Russia needs military icebreakers
In March next year, in St. Petersburg, it is planned to lay down for the Navy fleet Project 21180 lead icebreaker. As an informed source in the military-industrial complex told TASS, the technical and operational design of the new order is carried out by the Admiralty Shipyards Engineering Center. It is assumed that vessels of this series will serve in the Arctic and the Far East. According to the developers, the icebreaker will have modern power equipment, propeller-driven columns, an electric drive that works on a new principle. Displacement will be 6000 tons, length - 84 m, width - 20 m, side height - 10 m. The vessel will be able to stay in autonomous navigation for up to 60 days, the maximum cruising range - 12 thousand miles.According to experts, icebreakers can be equipped only with short-range self-defense, that is, small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery, large-caliber machine guns, which will not take up much space. The same applies to MANPADS. Perhaps install shipboard turret launcher "Bending" with more accurate guidance and high rate of fire. "If you put more powerful weaponthen it will be no icebreaker. Still, his task is to break the ice, not to cut the enemy down. ”
Already, controversy has begun in the press: “Why do we need this icebreaker?” It comes to the assertion that private foreign and domestic companies are now building container ships, tankers and other ice-class vessels that can do without icebreaking assistance.
ARCTIC BATTLE
Alas, the Arctic warming season of 2007 – 2009 has apparently ended. Moreover, in the 2010 – 2011 years, there was an unusually heavy ice situation in the Gulf of Finland and the Sea of Okhotsk, which forced to send most of the icebreakers from the Arctic. In winter, the 2013 / 14 frozen the Sea of Azov, and more than 60 ships were captured in ice, and more than 100 ships did not enter the Kerch Canal (not in the strait) because of the ice. I hope that the Azov Sea may freeze this year as well, they are remembered in the military ministries of the LC and the DPR. So the Northern Sea Route can not do without icebreakers.
In addition to economic, there are important military-political arguments in favor of building military icebreakers. For example, the United States still considers Wrangel Island as its own territory. True, unlike the Japanese, they are not satisfied with the noisy notions "Return our islands!". Nevertheless, de jure Wrangel Island, the Senate and the State Department consider American. Accordingly, in Ottawa, this island is considered the original Canadian territory.
In September, an English ship approached Wrangel Island in September 1921, whose commander a certain Stephenson landed troops, raised the British flag and declared the island possession of Great Britain. A small detachment was left on the island. At the end of the summer of next year, the British ship failed to approach Wrangel Island due to difficult ice conditions, and the British landed there died from scurvy.
Rumors about this came to Vladivostok. And the command of the white Siberian flotilla sent there gunboat "Magnit" to evict "enlightened navigators." However, the Magnit failed to get to the island through the ice, and in the fall, the whites took the ship to Manila, where it was sold by Admiral Starck along with the rest of the vessels of the Siberian Flotilla.
Taking advantage of anarchy in the Far East, in 1923, the British landed a new fishing party on it. To exhaust foreigners from the island and at the same time conduct a survey of the coast, in June 1924, the Soviet government decided to send a special hydrographic expedition there.
The expedition went to Wrangel Island on the gunboat "Red October" (until March 1924 - the icebreaker "Nadezhny").
19 August 1924, she reached the northeast tip of Wrangel Island. Following along the south coast to the west, the Red October approached Rogers Bay and anchored. Having landed, the members of the expedition found signs of the recent presence of people here, but did not meet them that day.
On August 20, on the cape, later called Proletarsky, the State Flag of the USSR was hoisted on a specially constructed mast in a solemn atmosphere.
During the survey, Canadians and four Eskimos were captured. After carrying out all the planned research, the 29 August cannon 1924 of the year returned to Vladivostok.
In 1926, the first Chukchi settlement was created on Wrangel Island, and G.А. was appointed the head of the island. Ushakov.
It should be noted that foreigners tried to declare not only Wrangel Island, but also Chukotka as their territory. Thus, in the autumn of 1924, a Soviet border ship in Zima Bay at Cape Puzina found a metal sign with the inscription: “The station of magnetic observation and geodetic changes of the coast of the United States. For inquiries contact Washington. For the removal of this sign - a fine of $ 250 or imprisonment. " Border guards sent this sign to Moscow, and the Americans expelled from the area. In response to this provocation, the Soviet Foreign Ministry sent a protest note to Washington saying that "the actions of American agents who forget where the territory of their state ends and the territory of a sovereign country begins will continue to be decisively stopped."
Taking advantage of the absence of a military garrison on Ratmanov Island, the Americans organized their factory in the village of Ilyuklit and within a few months took out furs, baleen and walrus tusks, until the landing from the Vorovskiy border ship threw them out.
Well, this is the case of days gone by. And now it's the 21st century. Alas, the US claims to the Russian sector of the Arctic with the onset of the new century only increased.
