“Two boats were delivered by rail from the Mediterranean to the Romanian port of Constanta and made a march to Sevastopol by agreement with the command of the Ukrainian Navy. On 16.30 on Friday, September 29, 2000, both boats entered the South Bay of Sevastopol and left a lag at the pier of the sea terminal. The boats were met by the Ukrainian boat U 583 "Shulyavka", and nothing was reported about the nature of the visit in the press. The visit of American friends was accompanied by the complete closure of the territory of the sea port for visits, ”news agencies reported at the time.
It is possible that the United States was planning to fictitiously sell its battle boats to Romania or Bulgaria, that is, to simply arrange a masquerade, similar to what the Germans spent in 1914, selling the Geben and Breslau cruisers to the Turks. Thus, the American ships, only having changed the flag, could be permanently based in the Black Sea. But then it did not happen ... But at the beginning of 2006, the United States, under the guise of military exercises "Sea Breeze-2006", gathered quietly to start building their military base in Crimea.
25 May 2006, the container ship Advantage under the flag of the United States arrived at the Feodosia port. According to the official version, he was supposed to deliver equipment for conducting exercises "Sea Breeze-2006" to the Crimea. And in fact, "Advantage" delivered weapon and equipment for the construction of a military base in the Old Crimea. In addition, over 500 American servicemen were delivered to the Crimea, which the Ukrainian authorities, for reasons of secrecy, placed in the well-guarded sanatoriums of Theodosia and Alushta.
1 June 2006, residents of the town of Stary Krym, led by a Cossack community in Kirovsky district, set up pickets and blocked entrances to the Starokrymsky military training ground. On June 6, the Supreme Council of Crimea held a parliamentary meeting and adopted a statement in which he spoke “for declaring Crimea a territory without NATO”. On this day, the Sevastopol City Council demanded that the Government of Ukraine stop calling the ships of the North Atlantic Alliance into the Sevastopol Bay. Then it was possible to disrupt the deployment in the Crimea of the American military base. But it is easy to assume that if it were not for the decisive actions of Russia in March 2014 and the population’s rejection of the Kiev junta in Crimea, then in May of this year American troops would probably have been in the Crimea.
FLAMMABLE AIRWAYER
Currently, the military-political situation on the Black Sea has changed dramatically. No wonder the generals and admirals of Europe and America have been saying for two centuries already: “Who owns Sevastopol owns the Black Sea”. And rightly called the Crimea "unsinkable aircraft carrier." Already, on the airfields of the Crimea, Russian fighters and front-line bombers are based without any restrictions.
It is worth paying attention to the 12 incident of April 2014 of the year when the Russian Su-24 12 off the coast of Romania flew once and a half hours at 150 m height and about a kilometer from the American destroyer of the Aidis missile-defense system with SAM "Standard-3". As is known, American planes regularly flew and fly over Soviet and Russian ships, almost touching the tops of the masts, and such routine affairs are not reported in the press, no notes are sent.
It would seem that the passage of the old Russian aircraft at a kilometer distance from the destroyer is an excellent training for the Aegis complex and the Phalanx self-defense complex. The Yankees should have been happy, not freaked out. Nevertheless, the State Department broke out with a hysterical statement about the Russian provocation, the “unprofessional actions of the Russian pilots,” etc. Interestingly, the Yankees do not focus on finding the second Su-24 in the area of the incident. According to some media reports, the second Su-24 was equipped with the Khibiny KS-418 radar combat complex. After the inclusion of this complex, all US air defense and missile defense systems lost their target and temporarily failed. If such a situation actually took place, then it seems that this could actually infuriate the Yankees.
By the way, until 1991, 5 regiments of long-range missile-bearing bases were based at first-class Crimean airfields aviation Black Sea Fleet capable of hitting any target in the Mediterranean Sea, North Africa, Southern Europe and the Middle East. And now intensive work is underway to restore a large airfield in the Guards, where long-range naval aviation was based until 1991. There they are preparing for the meeting of the Tu-22M3, nicknamed the "ship killers."
Since March, the Russian anti-ship complex "Bastion", equipped with supersonic Onyx cruise missiles, from Cape Fiolent has been targeting most of the Black Sea right down to the Turkish coast and the entire coast of Ukraine, including the port of Odessa.
