Vice Admiral Viktor Bursuk, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Navy for armaments, told reporters at the International Maritime Defense Show in St. Petersburg that the Navy plans to have two amphibious assault helicopter carriers in service by 2025. It is worth recalling that the preparation of the terms of reference for the development of landing ships, which will surpass the well-known Mistrals in their capabilities, was announced in the Navy last summer.
The Russian Navy today does not have a single universal assault helicopter carrier (UDC), although the need is obvious. Perhaps that is why at IMDS-2017 such attention was focused on the layout and conceptual design of the UDC "Priboy" at the exhibition stand of the Krylov State Scientific Center.
The purpose of the UDC is the transportation by sea and landing on an unequipped coast of troops and equipment during a naval landing operation (with the participation of combat support helicopters of a naval air group), as well as the setting of defensive mines and net barriers, sonar buoys of an underwater surveillance system.
The ship is difficult. In addition to a dozen helicopters, it has on board six assault boats and six landing craft with a carrying capacity of 45 tons each. The self-defense anti-aircraft weapon includes four combat modules, including Pantsir-ME. Artillery is represented by a 76 mm universal mount. The UDC has an integrated combat control system for tactical and operational-tactical levels, as well as a three-coordinate radar, a navigation system, an integrated electronic warfare subsystem and a system for detecting underwater sabotage forces and means.
The conceptual design of the 200-meter UDC "Priboy" with a cruising range of 6000 miles looks quite convincing and harmonious. The history of its appearance is also interesting, which is connected not so much with the disruption of the delivery of French Mistrals, but with the scientific and technical foresight of Russian specialists and the self-affirmation of domestic shipbuilding.
french accent
The decision to purchase the Mistrals was met at the Krylov Center as a professional challenge, and yet the domestic UDC could have been designed here without French influence.
Valentin Belonenko, head of the department for the advanced design of warships at the Krylov Center, says: “When in 2005 we started talking about buying French Mistrals, we clarified the purpose of the landing helicopter carrier, analyzed global shipbuilding trends. And on our own initiative and at our own expense, we began to create a project for a universal landing "Compared to the Mistrals, it was originally intended to create a ship with a larger capacity, a larger air group, with strong self-defense capabilities. We independently worked out project options, carried out model tests, tested new concepts. This is how the conceptual design of the universal amphibious assault ship-helicopter carrier "Priboy" was born.
Any ship is a compromise between dozens of different parameters. "Priboy" is conceived to transport about 500 troops and military equipment (tanks and infantry fighting vehicles) with the possibility of UDC going ashore. Combat support helicopters and landing helicopters should be present on board. These features lead to an almost aircraft carrier-sized deck and architecture with two types of helicopter hangars (in the superstructure and in the hull below deck). Landing craft with the help of crane beams are not accepted into the dock chamber, as is customary, but onto a dry dock deck above the waterline. The absence of docking cameras ensures greater operational safety. In the stern and in the bow there are ramps for receiving equipment from the shore and from the water, as well as side exits. Self-defense weapons are minimal, but very effective: marine modifications of the well-known Thor and Pantsir complexes. An amphibious helicopter carrier must operate in a group of ships, therefore it has advanced radio-electronic and sonar weapons for situational illumination and control.
The functions and the necessary "working volume" - 50 infantry fighting vehicles and 10 tanks - determined the shape of the ship and the displacement - about 23 thousand tons. The width of the dock deck (about 20 meters) and the space for power plants (in the side racks) add up to a total hull width of 34 meters at the waterline. The hull length is 200 meters.
Optimal timing
The Ministry of Defense approved the creation of a domestic landing helicopter carrier, and it is very likely that it will be created just on the basis of the Krylov Center project. Perhaps soon we will talk about a contract.
With the exception of Project 1174 "Rhino" of the late 1960s, there were no analogues in the Russian Navy, but today Russian shipbuilding has the scientific and technical potential, production base and experience to create ships of any complexity.
Valentin Belonenko reflects on the possibility of incarnating the Surf in metal: “After a decision at the state level, the ship can be built in five years. A rationally organized technological process of design and construction significantly reduces the time until the hull is launched. and from assembly and assembly units - modules.
