Corvette Ave 22160: unobtrusive patrol ships with destroyer capabilities. Following the "Smart"
The laying of the third serial patrol ship of the pr. 22160 “Pavel Derzhavin” took place at the Zelenodolsk Shipbuilding Plant named after A.M. Bitter February 18 2016. Along with him for the 2 years, the 2 of the promising corvette of the project, Vasily Bykov and Dmitry Rogachev, laid out in the 2014 year, are also suitable for the final assembly stage. According to the official data of the developer site severnoe.com (JSC Northern Design Bureau), the project ships will patrol the 200 miles in the exclusive economic zone of the state, prevent pirate activity and smuggling, and also escort merchant ships through unstable seas and oceans . But the technological potential embodied in the 22160 project opens up opportunities for the crews of these corvettes that were previously simply unimaginable for surface combat ships with a displacement of less than 2000 tons.
A wonderful tradition of embodying in the small naval surface ships of the Russian Navy some of the capabilities of destroyers and cruisers appeared on paper in the form of conceptual designs back in the mid-90s. This became known after the laying in 1997 of a promising patrol ship, pr. 12441 “Thunder”, in the construction of which new universal vertical launchers of a modular type were noticed; as it turned out later, these were launchers for the developed modern 9M96 and 9M100 missiles, unified with the Triumph, Redut and Vityaz air defense systems, which would make the Grom IC the first in Russia navy a frigate of missile defense of medium and distant frontiers. But the Novik project was not destined to be embodied in the hardware that was conceived by the St. Petersburg PKB Almaz, in particular, due to the difficult political situation of the late 90s, when the fleet leadership did not have a clear and unified approach to the appointment of new surface ships. By the beginning of the XNUMXst century, the construction of the lead ship was suspended indefinitely, not even reaching half the readiness. The concept of air defense frigates in Russia remained at the same level of self-defense on the basis of the Dagger and Dagger short-range complexes.
At the same time, in the united naval forces of NATO of the countries of Western Europe, work on the construction of air frigates of the F100 type “Alvaro de Basan” (Spain), “Lafayette” (France), “Saxony” (Germany), and later “Iver Huitfeld” (Denmark), “De Zeven Provinsien” (Netherlands). The air defense / missile defense of the Spanish frigates F100 was based on the Aegis BIUS and the universal TLU Mk 41 capable of launching the RIM-67D SAM (SM-2ER Block III) at a distance of up to 180 km; the French Lafayette received the ultra-maneuverable anti-aircraft interceptor Aster-30 with a range of 100 km for the PAAMS airborne missile system. There has been a significant lag of our guards in the ability to deal with long-range air targets, and as a result, the ability to act independently at a distance from the air defense umbrella of a friendly shipboard attack force, under the conditions of the numerical domination of the enemy's air strikes, was reduced to zero. The frigates of the Fearless Ave 11540 and the BOD Ave 1155 of the Udaly could not cover friendly surface ships at a distance more than 8 — 12 km (the range of the Kortikov and Daggers). Cardinal and quick decisions were required, but they only began to be realized after 7 years.
In 2003, the command of the Russian Navy presented the conceptual design of the frigate 22350 Ave. Admiral Gorshkov. The promising patrol ship was the first Russian air defense frigate with the possibility of hitting long-range air targets with 9М96Е2 anti-aircraft missiles launched from the Red Cross complex of the Redut; at the same time, the interception could be carried out according to the kinetic interception principle “hit-to-kill”, which made the project ships full-fledged anti-missile frigates. But to include the project in a solid register of state defense order expenditures it took another 3 of the year, and the laying of the lead ship took place only in February of the 2006 of the year, and the launch of the ship 29 of October of the 2010 of the year. The UK long-distance marine zone was expecting a long run and fire test in the Baltic and White seas, which today reached the final phase, before being transferred to the Federation Council. But for the development of a promising shipboard anti-aircraft missile system 3K96 "Redut" in the conditions of sea TVD and ship-based even before testing at the Admiral Gorshkov Insurance Company, the manufacturer (the Almaz-Antey Air Defense Group) had to place a "trimmed" version of the complex on the basis of corvettes 20380 Ave. “Smart”, “Lively”, “Perfect”, “Resistant”, etc. There are no 4-sided MRLS "Polyment" on 16 target channels on corvettes, and the role of the detection and targeting radar is performed by a decimeter MFR with "Furke-2" PHAR, capable of detecting a target with 0,1 m2 EPR at 65 km distance. And TLU is represented by 12 by TPK cells instead of 28 (on frigates of 22350 Ave.). But even with such a radar architecture, the Redut shows quite good fire performance, which is achieved thanks to infrared and active radar targeting methods of the 9М100 and 9М96 SAM systems, as well as the management of the modern Sigma BIUS, which provides the 1 ZUR / s rate of fire. All corvettes of the 20380 Ave., starting with the “Intelligent”, are unique warships with: low displacement, low radar visibility, Redut missile defense missile defense missile system with two types of anti-missile missiles, providing as a closed air space over a significant portion of the theater (9X96 SAM), and self-defense (SAM 9M100).