COLD WAR
The report of the US Arctic Research Commission (a body that develops US strategic policies on the Arctic) "The Arctic Ocean and Climate Change: Scenario for the US Navy," published in 2002, explicitly states that controversy over the Northern Sea Route becomes an important point on the agenda of Russian-American relations. “The US continues to insist that the ice-covered straits of the Northern Sea Route are international and constitute a transit transport entity; Russia continues to consider the straits as its internal waters. Most likely this will remain a controversial political issue between the United States and Russia. ” In addition, the report predicts that the problem of using the Northern Sea Route will be the subject of more serious disagreements between the US and Russia, and even conflicts. ”
Starting in the 1950s, American aircraft, including strategic bombers with atomic bombs on board, were constantly patrolling the Arctic, including our sector. Quite often, American intelligence officers were not limited to flying over Soviet territorial waters, but flew further over land.
So, on October 15 1952, the first flight over the USSR was made by two reconnaissance aircraft B-47В, created on the basis of the six-engine bomber B-47. The planes started from Yelson air base in Alaska. Above the sea, they refueled from two KC-97 tankers, and then flew over Wrangel Island, taking a picture of it. Then the aircraft headed south and flew over Eastern Siberia for several hours. Link MiGs tried to intercept them, but failed. The flight lasted 7 hour. 45 min., During this time, the scouts have traveled a distance of 5500 km, and about 1300 km - over the territory of the USSR.
Well, on May 6, 1956, six aircraft took off from Tula (northern part of Greenland), reached the North Pole and turned south, towards the borders of the USSR. They penetrated our airspace over Ambarchik and, lining up in a row, continued to fly south at an altitude of 12 thousand. M. Then the RВ-47Е turned east. All this time they photographed ground objects in our territory.
Having flown over Anadyr, the aircraft left the USSR over the Bering Strait and boarded the Yelson Air Force Base in Alaska.
1 July 1960, the American reconnaissance aircraft RВ-47Н set off for another reconnaissance flight to the shores of the Kola Peninsula. The scout was intercepted by a Soviet fighter piloted by Captain Vasily Polyakov. "MiG" went to the tail of the RВ-47Н. Someone opened fire: either a fighter or a Yankee from a tail 20-mm unit. Later, co-pilot Freeman Olmsted admitted that he had consumed two-thirds of the ammunition 20-mm installation. However, the Boeing was shot down. Of the six crew members, only two managed to escape.
Later, a dispute arose between the USSR and the USA over whether RВ-47Н was shot down in neutral or territorial waters.In my opinion, the actions of Captain Polyakov are legitimate in both cases. Even if the American was in neutral waters at the edge of territorial waters, then in conditions of constant invasions into the airspace of the USSR, and even close to the largest naval base, the actions of the Soviet pilot are quite legitimate. If the Soviet Tu-95 bomber tried to approach the same distance to New York, would American air defense react like that?
US military flights aviation over the Russian sector of the Arctic continue to this day.
In August, 1954, the US nuclear submarine "Nautilus" made the first trip under the ice of the Arctic. And at the beginning of the 1960-s, American submarines of the “George Washington” type, equipped with the Polaris A-1 ballistic missiles, began combat patrols in the Norwegian and Barents Seas.
By the end of the century, the firing range of Soviet and American ballistic missiles launched from submarines increased dramatically and in fact became intercontinental. In this regard, the American ballistic-missile submarines left the Arctic to the coastal waters of the Atlantic and Pacific. But Russian submarines with ballistic missiles are still patrolling in the Arctic, hoping to hide there from surface ships and aircraft of the United States and NATO. In turn, the United States and Britain constantly hold dozens of nuclear submarines-killers in the Arctic.
I note that the cold war under the ice as before 1991, and now 99,9% is hidden from the world community. So, one can only guess how much NATO junk, such as sonar buoys and tracking stations, are installed on the ice, under the ice and at the bottom of the Russian sector of the Arctic.
In order to ensure the combat activities of nuclear submarines, as well as conducting reconnaissance activities impossible by means of submarines, the Americans began to send their surface ships to the Soviet sector of the Arctic since the beginning of the 1960-s.
The US Coast Guard icebreakers were best suited for this purpose. Thus, in 1962, the icebreakers “Nord Wind” and “Burton Island” conducted a joint voyage in the Bering and Chukchi seas. In 1963, the Nord Wind icebreaker cruised in the area from the Bering Strait to Shelagsky Cape, and the Burton Island icebreaker attempted to go along the Northern Sea Route. By the strait of Dmitry Laptev, he passed into the Laptev Sea, from where he tried to break through heavy ice and pass through Vilkitsky Strait to the west. But the plans of the Americans failed: not far from Taimyr, the rudder failed on the icebreaker, and in order not to stay to spend the winter in the drifting ice, Burton Island urgently turned back.
