Prospects for the development of the Caspian Flotilla
Small rocket ship "Grad Sviyazhsk" carries out launch of the rocket complex "Caliber-NK"
The Caspian Sea will always remain a strategically important area for Russia - both from an economic and military point of view. Its natural resources and geographical location are in the priority area of the Caspian littoral states.
As world practice shows, the struggle for survival, that is, for natural resources, always leads to military conflicts, and only that side that has powerful armed forces emerges victorious from such wars.
Russia, primarily as a great maritime power and as a state with territorial access to the Caspian Sea, must be able to defend its position in this region, and to solve such a task it is necessary to have powerful naval forces capable of responding promptly to any situation in the Caspian Sea, threatening in one way or another the interests of Russia and its territorial integrity.
Today the Red Banner Caspian flotilla The Russian Navy is actually the only guarantor of the security of our state in this region. To strengthen its power, it is necessary to carry out work aimed at modernizing and strengthening its parts and formations.
At the same time, it is necessary to take into account many factors of the specifics of the Caspian region, and those tasks that need to be solved here in the field of security.
The prospective composition of the forces and means of the flotilla is formed under the influence of a number of factors that determine the qualitative and quantitative composition, as well as establish the tasks to be solved. The primary factor influencing the determination of the future composition of the flotilla is the presence in the Caspian Sea of naval forces of foreign states, which can be used in the event of any kind of conflict, for their complete defeat or pre-emptive strike.
Based on the data on the quantitative and qualitative composition of the naval forces of foreign states of the Caspian basin, the composition of units and formations of the flotilla is formed, and tactical calculations are made based on the balance of forces between the parties. Its goal is to create in the fleet of powerful sea and coastal components capable in the shortest possible time to be quickly deployed in a given area.
In order to carry out a full-fledged calculation of the balance of forces in the Caspian Sea, in peacetime, it is necessary to conduct reconnaissance activities aimed at identifying the quantitative changes in the ship composition of foreign naval forces, as well as their improvements in combat capabilities. Only on the basis of these operational data is it possible to maintain our own naval forces in a composition that is able to protect the interests of their state.
Today, five states have a territorial access to the Caspian Sea, and they all have in their composition naval forces, different in their generic and quantitative composition. In terms of its combat strength and capabilities, the Caspian flotilla of the Russian Navy takes the first place, the Iranian Navy occupies the second place, the Kazakhstani Navy occupies the third place, the Azerbaijani Navy fourth, and the last Turkmen Naval Force the fourth.
The total number of combat surface ships and boats of various classes and ranks located in the Caspian Sea is about 200 units, of which less than 35 is the Caspian Flotilla. However, if we consider in more detail the composition of the naval forces of all Caspian states with the exception of the Iranian Navy, we will see that they are based on patrol and artillery boats protecting the water area, as well as anti-mine and landing forces.
The most effective means of fighting at sea in the Caspian Maritime Theater are ships and boats carrying shock rocket on board. weapondesigned to destroy marine and coastal targets. With the support of the air force, such groups are virtually invulnerable.
Iran’s Navy pays great attention to this direction, which contains about 5 tactical groups of missile boats of up to 15 units in the bases of the Caspian Sea, and more than 100 strike and fighter units are based at airfields near the Caspian aviation Iranian Air Force.
Missile boats are also in service with the Navy of Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan built to order at Russian shipyards, but their number is insignificant.
It is worth noting the presence in the Navy of Turkmenistan of two missile boats of the 12418 project built in Russia, having a total salvo of cruise anti-ship missiles X-35 in 32 units.
Has the Caspian Flotilla gone far in this regard? To answer this question, we will conduct a tactical analysis of the ships of the flotilla that have been in service in recent years.
So, in the period from 2012 to 2014, the flotilla received the 3 new strike ships designed for launching missile strikes at sea and coastal targets. In December, the flotilla receives the 2012 of the rocket ship 2 of the Dagestan rank of the 11661K project, and after a year and a half two small rocket ships of the 21631 project of the Grad Sviyazhsk and Uglich. This group of ships has on board the newest missile complex "Caliber-NK" ensuring the destruction of coastal targets at a distance of up to 2500 km, and sea targets up to 350 km.
Missile ship "Dagestan" performs shooting complex "Caliber-NK" at the coastal target
At the moment, not a single naval force of the Caspian basin countries has such shock capabilities, neither in the sea nor in the coastal component. Such a firing range allows the ships of the flotilla to strike at the enemy while in the zone of inaccessibility of their cruise missiles, while maneuvering under the full protection of their air and coastal assets.
It should be noted that in September 2012 of the year, as part of the large-scale Kavkaz-2012 exercises held onboard the RK Dagestan from the Caspian Sea, the Caliber-NK cruise missile was launched into the coastal target. The goal was a metal sheet measuring 50x50 centimeters, which was installed on the landfill. After firing, the missile hit the target at a distance of 5 meters from it, while the standard for such tests is 20-30 meters. Such accuracy is a high indicator of the effectiveness of the use of the complex.