But, comparing the corvettes of the 20380 Ave. with the 22160 project, I note that the original and advanced design features, the longer range of anti-ship and strategic weapons, as well as the large indicators of autonomy and navigation range of the latter determine its advantages over the 20380-project in the XXI century, even if we take into account the "Redut".
Corvette Ave 22160, having a lower displacement by 30% (up to 1700 tons), has a 1,5 — 2 times a greater cruising range (up to 6000 miles) than the “Watching” class, which makes it possible to classify them with patrol ships in the far sea zone, autonomy at the same time, 2 comes nearer to the months, while the 20380 ave is just 2 weeks. The design of add-ons, antenna posts and combat modules of various complexes at 22160 Ave is much closer to the “stealth” concept than on 20380 Ave. For example, in the “Steregushchy” and other ships of the project, you can observe the backward debris of the boards only at the transition from the hull to the carriers of the composite superstructure, i.e. only half the length of the ship, these debris, although they reduce the effectiveness of the enemy’s ARGOS PKR to 10%, can hardly bring the ship's ESR to the level of a fishing boat, as was done in the American Zumwalt; the standard round fixed base of the X-NUMX-mm A-100-190 artillery mount, which gives additional square meters to the total EPR, and a completely standard design of the nose of the upper deck. The anti-ship armament of the 01 Ave. corvettes is represented by the 20380х2 PU KT-4 SCRK Uran with 184 subsonic X-8UE long-range cruise missiles (35 km), which do not provide significant advantages over NATO frigates equipped with the new versions of the X-chromium 260 km (XNUMX km), which do not offer significant advantages over NATO frigates equipped with the new version of the rifle charts. remote ground objects of the enemy.
With the 22160 project, we see a completely different picture. The patrol ships of the far sea zone (open sea) have at times a more advanced hull design and superstructure architecture. The high reverse blockage of the sides smoothly changes into inclined angular generators of a compact superstructure, the wheelhouse of which ideally follows the contours of the superstructure (the wheelhouse of the Watching corvettes has a classic reverse slope of the illuminator side). The superstructure is about 2 times smaller than the superstructure of ships of the 20380 Ave., and the upper deck in the bow of the ship is reliably protected by multiple layers of radar absorbing coatings and composite materials. In addition, the X-NUMX-mm A-57M artillery is equipped with an angular turret with a minimum radar signature. All this allows the crews of the corvettes of the 220 Ave. to hide themselves as much as possible from the eyes of the operators of the P-22160A Poseidon radar systems of distant patrol aircraft.
Of particular interest is the on-board radio-electronic equipment of the corvettes of the 22160 Ave., as well as the complex of modern missile systems that it manages. Strike weapons patrol ships such as "Vasily Bykov" (head of the project vehicle) is represented by a multi-purpose missile complex "Caliber-NK" for which allocated 2h4 specialized lifting PU UKSK aft corvette, designed to launch the range of cruise missiles and 3M14 3M54. Eight anti-ship 3М54E are made from a small corvette of the 22160 Ave. The most dangerous sea hunter on small KGG of the NATO Navy, and a small combination of these corvettes can even deal with a large AUG. We all know about the capabilities of 3М54E to “break through” the nearest shipboard missile defense system at a speed of 3300 km / h. In the case of a complete set of a strategic cruise missile 3М14Е (range up to 2000 km), corvettes like "Vasily Bykov" will be able to perform strategically important tasks for delivering long-range rocket attacks on the most important enemy targets at 7000 miles from their bases. Until today, more than one corvette class warship was not capable of operating autonomously at the level of a carrier strike group. Four-meter draft allows you to act in shallow water, in small bays and even in various rivers, which most frigates are not capable of.