American icebreakers and other vessels conducted oceanographic work in the East Siberian Sea and the Laptev Sea. Thus, in 1965, the Nord Wind icebreaker passed the Kara Sea and entered the Vilkitsky Strait. Here the Americans again suffered a setback: due to a breakdown of the propeller shaft, the icebreaker returned to England, where he stood for repairs. After the repair, "Nord Wind" made a second attempt to break through the Vilkitsky Strait, but was stopped by Soviet border ships near Cape Chelyuskin.
Then the Americans decided to go around the Northern Land and from the north to pass into the Laptev Sea, and again failure was waiting for them. "Nord Wind", having rounded the Arctic Cape of the Northern Land, met the pack ice of many years and came back.
And in subsequent years, the Americans did not leave their venture to pass the Northern Sea Route. The captains of the Soviet vessels periodically met icebreakers of the US Navy and the US Coast Guard on the Northern Sea Route. 26 August 1970, the icebreaker “Chelyuskin” (captain Trotsenko), following the clear water course 315 ±, in the point with the coordinates 68 ± 18 'N and 175 ± 52 'W.D. I met an icebreaker, from which a helicopter with American identification marks rose. The next day, the icebreaker “Poyarkov”, following the 130 ± course, discovered an American icebreaker in the Chukchi Sea outside the 12-mile zone, at the point with the coordinates 68 ± 44 'N and 176 ± 08 'W.D.
On the icebreaker "Nord Wind" was installed an infrared camera with lenses with a diameter of 16 inches, designed to photograph the coastline of the USSR. Following the course parallel to the coast, the icebreaker conducted a survey of our coast with the definition of the location of objects on it, that is, led the so-called photogrammetry. The crew of the icebreaker included surveyors, whose task was professional photography of the coastline.
Every year, American icebreakers entered the Chukchi Sea in the area of the Long Strait. Moving along the edge of the ice, they watched the movement of Soviet ships and the flights of aircraft, thus hoping to calculate the location of Soviet national economic, and most importantly, military facilities.
In addition to military icebreakers, warships of other classes periodically invaded the Soviet sector of the Arctic and even our territorial waters. So, in 1976, the English frigate "Berwick" violated the maritime border near the throat of the White Sea.
ALL THE SAME AND GREEN
Recently, the United States is planning to create in the oceans huge floating bases from the combined two or more huge ships. As elements of such bases, it is planned to use large container ships and aircraft carriers withdrawn from service, for example, Constelleishin, Kitty Hawk, etc.
Single vessels have already been tested as small floating bases, including the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk, the dry-cargo vessel Kragside (with a displacement of 21 thousand tons).
On large floating bases will be based small and medium landing craft and aircraft of all classes, including the largest military transport aircraft. One of these bases the United States plans to deploy in the Barents Sea in close proximity to the shores of Russia.
In the Russian sector of the Arctic, not only ships of the United States and England, but even small NATO countries, climb. Thus, since 1966, three icebreaking-class reconnaissance vessels with the same name “Mariyatta” have been successively built in Norway. Not a single missile firing of the Northern Fleet was complete without the presence of the Mashka. Once during the P-35 Mashka coastal firing, the Mashka dodged the ships that drove it out for so long that, eventually, one of the minesweepers went back under its own missile. Although the P-35 had only an inert warhead, six were killed on the minesweeper. That would be to make admirals' comrades look into the eyes of their children, widows, and explain how their fathers and husbands died, defending NATO spies with their breasts.
The latter “Mariyatta” created serious interference with the rise of the submarine “Kursk”. This Mariyatta was built in 1995 year. Its displacement is about 8 thousand tons, like a cruiser. In fact, this is an icebreaker, equipped with a large helipad. Superstructures "Mariyatty" covered with forest antennas. Naturally, their purpose, as well as the weapons hidden under the deck, is top secret. Mariatta is based in the port of Kirkenes a few dozen kilometers from the Russian border and goes to the Russian Arctic for a month or more up to nine times a year.
In the autumn of 2010, an order was issued for the construction of an even more powerful ice-class reconnaissance vessel.
It is unlikely that the State Department will explicitly declare the Russian sector of the Arctic as its original territory. To do this, there is a US-controlled Greenpeace.
These brave guys seem to have good intentions towards the Russian Federation - “Greenpeace and millions of our supporters are in favor of imparting protection status to the territory around the North Pole. This area has a total area of approximately 2,8 million square meters. km is outside the so-called exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of the Arctic coastal states, and today does not belong to any national or international jurisdiction.
The status of the international protected natural area for the North Pole does not pose any threat or economic loss for Russia.