"French history" is reluctantly remembered by our shipbuilders and naval sailors today. The transport helicopter carrier "Mistral" is a serious technique, created taking into account the experience and traditions of national shipbuilding. However, the French classify the Mistral as a landing command ship (bâtiment de projection et de commandement), that is, they see it as both a transport and even a hospital. Perhaps, for one ship, the functional load is excessive, since it reduces combat survivability. Let the Mistrals that have not become ours serve a friendly one. And Russian shipbuilders are determined to surpass the French project.
The events associated with the “freezing” of the contract for the Mistral amphibious assault helicopter carriers by the French side have taken on a completely stupid and unfavorable look in the last year. Already in the autumn-winter of last year, it was approximately clear that this project could be put an end to, but the French continued to invent various "myths" and play for time, which confused our military departments and negotiators.
This could not go on for a long time, especially since a powerful and status superpower is participating in the negotiation process, which has established itself as a trustworthy and stable party both in the arms market and in any other areas, such as the economy and energy. Why does Russia, which launched such ships as the heavy nuclear-powered missile cruiser Pyotr Veliky and the aircraft-carrying missile cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov, need an empty French dock hull, which still needs to be re-equipped and finalized for a long time to the proper condition that meets the needs of the Russian Navy? So the command of the Navy began to look for ways to solve the problem.
We considered a lot of various options for a promising amphibious assault ship, which should become a worthy alternative for the fleet and even more meet our conditions of use and needs. One of these options was the possible modernization of the BDK project 1174 "Ivan Rogov", but structurally this ship is more intended for the internal transportation of light and heavy armored vehicles and troops, the deck is not able to fully ensure the use of helicopter aviation. The front and rear parts of the deck are separated by a large superstructure across the entire width of the ship, which in difficult meteorological conditions will pose a certain danger to landing and taking off helicopters.
A solution was required that was most suitable for the use of helicopter aviation in various conditions, i.e. - a compact superstructure at the side and the most spacious deck. The results of design work on the creation of the first visual aid of a promising ship, which was the model presented on June 16 at the exhibition of the Army-2015 forum, were not long in coming.
UDC-helicopter carrier pr. "Priboy" will be equipped with everything necessary for use in most operations of the Navy
The universal landing ship of the Priboy project, developed by the Nevsky Design Bureau, is a product with an exclusively Russian element base, which combines all the features of the Soviet-Russian shipbuilding, as well as the most modern trends that appeared in the late XX - early XXI century and provide for a decrease in radar visibility over due to the original design of the superstructure.
The superstructure itself has a width of no more than 8 meters and a length of about 30 meters, all corners of the superstructure provide for a minimum number of right angles, due to which its RCS should have very small values, comparable to the RCS of small patrol boats. Recently, it is the reduction of the radar signature of the architecture on the deck of a ship that has been given special attention by shipbuilders.
The ship will be much smaller than the French Mistral, about 165 meters long and 25 meters wide. The Russian fleet absolutely does not require huge landing helicopter carriers, since the current capabilities of the Ka-52 and Ka-52K attack helicopters have stepped far ahead, and no more than ten such combat helicopters are enough to ensure combat stability in a naval theater.
So, the modern Ka-52K will be able to perform a complex list of anti-ship tasks through the use of X-31A and X-35U anti-ship missiles, in addition, a lighter modification of the Zhuk-AE radar with the Zhuk-AE AFAR is being developed for helicopters, which will also be able to work on air targets within a radius of up to 80 km; it is likely that the air-to-air missile R-77 (RVV-AE) will be unified with the Ka-52K in the future, and helicopters will be able to master all types of operations in the sea and coastal zone.
Such a radical improvement in the concept of using helicopters can become an important part in providing a "closed airspace" over the coastal area, where UDC surf will carry out the tasks of landing armored vehicles and troops on enemy territory. Now the Priboy project provides for the transportation and use of 8 attack helicopters from the deck of the ship, but after the full completion of the design work, these figures may change. Also, Ka-27 multi-purpose helicopters can be placed on the surf deck. It is worth considering that such naval attack systems based on helicopters are not being developed either in Western Europe or in the United States.