Nevertheless, despite a significant change in the balance of forces on the Black Sea after the return of the Crimea, the Black Sea Fleet is more than an order of magnitude inferior to the US Navy's 6 fleet both in terms of tonnage and firepower. Over the past 23 years, the Ukrainian authorities have in every way prevented any renewal or build-up of the Russian ship group in Sevastopol. Almost all the ships of the Black Sea Fleet, built before the 1990 year, are heavily worn out, and many fleet weapons systems are morally obsolete.
WHAT IS THERE NOW
For example, the BNC Kerch 9 of May 2014 of the year stood in the parade in front of the Monument to the Scuttled Ships. However, this BOD (the full displacement of 8533 tons) did not leave the Black Sea since the fall of the 1998, and was mostly under repair. On 1 of January of the current year he was in the reserve of the 2 category, and the crew consisted of a conservation team - 25 – 30 people. The ammunition of Kerch, including the Rastrub-B, Storm-N and Osa-M missile systems, was on the shore in complete safety.
Now there are reports that from June 2014-th to November 2015-th "Kerch" will undergo a scheduled repair repair. I note that the BPC Kerch project 1134B was commissioned as early as 1974, that is, 40 years ago, and needs very expensive repairs, replacing many units, cables, etc. In addition, its missile weapons are outdated, and work on the modernization of the air defense system "Storm" has long ceased. By the way, the naval authorities said that it was for this reason that the BOD Ochakov, which had been under repair since 1993, was recently put on scrap.
A reasonable question arises: what is cheaper, to overhaul the Kerch with the replacement of missile weapons with a new one or build a new cruiser?
The patrol ships of the 22460 project are designed to form the core of the Russian Coast Guard.
Now in the Black Sea Fleet there is one submarine "Alrosa". Another submarine B-380 "Holy Prince George" of the project 641B is located in the floating dock PD-16, in the South Bay of Sevastopol. The boat was put in for repair in 1992, and I saw it in the same 10 dock in May 2014. PD-16 - a trophy float that served in Kriegsmarine, almost all rotted and inevitably collapsed during flooding. For the last 5 years, admirals and engineers have been thinking how to get the B-380 out of the dock so that both objects won't fall apart. In this case, the entry into the combat fleet B-380 is not planned. They want to turn it into a charging station.
BOD project 61 "Sharp-witted" was introduced into the Black Sea Fleet back in 1969 year. In 1987, it was supplied for a major overhaul, during which in 1990 – 1995 it was upgraded according to the 01090 project. On it, the aft 76-mm AK-726 installation was dismantled, and the Kayra MNK-300 submarine detection complex was installed instead. In 2002, in place of two RBU-1000, the “Shifty” installed launchers for eight Uran anti-ship missiles (X-35). And now the 12 years of the BOD frightened the adversary with empty guides, because the 35 missiles on the Black Sea Fleet failed to deliver the X-2014 missiles for March.
There are “problems” in most of the other ships and vessels of the Black Sea Fleet. But the construction of new combat surface ships and submarines for the Black Sea Fleet comes very late. According to the original plans they were supposed to guard the Sochi Olympics. According to the plans for May 2014, the first new submarine of the 636.3 Novorossiysk project should go to the Black Sea “along inland waterways”, that is, along the Volga – Don Canal, only by the end of 2014. And the first of the “guards” or, as they are now classified, frigates, by that time should come to Sevastopol, rounding Europe through the Bosporus.
Already in April, the ships of the Russian Coast Guard patrolled the waters of the peninsula. The coast guard ship Zhemchug (onboard number 52) took part in the 9 parade of May in Sevastopol, another ship, Krasnodar (onboard number 136), was on duty at the entrance to the Yalta port from 1 to 8. Unfortunately, the border ships guarding the peninsula, based in Novorossiysk. It seems that they still need to be transferred to the Crimea, at least in the same Balaclava or in the western part of the peninsula.
HERITAGE OF UKRAINIAN MANAGEMENT
A few words should be said about the ships of the Ukrainian Navy, abandoned in the Crimea by Ukrainian crews. In April, 2014, their return to Ukraine was planned. For example, on April 11, Russian sea tugs MB-174 and MB-163 removed the tanker Fastov from Streletskaya Bay, and from Quarantine Bay - the Priluki missile boat and in neutral waters were transferred to Ukrainian tugs.