The creation of a protected area will allow the zone to be closed for nuclear weapons and other military presence, and thus will prevent the “arctic” arms race, which is terrible for the economy.
Alas, no one tells us who will carry the protection of the protected area. Greenpeace or US Navy?
How will guard ships get there? Through the Russian waters? Through our Northern Sea Route?
The Arctic will introduce a closed zone for nuclear weapons. Will American nuclear-powered submarines with ballistic missiles remain in the impenetrable zones of air defense and anti-aircraft missiles at the west and east coast of the United States?
And where to go to our missile submarines? Back in 1980, the Soviet leaders proposed to the United States on a parity basis to create a safe patrol zone for missile submarines. As the Americans rested then, so now they are against safe zones. Let Russia withdraw its nuclear fleet from the Arctic and disarm.
Is it worth seriously considering the crazy plans of a bunch of mad guys and girls? Alas, it is worth.
13 March 2014 The European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for the creation of a protected area around the North Pole. The resolution actually repeats the requirements of the Greenpeace Arctic campaign.
The European Parliament calls for maintaining water area of 2,8 million square meters. km, not currently owned by any of the countries to protect it from commercial fishing and the development of mineral resources. Today she has no protection status.
Thus, the European Parliament took and snapped off most of its Arctic sector from Russia, which has been our de facto for almost 90 years.
So why all the countries of the world, including the USA, Canada, Japan and Norway, need powerful military icebreakers, but Russia does not?
WITH WEAPON ON BOARD
And since we will have military icebreakers, we must also think about their weapons. The chatter about MANPADS and large-caliber machine guns will be left to the masculine experts, while we turn ourselves to stories.
Here, for example, armament of Soviet arctic icebreakers at the end of World War II: “Stalin”: 4 – 100-mm installations B-34, 7-37-mm 70К, 13 – 20-mm “Oerlikon”, 2 – 12,7- mm DShK. Mikoyan: 3 – 75-mm, 10 – 20-mm Oerlikon, four quadruple Browings; Kaganovich: 4 – 130-mm B-13, 7 – 85-mm 52K, 6 – 37-mm 61K, 12 – 20-mm Oerlikon.
10 August 1964, the Central Committee of the CPSU and the USSR Council of Ministers issued a joint Resolution No. 680 – 280 on the creation of similar disguised missile carriers in the USSR. By order of the Navy Commander in Chief for 27 February 1965, the project was given the name "Scorpion".
On the basis of the UR-100 intercontinental ballistic missile, Chelomey designed the D-8 missile system with the UR-100М missile. However, the Navy leadership recognized the D-9 complex with the P-29 missiles more appropriate.
The D-9 complex includes eight P-29 ballistic missiles. They were stored with a five-minute readiness for launching fully equipped and loaded fuel components in the vertical mines unified with the submarines of the 667 project of the 4C-75 launchers. The possibility of finding missiles on the ship for six months was envisaged.
The ice-going transport vessels of the 550 project (of the “Aguema” type), mass-produced at that time in Komsomolsk-on-Amur and in Kherson, were chosen as the carrier.
These vessels with an 8700 t deadweight had an icebreaking hull shape, a propeller with removable blades and a diesel-electric power plant, which allowed them to work autonomously on the Northern Sea Route.
However, for a variety of reasons, mainly of a political nature, the project of the Arctic missile carrier was not implemented.
Few people know that according to the project, all Soviet nuclear-powered icebreakers were supposed to carry artillery in wartime or a threatened period. Thus, the nuclear-powered icebreaker "Lenin" was equipped with a foundation, cellars and other equipment for the quadruple 45-mm automata CM-20-ZIF1.
At the beginning of 1975, the greatest scandal broke out in Agitprop. On the cover of the magazine "Spark" was a large photo of the icebreaker "Arctic". Everything would be fine, but everyone there lovers saw the AK-726 art photo installation. Indeed, the mobilization armament of the Arktika icebreakers provided for two twin 76-mm AK-726 installations and four six-barreled AK-630 installations. With this weapon "Arctic" and passed state tests.
In my opinion, universal mine installations, like on American destroyers, would have become the ideal armament of the new military icebreaker. Both cruise anti-ship missiles and long-range anti-aircraft missiles can be placed there.
Well, of course, we need at least one artillery system with a caliber of at least 100 mm and a pair of Palashi. Let's not forget that an atomic icebreaker will often have to be in a single voyage. Covering it with escort vessels, such as the TFR, in Arctic waters is very problematic.
And how much will it cost Russia to build a series of military icebreakers? I think no more than ambitious projects of restructuring the Kremlin and the center of Moscow.
It should not be forgotten that the Trans-Siberian Railway and the Dobroflot shipping company were established and controlled by the state. In general, they did not pay off before 1917, but it was thanks to them that the Far East and Eastern Siberia remained in the Russian State.
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