The compactness of a ship with a displacement of 14,000 tons is not limited to small length and width. The draft of the ship will be only 5 meters, for the Mistral - 6.3 m, for the Ivan Rogov - 7 m. Such a draft gives the UDC of the far sea zone many advantages of maneuvering in waters, bays and straits, where shallow water is often observed will be able to enter such seas as the Sea of Azov almost without restrictions). Draft indicators are most important for helicopter carriers and UDC from a tactical point of view, since sometimes, at the time of the operation, it is necessary to approach the enemy as close as possible, and shallow water can prevent a ship with a large draft from doing this; attack helicopters, on the other hand, often have a combat radius of no more than 400 km, due to which the enemy on land can remain beyond the reach of attack helicopters.
UDC pr. "Priboy" will have a cruising range of about 11,500 km, a cruising speed of 15-16 knots, and a maximum of 20 knots, which does not differ from the "Mistral". Only on an economical course, the Mistral has an almost 2-fold advantage in range up to 20,000 km. The autonomy of the "Priboy" will be 2 times higher than the performance of the "Mistrals" (the duration of the autonomous campaign is more than 2 months).
A rather important criterion can be considered the landing capabilities of dock chambers and armored holds for transporting heavy and light armored vehicles, landing craft, as well as fully equipped marines or landing forces. Here, "Priboy" is also no different from foreign products such as "Hyuga" and "Mistral". The ship is able to take 60 units of light armored vehicles and at least 20-30 main battle tanks into the internal compartments, as means of operational landing, in the conditions of the impossibility of approaching the coastal zone of the UDC, the ship is provided with 4 landing craft pr. 11770M or 2 pr. 12061M.
One of the most important indicators of the versatility of this ship in front of the western ones is the equipment of a bow landing device and a 25-35 meter strong gangway, which, before landing, is pulled out from under the upper deck by hydraulic drives, all in the tradition of the old, good and reliable Soviet school of shipbuilding!
The small size of the UDC "Priboy", as well as a decrease in radar visibility, are also provided for the possibility of using this ship as a command and staff ship of the KUG / AUG of the Russian Navy. It is known that at the time of the “star raid” of enemy anti-ship missiles, the active radar homing head captures a more radio-contrast target, i.e. a larger and more visible ship, and the radar signature of this ship will not be greater than that of the frigate EM pr. ”, in which case it is clearly required to fight back. To this end, "Priboy" is equipped with at least 3 combat modules of the "Pantsir-M" multi-channel shipborne SAM.
Anti-aircraft missile and gun system "Pantsir-M" / "Palitsa" is a naval modification of the land-based air defense system "Pantsir-S1" and inherited its similar firing characteristics. ZUR 57E6E has a radio command system for controlling coordinates, which are transmitted to the onboard computer of the missile from optoelectronic and radar detection and target designation tools on the combat module. For missile guidance, radar and optical transponders are used in the tail of the missile, which allow the fire control system on the combat module to most accurately correlate the coordinates of the interceptor missile and the target to bring the missile to the target.
The flight speed of the SAM is 1300 m / s, the range and the interception ceiling are 15 and 20 km, respectively. The maximum speed of the hit target is about 3650 km / h. The guidance speed is 100 degrees / s, thanks to which even PRLRs flying into a neighboring support ship that have broken into the near line of defense can be intercepted.
Radar channel "Palitsy" is represented by a "Phazatron" multifunctional radar with phased array 1RS2 and SART 1RS1-1E, in which a "friend or foe" radio interrogator is installed. Autonomous optical direction finder - a two-channel TV / IR sight, capable of capturing HARM-type radar from a distance of 14 km, an AGM-86C cruise missile - 13 km, and Harpoon anti-ship missiles - about 9-11 km. The multifunctional radar and optical direction finder are capable of capturing 2 air targets, realizing the simultaneous firing of 4 air targets, while up to 10 targets can be fired per minute. The performance of the KZRAK "Pantsir-M" together with 2x6 30-mm AP exceeds the performance of the KZRAK dagger by almost 2 times.
BM KZRAK "Pantsir-M" / "Palitsa" will be installed on the "Priboy" in the amount of at least 3 BMs, which will ensure all-aspect air defense / missile defense from enemy missiles
On the UDC "Priboy" project, 2 "Pantsir-M" modules are installed in niches along the edge of the starboard side of the ship, as well as in the front part on the edge of the port side, it is possible to install another module in the rear niche of the side. Thus, the Priboy air defense system can simultaneously fire at 12 attacking missiles, and up to 30 dangerous objects can be fired per minute. In fact, this UDC can be both a command and staff ship and a short-range air defense ship of a small naval formation.
