American destroyer Donald Cook (photo)

There are a lot of vague moments in this story. The American side does not want to disclose the details. The command of the Russian naval aviation also modestly remains silent after a brief information message broadcast on the Day of Cosmonautics of 2014. However, the scanty data was enough for the American destroyer Donald Cook to become famous throughout the world. This ship is quite new, equipped with everything necessary, and despite the fact that its dimensions are not record, it could symbolize the naval power of the United States, for which it was sent to the Black Sea. As they say in such cases, the circus workers, the number was not successful.

Exciting plot

In April, near the Russian borders, a drama began to unfold, called the anti-terrorist operation, which in reality became a real civil war. After a successful coup against the rebellious eastern regions, new Ukrainian authorities sent regular troops with artillery, tanks, tactical ballistic missiles and all other weapons originally designed to fight a strong and dangerous external aggressor. Crimea managed to avoid the sad fate of the victim, the population of the peninsula voted for independence and accession to Russia.

In the midst of this seething turmoil, accompanied by bloodshed, the US destroyer Donald Cook entered the Black Sea. It remains only to guess the true purpose of this visit, but certain conclusions can be reached by understanding the combat capabilities of this ship.

Series "Arly Burke" and its 25th copy

Americans have their own national heroes, and they name a particular cruiser, frigate or destroyer in honor of them. Donald Cook, captain of the US Marine Corps, fought in Vietnam and died of disease (malaria) while in captivity. Even in the homeland of this hero there is no consensus on how much this war was just. Unknown exploits, if any, committed by Cook before his captivity. However, is this really so important? The captain fought for his country where he was sent, and died in 1967. In honor of him, the 25th unit of the most mass postwar series of American warships was named. In total, it is assumed that the number of twins of this destroyer will exceed the figure of 60.

The project "Arly Burke" seemed to the leadership of the Pentagon so successful that it had high expectations. In 1983, when the head ship of the series was laid, he impressed with his contours used in the construction of technology and even appearance.

Destroyer of surface-to-shore class

Any fleet series consists of ships, similar in appearance, differing from each other the stronger, the later the unit disappeared from the stocks. Destroyer "Donald Cook" launched in 1997, accepted into the combat strength of the fleet in 15 months. This ship can not be called obsolete, it has powerful missile armament, is equipped with the most advanced electronic means, is protected from a variety of possible damaging factors and almost is not visible on radars. However, the destroyer has some peculiarities due to the nature of the specific fire capabilities. The fact is that its onboard anti-ship systems are very modestly presented. Four Harpoon cruise missiles (subsonic and small) are clearly not enough to conduct a serious sea battle against a strong enemy. In other words, the destroyer of the US Navy, Donald Cook, is designed to strike coastal targets in conditions of complete domination and lack of resistance from the enemy fleet. To do this, he has a "Tomahawk" (according to the number of cells under the deck of the CD can be up to 90 pieces).

About the Aegis system

But not only for shooting at cities and coastal positions, this ship was created, costing the military budget a billion (at prices of the second half of the 90's). The main share of this astronomical sum is accounted for by the latest electronics, integrated into the construction of the hull and superstructures. Multifaceted angular felling does not just serve as a skin for rooms, radiators and receivers of radar signals are mounted on its inclined planes. They are sensitive to hundreds of possible goals, and by transferring information to the computer control complex, they ensure the safe performance of the combat mission. The system "Aegis" is subject to fifty anti-aircraft missiles capable of hitting ICBMs in near space. The American destroyer Donald Cook, according to the plan, is a mobile element of the global ABM system, conducting reconnaissance and in automatic mode, like a robot that develops strategic level solutions.

In addition to fixed antennas, there is one AN / SPY-1 radar on the ship that performs many functions, from detection of low-flying objects to observation of spy satellites.

Destroyer as a ship

It makes sense to dwell on the question of what the US Navy destroyer Donald Cook is in the navigational sense. The ship's characteristics are not unique, but they are good. With a total displacement of 8.9 thousand tons, it has a length of 153 meters, a width of 20 meters and a draft of 9.4 meters. For manufacturing the underwater part of the body, non-magnetic high-strength magnesium-aluminum alloys are used, which increases the anti-torpedo stability and reduces the visibility for enemy systems Detection. The power section, loaded on two screws, consists of two gas turbines LM2500-30 of General Electric with a total capacity of 108 thousand liters. from. The maximum course is 32 knots, the autonomy is 4400 miles (with a cruising course of 20 knots). The crew consists of 337 team members, of whom officers are 23. The cockpits and military posts are protected by durable and light Kevlar panels, which also became a revolutionary solution.

Screws are worthy of special admiration. These propulsors, as a rule, give the ship their noise, formed as a result of cavitation processes, and the acoustic stations of submarines can easily determine the type of moving object, its speed and distance to it. Each blade of the screws "Cook" is equipped with a special tubular system, which pushes the air at the end of the edges. As a result, a bubble cloud forms, distorting the sound "portrait" of the ship and absorbing noise. How justified the means spent on the development and manufacture of this complex system, is unknown, because the destroyer can be detected and many other means of warning.