Promising corvettes are able to stand up for themselves when they hit an enemy’s RCC, or when approaching a tactical aviation or UAV. Air defense / missile missions are assigned to the Shtil-12 1-channel medium-range air defense system. 9M317E anti-aircraft missiles in the amount of 24 units placed in TPK MS-487 of two modules-VPU 3S90E.1. Unlike its predecessor “Hurricane”, the Shtil-1 missile defense complex with a modular VPU was able to fully realize its 12-channel thanks to the rate of fire increased to 1 SAM / 1,5. The pace is almost in line with Redut and Aegis. The 9M317E missile system itself has many advantages over the M-22 Uragan missile, the 9M38M1 missile: the maximum flight speed of the latter reaches 1550 m / s (5550 km / h) due to a more powerful dual-mode solid propellant rocket engine, there is the possibility of intercepting 3-fly targets (after the modernization of radar systems and the Shtil software, this parameter may increase), the maximum height of interception by the 9M317E rocket increased to 25000 meters, the maximum G-limit increased to almost 30 units, which made it possible to intercept maneuvering targets with overloads about 11-12 units .; the new missile system became much more compact, since it received new folding aerodynamic steering wheels for the possibility of placement in the VPU 3S90E.1.
In advertising sources, as well as on military popular science resources, it is indicated that the maximum range of the target to be hit for the ship's “Shtil-1” air defense system is 32 km, but it is also indicated that the maximum range of the 9М317E SAM is 50 km, from which it becomes It is clear that 32 kilometers “Smooth-1” is limited only because of insufficient energy capabilities of the target radar (ZNXXUMX9E SAM has PARGSN, and therefore completely depends on the power of the spotlight OP-317 radar). The standard “Radia” radar architecture with RL illuminators has a great similarity with the American Aegis / Standard family, due to which the complex has familiar problems with the target channel, which depends on the equipment of the RPN OP-3.
It is worth noting an important detail that was not mentioned in the Internet resources and in numerous forums. The “Shtil-1” anti-aircraft missile system in the Corvette armament system of the 22160 Avenue is controlled not by standard RPN of the OP-3 type, but by a specialized 4-sided MRRLS with flat AFAR / PPAR mounted on the 4-faces of the 8-facet of the ship. -shaped "sweep", as is done in Japanese EM class "Akizuki". This method of upgrading “Calm-1” recalls the concept of improving “Aegis” in the direction of additional equipment with new X-band AMDR type AMDR located above the existing section of the AN / SPY-1 RLC. And this is not all the surprises of a promising stealth corvette unobtrusive.
The modular design of weapons and avionics, as well as the open architecture of the modern 22160 project control system, allows installing not one, but several types of the latest detection and target radars, some of which have very interesting technical parameters. The first radar given is an active radar with PHOTOS “Positive-ME1” with an instrumental range for detecting a large target 250 km and a target detection range with a type of “fighter” 110 km. The second is the Fregat-MAE-4K radar detector. This radar is unique in its kind: it functions in the H-band of centimeter waves (which is between the X and G-bands used for target illumination), and therefore there may be a hardware ability of a so-called. "Fire" mode of operation of the station, of course, in a stationary state. This range gives a higher accuracy in target detection when reviewing the airspace, which for the better affects the response time of the CICS and KZRK in repelling an attack of an enemy high-precision rocket weapons... As an example, I can give interesting "figures" from the radar data table from the resource paralay.com. The Frigat-MAE-5 radar detector of the E-band of decimeter waves has indicators of azimuthal and elevation errors of coordinates of the detected target 24`` and 30``, respectively, the H-band Fregat-MAE-4K shows 5,5 times more accurate result (4,, and 6, respectively).