Today, only one helicopter carrier, the Japanese Hyuga, has similar air defense parameters, on which the Japanese-Dutch FCS-3A radar and the latest export version of the RIM-162 “ESSM” air defense system are installed.
The command of the Russian Navy expresses hopes that in the coming years at least 4 ships of the Udaloy project will be laid down, which will be able to partially make up for the lack of modern amphibious, strike and anti-ship marine systems in the Russian fleet.
The Krylov State Research Center has developed a project for the Lavina universal amphibious assault ship to replace the Mistral-class helicopter carriers. RIA Novosti was informed about this by a high-ranking representative of the military-industrial complex. “The Krylov Central Research Institute has developed an alternative to the Mistrals, the project of the Avalanche helicopter carrier with a displacement of 24,000 tons, even more than the French ship,” the agency’s interlocutor said. The ship by type of architecture will be semi-trimaran (??? here's the name ... almost "underdone" :)) ...
Its cruising range will be 5 thousand miles at a speed of 18 knots, the maximum speed is 22 knots, the crew will reach 320 people. The ship will be able to carry up to 500 marines or 50 armored vehicles. According to the source, the project provides for the deployment of 16 helicopters, including anti-submarine and search and rescue Ka-27, transport and combat Ka-29 and attack Ka-52K. It is also expected to have six project 11770 Serna landing craft or six Project 03160 Raptor landing assault boats on board. The ship will be armed with AK-176M and AK-630M-2 Duet gun mounts and Pantsir-M naval anti-aircraft systems.
Earlier it was noted that the Nevsky Design Bureau also developed a project for the Priboy landing ship with a displacement of 14 thousand tons, which can become an alternative to the French Mistrals. The ship carries eight helicopters and can carry up to 500 marines or 40-60 armored vehicles. In December 2014, Lenta.ru sources in the defense industry stated that the new amphibious assault ship for the Navy should approximately correspond to the main parameters of the Dutch amphibious assault ships of the Rotterdam or Johan de Witt type, chosen as a model. Those have a displacement of 14-16 thousand tons, carry up to 500-600 marines and carry six helicopters and a set of floating landing craft.
UNIVERSAL LANDING SHIP-HELICOPTER CARRIER "AVALANCHE". As part of the ongoing military-technical forum "Army-2015" in the Moscow region on June 19, 2015, the project of the universal amphibious assault ship-helicopter carrier "Lavina" was presented. The Krylov State Research Center has created a project for the Lavina universal landing ship-helicopter carrier with a displacement of 24,000 tons as an alternative to the French Mistral. The future ship, according to its architectural and design type, will be a semi-trimaran with a cruising range of 5,000 miles at 18 knots, a maximum speed of 22 knots, a crew of 320 people, a landing capacity of 500 people or 50 armored personnel carriers, he noted.
The project provides for the deployment of 16 helicopters: multi-purpose Ka-27, transport-combat Ka-29 and attack Ka-52K, as well as six landing boats of project 11770 "Serna" or six landing assault boats of project 03160 "Raptor". According to the project, the ship will be armed with AK-176M and Palma-type gun mounts and Pantsir-ME naval anti-aircraft systems. At the same time, the forum "Army-2015" provided information on the UDC "Surf". The project "Priboy" of the universal landing ship was developed by JSC "Nevsky Design Bureau". The universal landing ship "Priboy" will have a displacement of 14,000 tons with a draft of 5 meters. In addition, it is known that another project of the promising large landing ship Kashalot is being developed for the Russian Navy. The leadership of the Navy expects that at least four ships of this class will be built for the needs of the fleet. These UDCs can become an alternative to French helicopter carriers. At the same time, the technical developments and systems that are already on the French ship will not be applied. The decision on the construction of the ship will be made after the completion of the project development.