Ukrainian ships that were blocked in Donuzlav 4 in March of this year can be withdrawn from there only after the recovery of BOD Ochakov, which was flooded in the channel leading to Lake Donuzlav. The corvette Vinnitsa, the Olshansky BDK, Kirovograd KFOR, the Chernigov and Cherkasy minesweepers, the Genichesk raid minesweeper, and also 6 ships and boats were locked there. Well, the rise of "Ochakov" is scheduled for June 2014 of the year.
I note that at the end of April the transfer of ships to Ukraine from the Sevastopol bays was suspended. Perhaps the transfer will be resumed in June. In the meantime, the only defective submarine of the Ukrainian fleet "Zaporizhia" is in Sevastopol under the flag of St. Andrew. Under the Russian flags and with the Russian crews are the corvettes "Ternopil", "Khmelnitsky" and others.
In conclusion, it should be said that before 1991, in the Crimea there were quite powerful shipbuilding and ship repair plants. The largest shipbuilding plant in Crimea was the Sevastopol Marine Plant. The company has actually not been operating for several years. Most of the machines and equipment stolen. According to media reports, by the end of 2008, the debt of OJSC SMZ amounted to about 100 million hryvnia. Liquidation value is estimated at 30 – 50 million dollars. Wage arrears to plant employees amounted to 6 million hryvnias. If by the year 1991, 11 820 people worked at the plant, by the end of the year 2008 it was about 700, and they had not been paid for many months.
The fate of the Sevmorzavod was to be shared by the Feodosia shipbuilding plant “More”. There, in the 1970 – 1980-ies, the border PDAs “Antares” were built, and from the 1980-ies small anti-submarine CPC “Sokol” were built. In the 1970 – 1980-ies there were manufactured air assault boats on an air cushion (KVP) "Skat", amphibious KVP "Omar" and "Kalmar", rocket-artillery KVP "Kasatka" and the hover-sweeper. From 1959 to 1976, Pastel hydrofoil passenger ships were built at the More plant. A total of 389 "Rocket" was built, including 32 for export. In 1965 – 1980, the ships were built on hydrofoils (SEC) “Kometa”. In total 86 “Komet” was built, including 34 for export. In 1976, the river Voskhod-2 came to replace Rocket. In total, the 1976 of the Voskhod-1992 motor ships was built from 156 to 2 year. From 1992 to 2002, the shipyard built the Voskhod-2M SEC.
But ... by 2005, the More plant was in a state of bankruptcy. Kiev authorities were going to "cut" this state-owned enterprise into the parking lot for basing and minor repairs of private yachts.
However, the Sea was saved by the Bison. This is the world's largest hovercraft. The ship of the project 12322 "Bison" was created by a number of factories of the RSFSR, the lead developer - TsMKB "Almaz". The total displacement of the ship is 550 tons, cruising speed - up to 63 knots, cruising range depending on speed - from 55 to 300 miles. A ship can carry three tank T-80, or 10 armored personnel carriers, or 8 infantry fighting vehicles, or a landing party for up to 500 people. In 1988, according to the documentation of "Diamond" and with the help of its specialists, the construction of the "Bison" at the More factory in Feodosia began. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the division of the Black Sea Fleet, three ships went to the Russian Navy, and Ukraine received three combat-ready ships (Gorlovka, Kramatorsk and Artemyevsk), and two unfinished ones at the plant.
And now in 2000, four “Bison” decided to purchase Greece. Moreover, in order to avoid a scandal, since the 1232 project is the intellectual property of Russia, two ZUBRs were purchased in the Russian Federation, and two at the MORA plant.
Speaking of the two "Bison", the Greeks had in mind the ships that were still being built at the "More" plant. One ship (berth number 305), commissioned 3 February 2001, was transferred to Greece, where he received the name "Ithaki L181". That is what saved the plant from bankruptcy. However, instead of the second ship, the Ukrainian side decided to supply the Greeks with a “second-hand” ship, the Gorlovka (building number 303). It was slightly repaired and even painted. But the evil Greeks did not understand the subtleties of “Ukrainian commerce” - they refused from the “Gorlovka” and turned to the Russian side.
