The floating pyramid of Cheops, as if arrived from another dimension. What era does this ship belong to? Who and why created this outlandish design? Perhaps everything is much simpler. The appearance reflects the essence - a grandiose financial pyramid that absorbed over 7 billion dollars at a time.
Definitely, "Zamvolt" has something to be proud of: the largest and most expensive destroyer in the entire history of the existence of this class of ships. And this record will remain at least until the beginning of the 2030s. Its sinister silhouette leaves no one indifferent. But what secrets lurk inside this "starship"?
Stealth? Railgun? linux?
Rocket-artillery stealth ship is being built using the latest technologies, many of which were first introduced in the navy. The key direction was chosen to reduce visibility in the radio wave range of the EM spectrum, in which most detection tools operate. In the architecture and appearance of the Zamvolt, the features of stealth technology aggressively appear.
Pyramidal superstructure. Powerful obstruction of the sides - due to which radio waves are reflected towards the sky, which excludes their repeated reflection from the surface of the water. Stealth housings for artillery pieces. The complete absence of masts, radiocontrast mechanisms and equipment on the upper deck. A breakwater nose that allows you not to “climb the wave”, as ordinary ships do, but, on the contrary, hide from enemy radars among the crests of the waves. Finally, the entire body of the Zamvolta is finished with ferromagnetic paints and radio-absorbing coatings.
These techniques are well known among shipbuilders around the world. Russian corvettes and frigates of a new generation (for example, the Guardian), the French ships Lafayette, the Swedish stealth corvettes of the Visby type ... But in the case of the Zamvolt, the situation is special: for the first time in the history of the fleet, all elements of the stealth technology ”were implemented in such a grandiose, all-encompassing volume on such a large ship.
14.5 thousand tons - another cruiser will envy the size of the destroyer "Zamvolt"(as a comparison: the total displacement of the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, the missile cruiser "Moskva" is "only" 11 thousand tons)
There is no doubt about the effectiveness of techniques to reduce visibility for enemy radars: stealth technology is widely used in the creation of naval and aviation equipment around the world.
Much more interesting is the very concept of "Zamvolt". A missile and artillery destroyer with the dimensions of a cruiser is not a 600-ton Swedish corvette. How to hide such an "elephant" in the middle of an open area?
The creators of Zamvolt explain that this is not about complete invisibility, but only about reducing visibility - as a result, Zamvolt will be able to detect the enemy before he notices the stealth destroyer. In official press releases, it is noted that the effective dispersion area (ESR) of a 180-meter destroyer corresponds to the ESR of a small fishing felucca.
Artillery
For the first time in 50 years, an artillery gunship was built. Zamvolt is the first and so far the only modern cruiser and destroyer armed with guns over 5 inches in caliber. The destroyer's bow is fitted with a pair of 155 mm (6.1 in) Advanced Gun System (AGS) automated mounts that fire precision-guided munitions at a range of 160 km. The total ammunition load of the installations is 920 shells.
The revival of naval artillery is a direct consequence of the discussion about providing fire support to amphibious assault forces and delivering strikes on the enemy's coast (more relevant than ever in the era of counter-terrorist operations and local wars).
An artillery shell has a number of important advantages over an aerial bomb or a cruise missile.:
- all-weather application;
- quick response to calls - in a couple of minutes the indicated place will be razed to the ground;
- invulnerability to enemy air defense systems;
- no need for a super-expensive carrier (4/5 generation multirole fighter and a trained pilot) - as well as no risk of losing the carrier on the way to the target;
- a much lower cost of shells compared to the Tomahawk cruise missile - with the same capabilities in providing fire support to the marines.
Moreover, the accuracy of modern artillery shells with a GPS or laser beam guidance system is in no way inferior to similar aircraft and missile ammunition.
It is noteworthy that a system with an unusually large caliber was again chosen as an auxiliary artillery system for the self-defense of the destroyer - the automatic 57 mm Bofors SAK-57 Mk.3 installation (a pair of such guns is installed in the stern of the Zamvolta superstructure).
Unlike traditional rapid fire , SAK-57 fires only 3-4 shots per second, but at the same time it fires special "smart" ammunition, whose fuses are initiated when flying close to the target. And the power of its shells is sufficient not only for self-defense in the near zone, but also for use in naval combat against boats and other enemy weapons at a distance of up to 18 km.
Radars
Initially, a “fancy” DBR radar complex was created for Zamvolt with six AFARs operating in the centimeter and decimeter ranges. This provided unprecedented range and accuracy in detecting any type of air, sea or exoatmospheric targets in Earth orbit - within the DBR radar's field of view.