This could not go on for a long time, especially since a powerful and status superpower is participating in the negotiation process, which has established itself as a trustworthy and stable party both in the arms market and in any other areas, such as the economy and energy. Why does Russia, which launched such ships as the heavy nuclear-powered missile cruiser Pyotr Veliky and the aircraft-carrying missile cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov, need an empty French dock hull, which still needs to be re-equipped and finalized for a long time to the proper condition that meets the needs of the Russian Navy? So the command of the Navy began to look for ways to solve the problem.
We considered a lot of various options for a promising amphibious assault ship, which should become a worthy alternative for the fleet and even more meet our conditions of use and needs. One of these options was the possible modernization of the BDK project 1174 "Ivan Rogov", but structurally this ship is more intended for the internal transportation of light and heavy armored vehicles and troops, the deck is not able to fully ensure the use of helicopter aviation. The front and rear parts of the deck are separated by a large superstructure across the entire width of the ship, which in difficult meteorological conditions will pose a certain danger to landing and taking off helicopters.
A solution was required that was most suitable for the use of helicopter aviation in various conditions, i.e. - a compact superstructure at the side and the most spacious deck. The results of design work on the creation of the first visual aid of a promising ship, which was the model presented on June 16 at the exhibition of the Army-2015 forum, were not long in coming.
The universal landing ship of the Priboy project, developed by the Nevsky Design Bureau, is a product with an exclusively Russian element base, which combines all the features of the Soviet-Russian shipbuilding, as well as the most modern trends that appeared in the late XX - early XXI century and provide for a decrease in radar visibility over due to the original design of the superstructure.
The superstructure itself has a width of no more than 8 meters and a length of about 30 meters, all corners of the superstructure provide for a minimum number of right angles, due to which its RCS should have very small values, comparable to the RCS of small patrol boats. Recently, it is the reduction of the radar signature of the architecture on the deck of a ship that has been given special attention by shipbuilders.
The ship will be much smaller than the French Mistral, about 165 meters long and 25 meters wide. The Russian fleet absolutely does not require huge landing helicopter carriers, since the current capabilities of the Ka-52 and Ka-52K attack helicopters have stepped far ahead, and no more than ten such combat helicopters are enough to ensure combat stability in a naval theater.
So, the modern Ka-52K will be able to perform a complex list of anti-ship tasks through the use of X-31A and X-35U anti-ship missiles, in addition, a lighter modification of the radar with Zhuk-AE AFAR is being developed for helicopters, which will also be able to work on air targets within a radius of up to 80 km; it is likely that the air-to-air missile R-77 (RVV-AE) will be unified with the Ka-52K in the future, and helicopters will be able to master all types of operations in the sea and coastal zone.
Such a radical improvement in the concept of using helicopters can become an important part in providing a "closed airspace" over the coastal area, where UDC surf will carry out the tasks of landing armored vehicles and troops on enemy territory. Now the Priboy project provides for the transportation and use of 8 attack helicopters from the deck of the ship, but after the full completion of the design work, these figures may change. Also, Ka-27 multi-purpose helicopters can be placed on the surf deck. It is worth considering that such naval attack systems based on helicopters are not being developed either in Western Europe or in the United States.
The compactness of a ship with a displacement of 14,000 tons is not limited to small length and width. The draft of the ship will be only 5 meters, for the Mistral - 6.3 m, for the Ivan Rogov - 7 m. Such a draft gives the UDC of the far sea zone many advantages of maneuvering in waters, bays and straits, where shallow water is often observed will be able to enter such seas as the Sea of Azov almost without restrictions). Draft indicators are most important for helicopter carriers and UDC from a tactical point of view, since sometimes, at the time of the operation, it is necessary to approach the enemy as close as possible, and shallow water can prevent a ship with a large draft from doing this; attack helicopters, on the other hand, often have a combat radius of no more than 400 km, due to which the enemy on land can remain beyond the reach of attack helicopters.
UDC pr. "Priboy" will have a cruising range of about 11,500 km, a cruising speed of 15-16 knots, and a maximum of 20 knots, which does not differ from the "Mistral". Only on an economical course, the Mistral has an almost 2-fold advantage in range up to 20,000 km. The autonomy of the "Priboy" will be 2 times higher than the performance of the "Mistrals" (the duration of the autonomous campaign is more than 2 months).