There is also a near line of air defense of the corvettes of the 22160 Ave. It is a set of guided weapons (KUV) turret type 3М-47 "Bending". On the corvettes of the project there is one rotating turret “Bendy”. For the sake of fairness, I note that 3М-47, being a single-channel missile system, is not able to repel a blow more than the 2's Harpoon anti-ship missiles in the “dead zone” of the Shtil-1 complex, and therefore its efficiency is very low in modern conditions. Used as an oblique 2 PU, the 9C846 “Sagittarius” launch module can be equipped with the 8 TPK MANPADS “Igla-S” (4 SAM systems per module) or 4 TPK PTUR 9М120-1. In the configuration with the "Iglo-S" complex "Bending" can intercept warm-contrast air targets, including various anti-ship missiles, UAVs and aircraft, while picking with the 9М120-1 "Attack" ATGM, it is possible to combat enemy small surface boats, various coastal targets, as well as with combat helicopters. "Attack" has a semi-automatic principle of targeting a laser beam with radio command correction, but to intercept small-sized objects (UAB, free-falling bombs and UAVs) is ineffective, as successfully hit the "cold" small-sized target of a cumulative warhead directed action does not work, for this you need an extremely semi-active / active radar guidance through a rocket. The reaction time “Bending” without timely target designation from the main ship-based air defense system “Shtil” or general ship radar is over 8 s, which will not allow time to bring down the rapidly approaching CRP; about the protection against anti-radar missiles in general not say anything. The only decent air defense equipment of the near abroad is for corvettes of 22160 Ave. - Palma / Pantsir-M ZRAK, which can be worked out in the following ships of the Vasily Bykov class after the first polygon firing of the lead ship.
As befits the patrol ship of the far sea zone, the best in the world shipbuilding practice, 22160 Ave. will be equipped with the most modern and sensitive sonar systems developed in Concern Okeprpribor JSC. The corvettes will be armed with the 3 hydroacoustic complex for various purposes at once: the low-frequency active-passive GUS Vignetka-EM for detecting sound-emitting sources (PL, surface ship) in the first and second long-range acoustic illumination (35 — 140 km), GAK MGC- 335EM-03 for the detection of underwater targets in the near zone of acoustic illumination (3-5 km, also 5-12 km) with the establishment of sonar and telecode communications to identify or prevent the crew of the detected object, GAS "Pall Hell ”for the detection of divers, saboteurs in the immediate vicinity of the ship (up to 0,5 km).
The defensive systems include the newest ship complex REP TK-25E, developed by Concern Radio-Electronic Technologies JSC. Operating in the frequency range from 0,064 to 2 GHz, the complex is capable of simultaneously analyzing 256 radio-emitting targets, among which may be at least 1000 recognizable types of radio stations, airborne, land-based and sea-based radar complexes, as well as ARGSN RCC and other means of air attack. There are disadvantages. For example, radio-emitting targets that are above 40 degrees relative to a ship in the elevation sector, i.e. the target is outside the viewing angle of the receiving aperture of the complex. This deficiency can also lead to the problem of detecting air hazards in the airspace close to the ship at the moment when the air defense weapons are engaged in other rocket-dangerous areas.
A powerful and tested 22160-mm A-57М artillery gun mounted on a carriage and covered with a radio-absorbing stealth mask is installed in the bow of the deck of the patrol ships of the 220 project. A high rate of fire (up to 5 shots / s) allows active fire on very nimble sea, air and ground targets within a radius of approximately 5 km, while the maximum range along the ballistic trajectory passes for 12,5 km, which will make these patrol ships very unpleasant "guests" for coastal land units of the enemy, armed with short-range anti-tank systems and small arms (concerns terrorist and other paramilitary groups). In some cases, the A-220M installation can also be used as an auxiliary anti-aircraft gun mount with an elevation angle of + 85 degrees. The effectiveness of the fire is provided by the synchronization system with the general-ship complexes of optical-electronic and radar targeting, as well as the possibility of firing with the help of an attached television-optical complex.
Based on the availability of the Shtil-1 version of the KZRK improved with the help of the new multifunctional antenna post, the installation of the shock RK with the strategic capabilities of the Caliber-NK, the placement of unique sonar systems, and the linking of these systems in the BIOS, PC 22160 can be attributed to class "reinforced" corvettes. Unique patrolmen with an ultra-low displacement of 1300 — 1700 tons, possessing several times less cost and requiring less resources for maintenance, can be built at an accelerated pace for the fastest possible saturation of all fleets of our Navy. The long-range capabilities of the 22160 project open up the possibility to act as part of any friendly ship strike group, and the modular design of the performance and stealth capabilities - to preserve the feasibility of the project for several more decades.
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