By 2010, when it became clear that the Zamvolts were too expensive and could not replace existing destroyers, the DBR radar concept was drastically reduced. As part of the Zamvolta detection tools, only the AN / SPY-3 multifunctional centimeter-range radar with three flat active headlights, located on the walls of the destroyer's superstructure, remained.
At the end of October 2013, the lead ship was launched at the American shipyard Bath Iron Works. destroyer(destroyer) of the DD(X) project - DDG-1000 USS Zumwalt (in Russian transcription “Zamvolt” or “Zumvolt”). The destroyer USS Zumwalt, named after Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, is one of the most unusual and controversial developments in American military shipbuilding. Great hopes are pinned on the ships of this project, the American press has already dubbed them "ships of the future" and "tomorrow of the American Navy." However, the overseas press is supposed to sing the praises of the US government and the Pentagon, but many military experts fundamentally disagree with enthusiastic assessments of both this ship and the project as a whole.
The history of the DD(X) project dates back to the nineties of the 20th century. Then the US Navy announced the requirements for promising ships that were supposed to enter service at the beginning of the 21st century; these programs were designated CG21 (cruiser) and DD21 (destroyer) - later the cruiser and destroyer development programs were renamed CG(X) and DD(X), respectively. The requirements for new ships were very high: cruisers and destroyers had to perform a wide range of combat and support tasks. Depending on the situation, any of the promising CG(X) and DD(X) ships, as conceived by the US Navy command, could attack enemy ships or submarines, protect land and sea formations from air attack, and, if necessary, launch missile strikes against mechanized or well-fortified enemy units, evacuate the population from areas of natural disasters or countries covered by revolutions, etc.
However, estimates at the pre-design stage showed that the cost of such a "universal" ship turns out to be prohibitive. In this regard, the US Congress in 2002 insisted on the closure of one of the programs - based on the results of the analysis, it was decided to abandon the development and construction of CG (X) cruisers and stop at the creation of destroyers. Thus, after the end of the service life of all Ticonderoga-class cruisers in the US Navy, Arleigh Burke and DD(X)-class destroyers were supposed to be used as multi-purpose ships with missile weapons.
Initially, the Navy hoped to receive 32 DD(X) destroyers. Later, this number was reduced to 24, and then only to 7 units due to the high cost of new technologies and solutions that should be applied in the construction of advanced destroyers. The US House of Representatives is still skeptical about this program (mainly for financial reasons) and therefore initially allocated money only for the construction of one (!) DD (X) - DDG-1000, solely for the possibility of "technology demonstration". Nevertheless, under pressure from the Pentagon, another $2.6 billion was allocated in 2007 for the construction of the hulls of two more destroyers, DDG-1001 and DDG-1002. On this, the “epic” with the promising destroyers of the DD (X) project ended, and as a result, the initial figure of 32 ships turned into 3 (!) Pennants, which, as everyone understands, will not make any weather in the fleet.
Preparations for the construction of the lead ship of the DD(X) series began in 2008, and the laying ceremony took place in November 2011. At the end of October 2013, the first destroyer of the new project - DDG-1000 Zumwalt - was launched. Preliminary work on the construction of the hull of the second ship DDG-1001 (USS Michael Monsoor) started in September 2009 at the Ingalls Shipbuilding plant. In 2015, it was supposed to hand over the lead destroyer, Zumwalt, to the customer, as well as continue the construction of the following ships. However, due to a number of shortcomings, the commissioning date for the first ship of the series, the DDG-1000, has been postponed to the end of 2016, and there is no guarantee that it will be met. The deadlines for the rest of the ships are also constantly shifting upwards.
And now the most interesting thing: the cost of each of the three new destroyers of the DD (X) project, taking into account the costs of design and testing, has already overcome the $ 7 billion mark. For comparison, the ships of the Arleigh Burke project cost the US budget about 1.8 billion each, which is almost four times less than the cost of the Zamwalt and its "brothers". The new destroyer ended up costing the Pentagon more than the last American Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77), which caused a storm of indignation in the leadership of the US Navy. At the same time, it should be taken into account that the timing of the construction of the third destroyer, which is planned to be put on the slipway only in 2018, will lead to a further increase in the cost of the ship. What it will be like in the end, one can only guess, but it is already clear that the military budget is not able to pull another “black hole” like the F-35 fifth-generation fighter, which, despite tens of billions of dollars spent on its development, is still has not yet been adopted by the US Army due to serious problems with the propulsion system and avionics.