A rather important criterion can be considered the landing capabilities of dock chambers and armored holds for transporting heavy and light armored vehicles, landing craft, as well as fully equipped marines or landing forces. Here, "Priboy" is also no different from foreign products such as "Hyuga" and "Mistral". The ship is able to take 60 units of light armored vehicles and at least 20-30 main battle tanks into the internal compartments, as means of operational landing, in the conditions of the impossibility of approaching the coastal zone of the UDC, the ship is provided with 4 landing craft pr. 11770M or 2 pr. 12061M.
One of the most important indicators of the versatility of this ship in front of the western ones is the equipment of a bow landing device and a 25-35 meter strong gangway, which, before landing, is pulled out from under the upper deck by hydraulic drives, all in the tradition of the old, good and reliable Soviet school of shipbuilding!
The small size of the UDC "Priboy", as well as a decrease in radar visibility, are also provided for the possibility of using this ship as a command and staff ship of the KUG / AUG of the Russian Navy. It is known that at the time of the “star raid” of enemy anti-ship missiles, the active radar homing head captures a more radio-contrast target, i.e. a larger and more visible ship, and the radar signature of this ship will not be greater than that of the frigate EM pr. ”, in which case it is clearly required to fight back. To this end, "Priboy" is equipped with at least 3 combat modules of the "Pantsir-M" multi-channel shipborne SAM.
Anti-aircraft missile and gun system "Pantsir-M" / "Palitsa" is a naval modification of the land-based air defense system "Pantsir-S1" and inherited its similar firing characteristics. ZUR 57E6E has a radio command system for controlling coordinates, which are transmitted to the onboard computer of the missile from optoelectronic and radar detection and target designation tools on the combat module. For missile guidance, radar and optical transponders are used in the tail of the missile, which allow the fire control system on the combat module to most accurately correlate the coordinates of the interceptor missile and the target to bring the missile to the target.
The flight speed of the SAM is 1300 m / s, the range and the interception ceiling are 15 and 20 km, respectively. The maximum speed of the hit target is about 3650 km / h. The guidance speed is 100 degrees / s, thanks to which even PRLRs flying into a neighboring support ship that have broken into the near line of defense can be intercepted.
Radar channel "Palitsy" is represented by a "Phazatron" multifunctional radar with phased array 1RS2 and SART 1RS1-1E, in which a "friend or foe" radio interrogator is installed. Autonomous optical direction finder - a two-channel TV / IR sight, capable of capturing HARM-type radar from a distance of 14 km, an AGM-86C cruise missile - 13 km, and Harpoon anti-ship missiles - about 9-11 km. The multifunctional radar and optical direction finder are capable of capturing 2 air targets, realizing the simultaneous firing of 4 air targets, while up to 10 targets can be fired per minute. The performance of the KZRAK "Pantsir-M" together with 2x6 30-mm AP exceeds the performance of the KZRAK dagger by almost 2 times.
On the UDC "Priboy" project, 2 "Pantsir-M" modules are installed in niches along the edge of the starboard side of the ship, as well as in the front part on the edge of the port side, it is possible to install another module in the rear niche of the side. Thus, the Priboy air defense system can simultaneously fire at 12 attacking missiles, and up to 30 dangerous objects can be fired per minute. In fact, this UDC can be both a command and staff ship and a short-range air defense ship of a small naval formation.
Today, only one helicopter carrier, the Japanese Hyuga, has similar air defense parameters, on which the Japanese-Dutch FCS-3A radar and the latest export version of the RIM-162 “ESSM” air defense system are installed.
The command of the Russian Navy expresses hopes that in the coming years at least 4 ships of the Udaloy project will be laid down, which will be able to partially make up for the lack of modern amphibious, strike and anti-ship marine systems in the Russian fleet.
At the Army-2015 exhibition in Alabino, specialists from the Nevsky Design Bureau demonstrated a model of the ship, which, judging by reports from sources in the military-industrial complex, will replace the Mistral-type helicopter carriers. The presented project turned out to be quite unexpected. A similarity with the Dutch landing ships of the Rotterdam type was predicted. But if the Russian ship is similar to them, then only with its technical characteristics. The architecture is completely different.
The mentioned characteristics of the new helicopter carrier do not yet allow us to draw final conclusions regarding its capabilities and place in the fleet. It was reported that the Surf project involves the construction of a ship 165 meters long, 25 meters wide (on the flight deck), capable of transporting up to 600 troops and up to 40-60 vehicles and armored vehicles.
