"Mistral" is ... "Mistral" - characteristics. Mistral for the Russian Navy

In June 2011, during the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, in the series of other interesting events something unique happened. For the first time since the Second World War, representatives of Russia signed a large-scale agreement with a foreign firm to supply military equipment. It became known that for the needs of the Navy huge ships, helicopter carriers "Mistral" are bought. This event became a real sensation, until now domestic shipbuilding enterprises somehow managed the orders themselves, without foreign aid, and learned to do things that from time to time our Western "friends" began to move their hair, for example, underwater missile carriers. Where did the desire to get ships of this type originated?

For what was the "Mistral"

Mistral is a Mediterranean wind, quite cold, occasionally blowing out the southern coast of France, pampered and soft with a mild climate. It can not be compared to the piercing moist frosty streams of the Arctic air, to which residents of Severodvinsk and Murmansk have long been accustomed, but it seems to be a discomfort to the delicate Gallic noses. As much as the climate, the military doctrines of France and the Russian Federation differ. The Mistral type helicopter carrier is inherently a large ship, practically devoid of an independent anti-submarine, anti-ship and anti-aircraft defense system, that is, capable of acting only as part of a squadron surrounded by an escort.

On the other hand, it reflects the shipbuilding concept that has been fashionable in recent decades, according to which the landing parties land on distant lands as if "remotely". This happens in the following way: a large vessel approaches a hostile state for a relatively safe distance of fifteen to twenty miles, then begins to load the equipment onto special barge boats, and meanwhile shock and transport helicopters with specially trained soldiers take off ahead, seize the bridgehead and ensure the absence Resistance during the whole process. A landing ship from the shore is not even visible, and small transports come unexpectedly, unless, of course, the side that is being invaded has means for over-horizon detection. Here is about the scenario for which the Mistral type is intended. This ship has too much sediment, it can not come close to the shore. He also can not support the advancing troops, for this he does not have enough guns or missiles.

Ship Features

A large flight deck immediately catches your eye to someone who looks at the Mistral. The characteristics of this large ship are impressive. It has a length of 200 meters, a displacement of 22 thousand tons, however, able to navigate the sea at a speed of only 18 knots. The crew, including the pilots, is approximately 170 team members. In addition to everything that distinguishes an aircraft carrier, that is, decks and deck hangars, it has other characteristics. For example, a compartment for transporting forty modern tanks. "Mistral" is an aircraft carrier, but first of all it is an amphibious ship.

But tanks bring little to the coast of the enemy country, they must still be delivered to the land and unloaded to shore. For this purpose, a whole technology is provided. This is our large amphibious assault ships (BDK) just rests on the bow to the beach, open the ramps, and "forward for their homeland!". The armies of NATO countries act differently, much more cunningly. But more on that later.

The air wing is completed depending on the tasks to be solved in the combat campaign. Helicopters on the deck and hangars can accommodate from 16 to 32, depending on the ratio of anti-submarine, shock and transport aircraft of different geometric sizes.

It is also important that the number of manpower that the ship takes aboard is 450 marines. This is a battalion.

Perhaps an urgent conversion of the vessel into a floating hospital. This may become necessary for solving humanitarian problems or providing medical assistance to wounded soldiers as a result of hostilities.

And another "Mistral" is a ship intended for long voyages. Its autonomous range is 20 thousand kilometers. This is half of the equator. If you need to put things in order in the rebel colonies, then it's what you need. But on the question of why Russia "Mistral", we still have to break the head. Our country does not have overseas territories. It seems that no one plans to land landing anywhere in Australia or Argentina, and if there was such a desire, the ships would need to buy not two, and not even four ... Moreover, the very process of disembarkation is very peculiar.

How does landing in French

The French Mistral stands aside, as already mentioned, twenty nautical miles from the hot coast, where it is not clear what can happen, and releases from its womb special barges on which the armored vehicles are standing. For this procedure, he has a specific dock in which the mentioned vehicles turn in turn, load tanks and armored vehicles on them, then flood them to the level of the surrounding world ocean, and only after that they leave their native floating base. The desantation process is gradual and long, many hours. According to our staff schedule, four dozen cars are an intensified tank battalion consisting of three companies and a commander's unit, that is, very few. We can say with certainty that if someone hostile to us tried to land somewhere near Anapa, the coastal defense complex "Bastion" would cut it short ...

Helicopters

The French have their own rotorcraft. They are divided into classes according to their intended purpose, two of which are used as decks. The multipurpose NH-90 and the Tigers are roughly equal in share of the wing, to their size and designed lifting devices that provide the transfer of equipment to the flight deck and back to the hold, where they shelter from storms, splashing sea water and undergo preventive maintenance. In total, two lifts with a carrying capacity of 13 tons, one at the stern, the other near the felling.

The main deck helicopters are the anti-submarine Ka-27M and Ka-226, but for the ground or sea targets, the Alligator Ka-52 is also needed. The dimensions of these machines differ from the French counterparts, moreover, in a larger direction. "Mistrals" for the Russian Navy were built taking into account the necessary adjustments.

Details of the contract

The French traded desperately. The Russian side insisted on the construction of three of the four planned helicopter carriers at its own shipyards using imported technical documentation. They met in half. In addition, the aft part was manufactured at the Baltic shipbuilding plant, which also made the project cheaper. It should be especially noted the high quality of the work of domestic shipbuilders and the complete docking of all the units during the final assembly in Saint-Nazaire.

Immediately it was stipulated that the French side would install a part of high-tech navigation equipment on Mistral for Russia, and would prepare only installation sites and lay cable communications for weapons. All the missile and artillery systems the Russians will put themselves and their own.