The first thing that catches your eye in the ships of the DD (X) project is their unusual appearance. In the case of the destroyer Zumwalt, reducing visibility in the radar range became the main task when designing the contours of the hull and superstructure. The American destroyer looks like a long and narrow platform, in the middle of which there is a protruding superstructure complex shape, - somewhat reminiscent of its appearance as an armadillo of the late 19th century. All the contours of the surface of the ship are a system of planes mated to each other at different angles (the same technology was used in the development of the T-14 Armata tank - just look at its complex asymmetrical turret). The hull and superstructure of the ship are covered on the outside with radio-absorbing materials about 2.5 cm thick, the number of protruding antennas and other parts of the hull has been reduced to a minimum.
The armament of the destroyer Zumwalt consists of 20 Mk-57 universal launchers with the ability to install up to 80 missiles, two long-range 155-mm AGS artillery mounts and 30-mm rapid-fire anti-aircraft systems. aircraft. The displacement of the ship is approaching the mark of 15 thousand tons, which makes the destroyers of the DD (X) project the largest modern non-aircraft-carrying warships in the world after the Soviet / Russian nuclear missile cruisers project 1144 (a series of four cruisers built in the USSR in the period from 1973 to 1989, at the moment - the only surface ships with a nuclear power plant in the Russian Navy), whose displacement reaches 26 thousand tons. As the main power plant on the USS Zumwalt, two Rolls-Royce Marine Trent-30 gas turbine engines with a total capacity of 105,000 hp are used. The engines are connected to electric generators into a single power system that supplies energy to all ship systems, including two electric motors that rotate the propellers. Such an "architecture" of the power plant made it possible to provide high driving performance - the declared maximum speed destroyer exceeds 30 knots.
It would seem that everything is fine (except for the cost, of course), but as is often the case with American military developments lately, there are nuances:
1. Seaworthiness. The destroyers of the DD(X) project used a daring, innovative solution - a sharp, reverse-angled, "ram-type" stem. This shape of the nose is the embodiment of the opposite, compared to the now common, concept of wave flow around the bow and keel of the ship - and, according to American shipbuilders, this should have provided the destroyer with good seaworthiness with a low, for the sake of reducing radar visibility, board. This shape of the bow of the ship should "pierce", "cut" the waves - instead of "climbing" on the wave. However, during sea trials, it was found that even in medium seas, the USS Zumwalt begins to seriously “nod”, which has the most negative effect on its speed and stability. It is not possible to eliminate this problem, since it stems from the existing geometry of the ship's hull; the only thing that can be done is to try to somehow level it Negative influence on the seaworthiness of the ship. True, American engineers have not yet figured out exactly how.
2. Armament. Initially, it was assumed that the DDG-1000 destroyer would be able to perform the functions of both fire support and missile defense in any theater of operations, as well as provide air defense cover for sea and land formations. To do this, they planned to equip it with SM-2MR or SM-6 missiles, and for missile defense tasks - with promising modifications of the SM-3 anti-missile. However, at the moment, nothing (!) Of the above has been installed on the already finished Zamvolte, and due to the problems of adapting air defense and missile defense launchers to the hull design, it is not clear when it will be installed - and whether it will be at all!
3. Radar capabilities. In addition to radar stealth, detection means are of great importance for ships of this type - after all, if you are “invisible” to the enemy radar, but you yourself cannot detect the enemy, then all the advantages of stealth technologies immediately come to naught. For destroyers of the DD(X) series, a bunch of two powerful radar systems of different ranges was initially developed: AN / SPY-3 - for working on low-flying / high-altitude targets and targets in near space and AN / SPY-4 - a "volumetric search" radar station. Faced with the fact that the SPY-4, being developed for the "dead in the Bose" cruiser CG (X), does not fit the hull of the DDG1000 project, the Pentagon, without hesitation, simply stopped its development in 2010 and began designing new system AMDR (Air Missile Defense Radar) specially for DDG-1000 Zumwalt. But then serious problems began with AMDR, and at the moment the Zamwalt is equipped only with the AN / SPY-3 radar system, which meets only half of the stated requirements of the US Navy for this type of ship.