In general, this state of affairs makes it possible to boldly assert that the naval strike component of the Caspian flotilla has no equal in its operational zone, but it is worth noting that the potential enemy closest in combat power is the Iranian Navy are also gradually taking steps to develop their naval forces.
So, in 2013, the newest Jmaran-2 type destroyer was launched, carrying an anti-ship missile with a 4 km range on board the 170. In fact, it will be the first and so far the only destroyer in the Caspian Sea.
It is known that the Iranian Navy, if necessary, have the opportunity to transfer a large number of Sina-type missile boats from the Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea bases, in which case more than 10 tactical groups of missile boats of 30 or more units can be in the shortest time periods on the Caspian Sea.
With the support of aviation, such a formation is able to resist by any naval forces of the Caspian basin, including the Caspian flotilla. The most dangerous issue in the literal sense of the word is the actively developing work of the Iranian Navy to create a group of small submarines in the Caspian Sea basin. At present, there are no effective anti-submarine forces in the Caspian Sea, since there are no submarines here as such. The emergence of Iranian submarines in this region poses a new challenge for the Caspian flotilla - the creation of a full-fledged sea and air anti-submarine component capable of effectively solving the tasks of PLO. Given the experience of creating anti-submarine forces by our defense complexes, it can be assumed that the creation of PLO forces as part of the Caspian flotilla will not be a difficult task.
Iranian Qadir-type small naval submarines accepted as part of 2012
As it is known in the framework of the State program of re-equipment of the army and navy up to 2020, "HPV-2020", the fleet personnel must be updated to 2018% before 80, while upgrading and entering new weapons is noted, not only with regard to the maritime component, but and coastal. In the period from 2006 to 2014, the order of 10 of the newest warships was taken to the flotilla, which is 30% of the total ship composition. A gradual renewal of the auxiliary naval forces of the flotilla is underway. So in the period from 2005 to 2013, more than 10 support vessels, as well as hydrographic and rescue services, were accepted into the flotilla. It is difficult to say that such a quantitative composition of the receipt of new units provides a solution to all problems in this area, however, gradually the flotilla is updating its forces. The main directions in the field of development prospects of the Caspian flotilla include:
1. Creation of surface ships and boats in the flotilla of a permanent powerful naval strike group capable of quickly deploying in a given area and effectively fighting the surface enemy. In the coming years, the basis of this group will be rocket ships of the 11661K project and small rocket ships of the 21631 project.
2. If necessary, the creation of a permanent anti-submarine component, which will include both surface ships and naval aviation. This question will be developed if foreign submarine forces appear in the Caspian basin.
3. Further improvement of the amphibious amphibious forces of the flotilla, capable of carrying out the transfer of troops in the shortest possible time in the required area. This goal will be achieved by adopting the 21820 and 11770 project speedboats. In the future, it is planned to work out the issue of the possible creation of a special mobile air group of aircraft providing for the landing of troops.
4. Further improvement of marine anti-mine forces, which is very important in the modern struggle at sea. Their technical and quantitative status on the Caspian Flotilla unfortunately today has low efficiency, with limited capabilities. It is necessary to introduce into the flotilla of new mine-sweeping ships, and improve their basing system. Obviously, a promising project will be the base minesweeper type "Alexandrite" project 12700.
5. Gradual renewal of the rear parts of the flotilla and the Auxiliary Fleet, as well as hydrographic and rescue services. Without the reliability of these components, further effective actions of the combat forces of the flotilla are not possible. Special attention should be paid to the rescue forces of the flotilla.
6. Further improvement of the coastal troops of the flotilla, namely, the arrival in the compound of the latest models of equipment and small arms. In the future, the final transition to the “Ball” coastal missile systems, as well as the arrival of the newest “BTR-82” and other pieces of equipment in parts of the marines. It is necessary to note the improvement of parts of the EW, as well as systems for early detection of air and sea targets. So in 2013, the sunflower station deployed in the Republic of Dagestan was adopted in the flotilla's arsenal. It is designed to detect air and surface targets at a distance of more than 500 km, and is capable of providing target indications to the flotilla forces at a given distance.
7. An important element in the effectiveness of the actions of the flotilla forces is the availability of the necessary infrastructure for the deployment and deployment of units and formations, as well as their further improvement. For example, work is currently underway to create a powerful heterogeneous grouping of forces and troops of the Caspian Flotilla in the Republic of Dagestan - the extreme border region of Russia on the Caspian Sea. It is planned to deploy a powerful naval and coastal strike component, to provide repair of berthing facilities for the further deployment of ships, as well as to modernize the military camps of the coastal forces.
8. It is known that at the moment the issues of creating a submarine force within the Caspian flotilla, which mainly will be armed with small submarines designed to solve sabotage and reconnaissance missions, are being developed. The appearance of this type of forces in the composition of the flotilla will greatly expand its capabilities and will allow solving problems of a more narrow and complex direction.
General view of the coastal radar ”Sunflower”
The newest small rocket ships of the 21631 project during the testing period in Makhachkala
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