Russian fleet comes to the rescue! (Part one)
For the Navy! - yell in vests!
For the Navy! It gets empty in flasks!
For the Navy! Andreevsky raise the flag!
For the Navy! We wish you good!
For the Navy! It gets empty in flasks!
For the Navy! Andreevsky raise the flag!
For the Navy! We wish you good!
All discussions about the future of the Navy are at the level of hypotheses and assumptions. The lack of objective information affects it: the official press releases say one thing, another is done in fact, but nobody knows how it will actually be. The bulk of experts and marinist authors who present their point of view, initially proceed from false facts regarding the domestic fleet.
The first myth is about the longest sea borders of Russia, giving rise to calls for the construction of a giant fleet. This myth is born of ordinary ignorance of geography. Russia has the longest ice borders in the world. Nothing like the shores of European countries, the United States or China, washed by warm seas, where all the major cities and industrial centers are located on the coast. Russia is a continental power. Land monster, whose fate has never depended on sea communications. The bulk of these "maritime boundaries" - uninhabited coast of the Arctic and the Far East. Where terrible ice and negative average annual temperature protect the coast much more reliable than any fleet!
The second mistake is an attempt to compare the potential of the Russian Navy and its main rival, the US Navy, frantically counting the number of aircraft carriers, cruisers and submarines. The trick is that for successful database maintenance in the North Atlantic, the domestic fleet must be many times superior in composition to the US Navy and the fleets of all NATO countries taken together!
Affects an uncomfortable geographical location. When breaking into the ocean - through the Bosphorus, the Danish Strait and the Faroe Line, our ships are threatened by the whole aviation NATO. In such a situation, the construction of the "ocean fleet", in the image and likeness of the carrier groups of the US Navy, is a waste of money. Four (yes, even all ten) of the domestic aircraft carriers will not even have time to engage in battle with the enemy’s ships, having driven thousands of combat aircraft from all air bases in Europe.
The Faroese border is a narrowing in the northern part of the Atlantic between the coast of Great Britain and Greenland. From the west to the east, this “strait” is blocked off by Iceland (a member of the NATO bloc from 1949), the Faroe and Shetland Islands (belong to Denmark and the United Kingdom, respectively). Here, during the Cold War, an impassable line of NATO defense was organized — more than thirty military airfields.
Fall into pessimism and despair? Far from it!
In this situation, the author offers to talk about the needs of the fleet, based on the facts of the actual combat use of the Russian Navy, which took place recently.
"Syrian Express". Regular visits of landing ships of the Russian Navy to Tartus (2012-13).
What was in the holds of domestic BDK - zinc with cartridges, spare parts for aircraft and armored vehicles or "special cargo" in the form of hundreds of "black pea jacks"? This information will not soon lose the "neck". But it is striking how with the Olympic calm, in front of the whole world, our sailors made “business trips” to Syrian Tartus, honestly doing their duty to the Motherland.
An innovative way to use the Navy allowed us to assist our ally without further ado, thereby solving (without loss!) An important task that directly affects Russia's geopolitical interests. Cargo delivery by warships automatically removed the issue with inspection of the holds and any active opposition from the US Sixth Fleet. The safety of the BDK and the contents of its holds was ensured by the St. Andrew’s flag flying in the wind. Not a single commission of observers from the UN and the OSCE would dare to board a warship, thereby amending the principle of extraterritoriality, illegally crossing the "border" of another state!
Yes, not everything turned out to be simple - the Black Sea Fleet did not have enough forces and means to carry out the responsible mission in the area of its direct responsibility. For the formation of convoys had to collect ships from all fleets - from the Baltic, from the North, and even from the Pacific Fleet. Henceforth, our sailors need roomy amphibious transports adapted for the delivery of humanitarian aid and military, including non-standard and large-size cargo, tracked and wheeled vehicles.
This very moment does not take into account in their articles the critics of the decision to acquire the French Mistral, mistakenly calling the helicopter carriers "naval homeless" without any benefit to the domestic fleet.
Questions about Mistral's ice class, as well as jokes about using the UDC in the Arctic, are simply inappropriate! Russian "Mistrali" will operate in the southern seas, in the tropics, off the coast of the next Syria or Venezuela. Where our help is always required.
Amphibious helicopter carrier "Mistral". 21 000 tons full displacement. Huge cruising range. 16 helicopters and cargo deck, designed for 40 wheeled vehicles units or other similar load. The minimum cost among all ships of similar purpose is 1,2 billion euros for both Russian Mistrals (for example, the American UDC of the San Antonio type cost 2 billion dollars for each ship!).
There are opportunities for unloading in any conditions - on an equipped pier, unequipped coast or by air using "turntables". Marine Corps Battalion - with appropriate conditions for the deployment of soldiers and their comfortable stay during the entire march. The simplest self-defense systems are to prevent possible provocations and terrorist attacks. Monumental appearance - the ship must "crush" with its size and appearance.
But the main thing is timing! Helicopter "Vladivostok" built in just a couple of years!
"Syrian Express" - by analogy with the "Tokyo Express", the Japanese tactics during the WWII years, which consisted in the delivery of goods to Guadalcanal using warships. Destroyers coped with the task in one night, while low-speed transports became easy prey for the enemy.
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