VET and air defense system

Many troubles are threatening the ship at sea. In the event of war, the enemy shows an insistent desire to let him go to the bottom, and does everything that he can to do this. He puts mines, sometimes equipped with multiplicity devices (if it is known, what account the most important enemy ship will follow), they are equipped with fuses of different types. In addition, in the course are torpedoes, missiles, and, of course, aviation. At the shipyards of Bath Iron Works, they took care to protect the US Navy destroyer Donald Cook from all these misfortunes. Its armament includes ASROC-VL anti-submarine rocket-torpedoes, Stendard-2 surface-to-air missiles to intercept targets at long ranges, anti-aircraft anti-aircraft missiles ESSM, attacking the stealth enemy and even the interceptor interceptors SM-3.

Eliminating the gap in the anti-ship class, the designers plan to equip the ship with a promising LRASM complex. In general, there are a lot of weapons. But it turned out to be useless even during the training attack of not the most modern Su-24 bomber. Destroyer "Donald Cook" is blind.

Combat path and experience

Since the launch of the ship, the ship was not standing idly by. First it was based in Norfolk, from 2012 it was attributed to the Spanish port of Rota, where the US Navy base is stationed. In 2000, during the events in Aden, the destroyer Donald Cook assisted another ship, Cole, which was hit by a boat with suicide bombers. The first "Tomahawks" volley on Iraq in 2003 produced the same "Cook". He visited many distant campaigns, plowed the seas around the world, participated in exercises, including international ones. The crew of the ship showed good training and coordination, high qualifications and a certain courage shown during the execution of assignments.

Chronicle of events

Miserly facts describe the chronology of the entire period of the search for a destroyer in the Black Sea in 2014. Bosporus passed the ship on April 10, the Day of Liberation of Odessa from the German-Romanian invaders. For about two days the compound, in addition to the Cook, included the naval reconnaissance Dupuy de Lom, the rescuer Alize and the destroyer Duplex of the French Navy, made various maneuvers at a relatively small distance from Sevastopol. On April 12, an approaching airplane appeared on the radar screens, heading straight for the Donald Cook. Destroyer "Su" noticed (even determined the type of aircraft, and the fact that he is not armed), and the ship was declared a training and combat alert. Further events remained a mystery for some time.

Escape

Officials of the Pentagon expressed extreme indignation with the actions of Russian pilots. They described them as unprofessional and hostile. The statement was emotional and hard, but between his lines read confusion. The suddenly become famous destroyer Donald Cook, whose photo was published with mock comments by many media around the world, moored in the Romanian port of Constanta, and 27 demoralized members of his team expressed their desire to resign. The blame for everything is a Russian plane that allegedly violated all conceivable norms of international law.

The Montreux Convention

One of the international maritime treaties, referred to by the American side, is called the Montreux Convention. According to it in the Black Sea, warships of countries that do not have their own water area can be no more than 21 days, and their total tonnage can not exceed 30 thousand tons per country. Destroyer "Donald Cook" did not really violate this convention, but shortly before the events described the other US Navy ship, "Taylor" somewhat retarded, allegedly repairing the screws. The purpose of the last visit of the "Cook" was clearly "demonstration of the flag," but in addition, the crew, most likely, was posing another, secret task.

What if it's a war?

The connection between the presence of an international squadron near the Russian coast and Ukrainian events, in general, was not disputed or denied by anyone. As the conflict developed, the danger of its transition to the military stage increased. Without building illusions about the capabilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the American side could consider the likelihood of assisting them in the form of intelligence information without involving their army in a possible full-scale war. The US Navy destroyer Donald Cook was probably planning to gather such information. The parameters of defensive systems, the deployment of air defense assets, communication centers and other important elements of the military structure of the Black Sea Fleet could be of interest to the General Staff of the Armed Forces, to whom this information would be immediately transferred in case of war.

So what happened?

In fact, nothing terrible happened to the American destroyer. He safely left the inhospitable area of the Black Sea water area. The planned visit to Odessa did not take place because of a deep moral trauma experienced by the crew. The reason for this annoyance is the compact electronic warfare complex "Khibiny", mounted on the console of the no longer armed Su-24 bomber, a dozen times over the ship at an extremely low altitude. Apparently, her so much belly with oil stains so upset the team "Cook", as awareness of their vulnerability and even helplessness. It would seem that he is a likely enemy, and he acts in the training mode. So learn the same, practice the techniques of using your air defense! But the system failed. Temporarily. The Russians did not even spoil anything, although they could. The plane left, and Aegis again started.

Results and conclusions

The essence of the Pentagon's claims to Russian aviation, in general, was that our pilots showed some discourtesy. Well, maybe there was some kind of intolerance. Equally impolite in 1988, Soviet sailors rammed the destroyer of the US Navy, "Caron", trying to enter the territorial waters of the USSR. Crimea, indeed, has long attracted foreign squadrons, striving to visit the peninsula, not always with friendly intentions.

As for the destroyer "Donald Cook", it is still not worth underestimating his combat capabilities. It is a modern and seriously armed ship that was upgraded in 2012. It is entirely possible that he has yet another one.