In September, an additional agreement was signed between FSUE "Rosoboronexport" and the Ministry of Defense of Greece on the construction of another Zubr-type ship. According to the first agreement, the ship “Kefallinia” had already been sent to Greece in December 2002 of the year, and the second - “Zakynthos” - was transferred to Greece in September 2000. Then, on January 2001, 24, at the shipyard of OJSC “Almaz”, the laying of the third Bison for the Greek Navy took place.
And yet the production at the “More” plant has not completely collapsed. In 2009, China ordered four Bison to the plant. Of these, two were to be built in Feodosia, and two more - in the People's Republic of China according to Ukrainian documentation and with the help of Ukrainian specialists. Order date of performance - 5 years, the total price - about 1 billion hryvnia. Work began in August 2010. And if in May 2010, only 267 people worked at the plant, by the end of the year their number increased to one and a half thousand.
Why did the Chinese prefer Ukraine rather than Russia? Apparently, they took less there, and most importantly, the Russian Federation demanded that the People's Republic of China initially order the 15 Zubr, and only then receive technical documentation and other assistance in building ships in Chinese shipyards. This was a well-founded demand, as the Chinese quickly mastered imported military equipment, and then began to sell it all over the world. As a result, the Russian-Chinese negotiations were suspended, and the PRC concluded a deal with Ukraine.
Naturally, the leadership of the Almaz Central Securities and Design Bureau stated that the Ukrainian side had grossly violated the Russian-Ukrainian agreement 2006 of the year on mutual protection of intellectual property rights obtained in the course of bilateral military cooperation, since Ukraine had transferred technical documentation to Zubr without the consent of the Russian side.
And then Ukraine organized a natural farce of a small scale, declaring that not the Russian Zubry according to the 12322 project were being built in Feodosia, but purely Ukrainian ships of the Bison type based on the 958 project. The Ukrainian side categorically refused to explain the fundamental differences between “Bizon” and “Bison”.
The construction of the first Zubrobizon plant “More” finished on September 2013, and in October its factory tests began. 25 of the same year, the cargo ship "New York" of the German company Hansa Heavy Lift safely delivered the ship to the Chinese port of Guangzhou. The second Zubrobizon did not have time to pass all the required factory tests, but due to the well-known 1 events of March 2014, two tugboats brought the ship from the territory of the More plant and brought it to the Feodosia port. There he was placed in a non-propelled pontoon and 3 March was led to the Bosphorus.
And one more profile enterprise ... The Sevastopol Ship-Repairing Plant No. 13, founded back in 1887, went to Russia in the division of the Black Sea Fleet. And therefore he was in a relatively satisfactory condition all the years of the Ukrainian Independence Square. Although the Ukrainian administration not only did not help the ship repair plant number 13, but also tried its best to destroy it. Thus, a criminal case was initiated against the management of the enterprise, allegedly due to non-payment of 25 million rubles. to the budget of Ukraine. The bank accounts of the plant in the banks of Sevastopol were blocked and arrest was placed on its property. And in 2009 – 2010, the Ukrainian tax authorities demanded that the plant pay value-added tax and allegedly underpaid Ukraine 11,5 million hryvnias.
Naturally, in the spring of 2014, new perspectives opened up before plant No. 13. Thus, on May 11 of the year 2014, a large anti-submarine ship of the Northern Fleet "Admiral Levchenko" arrived in Sevastopol. BOD since January 2014 has served in the Mediterranean. Now it was decided to put it in for repair in factory No. 13. The ship will be put into the dock PD-30 after the repaired BDK "Azov" and SKR "Ladny" are brought out. I note that until March 2014, Ukraine did not allow Russian ships of other fleets to enter Sevastopol. Nowadays, the Black Sea Fleet and ships from the changing squadron of the Mediterranean squadron received in Sevastopol not only a convenient parking place, but also a relatively good repair base.
The aggravation of the situation in Ukraine, measures to ensure the safety of the Crimean shelf, maintenance of ships carrying military service in the Mediterranean, and many other factors require an urgent update of the Black Sea Fleet's ship crews, putting all the Black Sea Fleet airfields in the 1991 year in order to ensure basing all types of aircraft in service with the Russian Federation.
In the author's opinion, the 9 division of the Black Sea Fleet from the Caucasus coast back to Sevastopol should be urgently relocated. Let me remind you that this department is in charge of special ammunition.
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