Destroyer of the "Leader" type: characteristics

The construction and maintenance of the navy is a costly affair. Apparently, therefore, the Russian Navy for a long time was financed in insufficient volume. For more than two decades, new ships have almost never descended to water, and the Soviet "legacy" was too often sent to scrap metal or sold for pennies for pennies. But now it is the turn to strengthen the defense, money has appeared on it, and the foreign policy situation clearly indicates the need for such a measure. Not so long ago in the press there was information that in the twenties (rather, to the middle), a new destroyer would be welcome. A leader or an outsider? This question can be answered only by analyzing the rather meager information that is available at the moment. There are not many of them, but they are. The ambitiousness of the project is indicated by its name. Meet the destroyer of the "Leader" type.

Current state of the fleet

Ships serve for a long time, but not infinitely. They become obsolete morally and wear out physically under the onslaught of ocean waves and metal fatigue. Bearings are being worn out, electrical equipment is breaking down, powerful engines, no matter how carefully they are not courting, they are developing their own motor resource. After a decade of long-range warships, Russia will have few, few. Projects 956 ("Modern"), 1155 ("Udaloy") and 1164 ("Moscow") will serve their own. There will remain "Peter the Great", "Admiral Nakhimov" and "Admiral Kuznetsov" (aircraft carrier), but without their accompanying squadron, their application seems problematic and even adventurous. Of course, the task of combat patrolling can be carried out by submarine missile carriers, but the specificity of their service is secrecy, and it is impossible to charge them with the notorious "demonstration of the flag", for known reasons. In such a situation, the construction of a prospective destroyer of the "Leader" type seems to be the most important task.

What happens in the US?

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the development of the US armed forces was accompanied by some imbalances related to the euphoria over the withdrawal of the main potential enemy from the scene. As a result, the backlog (which arose somehow unexpectedly) in the field of strategic strike forces, but the Navy in the United States still paid much attention. The budget of the Pentagon is huge, it exceeds the amount of financing for the Armed Forces of any other country (Russia for example), and the American leadership does not regret the long-term and large-scale projects of money. The launch of the "destroyer of the XXI century", such as "Zamvolt", marked the growth of the global claims of the United States. This ship is built with all modern and future requirements, it is barely visible to radars and has very powerful armament. Will a Russian destroyer of the "Leader" type resist this power? What advantages will it have as a more modern one?

However, it would be somewhat premature to overestimate the merits of American destroyers. "Zamvolt" was too expensive even for the US hypergigant military budget. In addition, there are many examples of inefficient spending by the Pentagon. The newest supermeem meets all the requirements for American technology: it is big, eerily awesome, it costs a lot of money, but it's very difficult to talk about its effectiveness in a real sea theater of military operations.

Why a destroyer?

Until now, when classifying ships, their tonnage was taken into account. However, the data of the American "Zamvolta" testify to the shift of concepts in the direction of enlargement. The displacement of the destroyer of the new generation of the "Leader" type also corresponds to the class of the missile cruiser (approximately 11-12 thousand tons). This weighting is caused by several factors, including the increased operational radius (long-distance ships are not small), an abundance of electronic equipment and antenna systems, as well as the features of the power plant. Why was he called a destroyer, not a cruiser? The point is in the ideological concept itself. The purpose of the "Leader" is to combat coastal resistance centers (during landing) and enemy ships of different classes, as well as with air and underwater targets. This universality is typical for destroyers.

Power point

The outline design of the destroyer of the "Leader" type (namely, at this stage it is now located) provides for the possibility of equipping the ship with a nuclear or gas turbine engine. The advantages of the nuclear power plant are obvious: it provides an almost unlimited range of navigation, high autonomy and, oddly enough, greater economy, expressed in lower operating and logistical costs (there is no need to deliver fuel oil to remote points of the world ocean). The advantage of an ordinary gas-turbine plant is its relative cheapness. Which of the concepts will prevail is not yet clear, but it is possible that a new destroyer of the type "Leader" will be released in two versions, depending on the points of basing. Ships of the Northern and Pacific fleets, apparently, will require greater autonomy, and on the Black Sea enough gas turbine power plant.

Assumed characteristics

Technical data of a modern combat ship, as a rule, are not disclosed, and since we are only talking about his project, even more so. However, some characteristics of the destroyer of the "Leader" type are still known. In addition to the estimated displacement of 12 thousand tons, based on the available information, it can be assumed that the speed in the atomic design will be stable 30 knots, and with the gas turbine plant - slightly less. There is no doubt that the design and construction will take into account the most advanced achievements in the field of stealth, and therefore we should expect the angularity of the ship's silhouette, as evidenced by the published photographs of sketch mock-ups. However, it will not look like an iron, the contours will retain the elegance typical for the ships of the Russian Navy.

Electronic equipment

The modernity of the ship is primarily determined by the capabilities of its combat information-control system. What it will have in a prospective destroyer of the "Leader" type is unknown, and in the coming decades this gap in knowledge is unlikely to be filled. Navigational equipment and guidance equipment are constantly being improved, and as the ship is only laid in the next year, the predicted progress of electronic technology allows us to assume that it will be completely different than it is now. As for the active systems of suppression of enemy communications and control, today's successes of Russian design bureaux allow us to hope for the most impressive indicators of its effectiveness.

Armaments

Missile and artillery systems also change, and very quickly, but if we rely on the current level of Russian technology, we can assume that the destroyer of the "Leader" type will be equipped with high-precision long-range cruise missiles Caliber and supersonic Onyxami. At the moment, the missile anti-aircraft anti-missile system S-500 is in the development stage, and it is likely to find its place in the defensive complex of the ship. The artillery will probably be represented by a twin 152 mm installation (such as the "Coalition"). Of course, the destroyer will not fail without torpedoes. Air wing - two helicopters. And what will happen yet is not known to the general public.

Difficulties and prospects

Complications in Russian-Ukrainian relations have also made corrections to the design of this ship. Instead of the Nicholas turbines, the production of which was supposed to be placed at the Zorya-Mashproekt plant, Rybinsk engines will have to be put up (the technology of their manufacture has yet to be mastered). The cost of each destroyer is estimated at about two billion dollars at comparable prices. While it is planned to build six units. That, in fact, and all that is known about the destroyer of the type "Leader". One thing is certain: it will certainly go to the arsenal of the Russian Navy.