An important factor in signing the contract could be the possibility of mastering the latest technologies of shipbuilding, if, of course, the French have something to learn. Basically, they concern the methods of assembling large-tonnage hulls, although Baltzavod and the United Shipbuilding Corporation immediately received an order for nuclear icebreakers no less complex than the Mistral. The cost of two warships amounted to 1.2-1.5 billion euros plus 2.5 billion rubles for the work to be done by Russian shipbuilders.

Weapon and warning systems

The main radar, installed on the "Mistral" for Russia, which is to be their "eyes" - is the French "Thales". Features of the hull design made it difficult to install domestic analogues.

The initial scarcity of defensive systems caused additional demands from the naval command for the equipping of the ships with five SAM "Gibka" designed for the use of "Eagle" and a pair of six-barreled rapid-fire artillery guns AK-630 caliber 30 mm to defeat low-speed high-speed targets. Anti-ship defense is carried out by complexes of supersonic cruise missiles, capable of "working" and for coastal purposes. Anti-submarine defense includes all possible hardware of the hydroacoustic direction.

The details of the upgrade are not widely disclosed, but it is known that every Russian Mistral is a control ship, not just a helicopter carrier and amphibious transport, so the saturation with information technology of the on-board computer system is also very serious.

Balancing

Mistral-type helicopter carrier is a large, large-tonnage ship that needs to be balanced, ensuring its stability in conditions of strong storms. Three ships, which are in service with the French Navy, are equipped with an automatic system of Norwegian production "L3Marin", which is responsible for the balance. The intention to replace it with ships built by Russia for a French balance sheet, tested in much lighter corvettes and frigates, caused objections from the customer. In addition, Rosoboronexport has a direct interest in this system, since the contract is so expensive. The navigation safety of Russian helicopter carriers is too important to save on it.

Problems and solutions

There were also problems with the completion of the ship by shuttle vehicles. French double-hulled catamaran boats were rejected from the very beginning, and domestic high-speed air-cushion transport to the cargo bay did not fit. We agreed that the optimal solution would be still the acquisition of domestic tanker boats "Dugon" and "Serna", having a length of 45 and 26 meters, respectively.

The ice class of the hull was also raised, since the contractor received the order proceeding from the possible areas of new ships' basing. Unlike their French counterparts, their zone of responsibility is not limited to tropical waters, and in the port, for example, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is very frosty. However, and the Russian naval command at the time of signing the treaty was not sure where the helicopter carrier should be based. It was decided later.

Operational experience of helicopter carriers

The Soviet Navy already had large aircraft-carrying anti-submarine cruisers - "Leningrad" and "Moscow". The helicopter wing of these warships was intended to detect the submarines of a probable enemy. After obsolescence and technical wear, they were withdrawn from the Navy, they were not planned to be replaced, since in general they were not much more efficient than the BOD of a smaller displacement and, accordingly, much cheaper both in production and in operation. It contributed to obsolescence and low modification potential, which was reflected in the impossibility of re-equipping hangars for modern helicopters. In general, international experience shows that it is not worth saving money on aircraft carriers, they should be built with a margin, taking into account the possibility of their additional equipment in the process of improving control systems, armament, communications, navigation and detection. In this case, expensive ships can serve for decades. As far as the Mistral-type helicopter carrier meets this criterion, it's a big question.

"Admiral Kuznetsov" by its design is not analogous to "Mistral". This ship performs very different functions, does not carry forces for landing and has absolutely different running characteristics.

International reaction

The ships were not yet completed, but it was already announced that the main Far Eastern military harbor would be the site of the newest Russian helicopter carrier Vladivostok, built under the Mistral project. This news aroused the concern of the government of Japan, who saw some aggressive intentions in strengthening the composition of the Russian Pacific Fleet. Of course, the diplomatic maneuvers of our eastern neighbor have exclusively political motivation and fit into the general format of claims for "northern territories", the issue of which is raised periodically, on the eve of the next election. Assume that the Russian Marines will be a few hours to land a tank battalion somewhere on the island of Hokkaido, can not even the most daring patriotic Japanese science fiction. In the photo "Mistral" looks impressive, but even after equipping this ship with cruise missiles in a missile cruiser, it will not turn out, it is very quiet, and in general, not for that it was built and bought. And for what?

Voenspets Serdyukov

It will be more correct to ask about why, why, and why. Former Defense Minister A.E. Serdyukov evidently understood little in strategic issues. Where richer he was gifted with natural artistry (of course, he has the makings of a good filmmaker). Perhaps he immediately imagined how threatening and huge transport-landing ships under the Andreevsky flag would look on the ocean's expanses . And in addition to artistic merit, Mr. Serdyukov, apparently, has a certain commercial grasp. But these are only assumptions.

To recognize the erroneousness of the idea with the "Mistrals" to the Russian government, it is quite possible, simply humanly uncomfortable. Two ships ("Sevastopol" and "Vladivostok") already can be considered to have been taken by the Navy command, and in favor of their uselessness is the fact that the Russian side has practically abandoned the construction of the pair, although this has not been announced right now. Just decided to wait.

The terrible thing, actually, nothing happened. The landing helicopter-carrying ships of the dock type are not entirely consistent with the Russian military doctrine, but from time to time there are international complications that force them to change the previously developed approaches. About such ships can be said that they are "for every fire case."

Money ships have been spent on warships, this is not done in the best way, but helicopter carriers can be used in peacekeeping operations, which, as the events of recent months have shown, are quite probable.