The air group consists of eight helicopters, and on the presented layout there are not only combat Ka-52s and Ka-29s, but also Ka-27 helicopters of an incomprehensible modification (search and rescue or anti-submarine). Whether this indicates a possible additional specialization of the Priboy as an anti-submarine defense ship is not clear: additional information is required about the expected driving performance and equipment.
The prospects of the Priboy as a control ship are still unclear, which was one of the most interesting features of the Mistral fleet. To clarify this issue, you need to know the capabilities of the combat information and control system that is supposed to be installed on the Surf.
Even during the discussion of the purchase of the Mistrals, it was reported about the interest shown by the Russian Navy to the Dutch landing helicopter carriers of the Rotterdam and Johan de Witt types. This, in particular, in an interview with the radio station "Voice of Russia" was mentioned by the head of the department of state defense orders of the United Shipbuilding Corporation Anatoly Shlemov.
Subsequently, representatives of the Navy also spoke out, not directly naming the prototype, but voicing the expected characteristics, surprisingly similar to the Dutch project. And yet, the layout demonstrated at Army-2015 turned out to be not too similar to the creation of the Damen Shelde Naval Shipbuilding shipyard.
Judging by the layout, the helicopter carrier of the Priboy project, like the Mistral, will receive a classic aircraft carrier architecture with a through flight deck and an island superstructure shifted to the starboard side. The Rotterdam and Johann de Witt have an aft flight deck and a superstructure shifted forward with a hangar for helicopters placed in it.
The Dutch version of the architecture makes it possible to reduce the cost of a ship in construction, reducing its displacement by reducing the volume and weight of structures that fall on the hangar deck in ships of the Mistral type and others similar to it. In addition, the need for massive and expensive lifts disappears: helicopters simply roll out of the hangar in the superstructure onto the flight deck located at the same level.
However, this solution also has disadvantages. First of all, this is a reduction in the size of the air group due to the limited volume of the hangar in the superstructure (compared to below-deck) and the reduction in the area of the actual flight deck, which does not allow receiving more than 3-4 helicopters at the same time.
Judging by the appearance of the Priboy, Russian designers tried to find a compromise between the cost of the ship and its capabilities. They resorted to a solution similar to that used in Japan when creating the Osumi-class helicopter carriers.
The location of the docking chamber gates on the Priboi indicates a relatively small space between the flight deck and the docking chamber, in which, apparently, it is impossible to fit a hangar (just like on the Osumi). However, the Japanese helicopter carrier is equipped with lifts that allow a limited number of helicopters (2-3 vehicles) to be placed on the cargo deck in the bow of the ship, in the same place where vehicles and armored vehicles are placed before loading onto landing craft in the docking chamber in the stern. On the UDC of classical architecture, the hangar and cargo decks are separated.
This decision, although it limits the size of the air group (the ship can carry no more than 6-8 helicopters, while most of them are constantly on deck, periodically moving down for maintenance and minor repairs), it allows you to simultaneously lift the same 6 cars into the air, as on the larger Mistral. At the same time, "Priboy" should have no less capabilities for delivering equipment and people to the shore using boats.
Thus, the proposed version of the helicopter carrier is a kind of synthesis of solutions from the projects studied by Russian specialists. Indeed, it matches the characteristics of the Dutch DVKD, but surpasses them in terms of flight operations.
Taking into account the fact that, like most modern landing ships, the Priboi will most likely be built according to the survivability standards of commercial shipbuilding, the project can be implemented relatively quickly and relatively inexpensively. The dates given by the representatives of the Navy (the laying in 2016 and the commissioning of the lead one by 2020) seem quite realistic. The last unclear question is the number of these ships in the state armament program.
Anatoly Shlemov voiced six to eight units, and if this is so, then in combination with a similar number of large landing ships of the Ivan Gren type, the Surfs will allow, firstly, to completely renew the landing forces of the Navy, and secondly, to sharply increase their expeditionary capabilities and and thirdly, to expand the experience of operating carrier-based aircraft and managing its operations. The latter is vital if the Navy is serious about building a new aircraft carrier.