4. Versatility. There is also no other type of weaponry on the Zamvolta, which is mandatory for modern ships if they are declared as independent combat units of the fleet - these are anti-ship missiles. The US Navy has only one type of them - the Harpoon family of subsonic anti-ship missiles. However, the Harpoon could not be adapted to the DDG-1000 mine launchers - since the Harpoon is launched from its own four-container installations, for which, in turn, there was no place in the destroyer's hull. Vicious circle. As a result, “Zamvolt” was left without anti-ship missiles at all! In order to somehow justify this obvious failure of theirs, the Pentagon said “that the new destroyer does not need PC missiles at all, and the easiest way to fight enemy ships is by aircraft from aircraft carriers.” With whom then Zumwalt will fight, they did not specify ...
5. "Technologies of the future". Initially, instead of the 155-caliber artillery system, it was planned to install an electromagnetic gun (EMP) on ships of the DD (X) / GG (X) type, but then they decided to abandon this idea. Including because when firing from an EMF, it would be necessary to temporarily turn off most of the destroyer's electronics, including air defense and missile defense systems, as well as stop the course of the ship and life support systems, otherwise the power system would not be enough to ensure firing. In addition, the resource of the EM gun is extremely small - only a few dozen shots, after which the barrel fails due to huge magnetic and thermal overloads. This problem has not yet been resolved. Research and testing, or rather, “budget development”, under the electromagnetic weapons development program is currently ongoing, but it is unlikely that an EMF with the characteristics that were announced at the start of this program will appear in service with the US Army in the foreseeable future.
Of course, it cannot be said that Zumwalt is completely devoid of merit. He has them: stealth in the radar range, and a new generation hybrid power plant, and high automation of all ship control systems, as a result of which the crew is only 140 people, and the AGS rapid-fire artillery system with a caliber of 155 mm. But given that a number of shortcomings, and quite significant ones, have not yet been eliminated (and some cannot be eliminated in principle), as well as the fact that the cost of one ship has already exceeded $ 7 billion, and will only grow, this nullifies all the advantages of the destroyer.
You can hear the opinion that the futuristic Zumwalt is the prototype of the "ship of the future", but the "ship of the future" is characterized not by its appearance, but by a combination of stealth and low noise, seaworthiness, survivability and firepower, which allows you to equally successfully deal with enemy surface, underwater and air targets . And, most importantly, the “ship of the future”, whether it be an aircraft carrier, destroyer or cruiser, should also be distinguished by a reasonable price, allowing it to be produced and put into service in serial quantities. And Zumwalt does not meet these criteria - at the moment it is just a very expensive "toy", "a showcase of American military-industrial complex technologies," as one of the US senators put it. So what did the Americans end up creating - the destroyer of "tomorrow" and the "thunderstorm of the seas" capable of terrifying the enemy fleet, or the floating "museum" advertising the capabilities (and appetites) of the American military-industrial complex? Considering that only 3 ships of the DD(X) project will be built and put into service, the answer is obvious.
At the end of October, the lead destroyer of the Zumwalt project was launched at the American shipyard Bath Iron Works. The USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000), named after Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, is one of the most daring American military shipbuilding projects of recent times. Great hopes are placed on the ships of the new project and high demands are made. The priority of the project and the atmosphere of secrecy surrounding it can be considered the main reasons that the launch of the completed ship into the water took place without pompous ceremonies and took place under the cover of night. According to reports, all celebrations should take place a little later.
On the way to DDG-1000
The Zumwalt project dates back to the early nineties. Then the US Navy developed requirements for promising ships that were to enter service at the beginning of the 21st century. In connection with such terms of the beginning of the service of the ships, promising programs received the designations CG21 (cruiser) and DD21 (destroyer). A little later, the cruiser and destroyer development programs were renamed CG(X) and DD(X). The requirements for new ships were quite high. Both cruisers and destroyers had to perform a wide range of combat and non-combat missions. Depending on the situation and the need, any of the promising ships was supposed to attack enemy ships or submarines, protect formations from air attack, evacuate the population from dangerous zones, etc.
Already the first calculations showed that the cost of such a universal ship may not be within a reasonable framework. In this regard, Congress insisted on the closure of one of the programs. Based on the results of the analysis, it was decided to abandon the CG(X) cruisers and focus all efforts on the creation of destroyers. Thus, after the decommissioning of all Ticonderoga-class cruisers in the US Navy, the destroyers Arleigh Burke and DD (X) were supposed to be used as multi-purpose ships with missile weapons.
For financial reasons, one project was closed, and soon problems began with the second. Full compliance with the requirements of the customer, according to calculations, should have led to a significant increase in the cost of design work and the construction of ships. It was originally planned to build 32 destroyers of the new type. However, an assessment of their cost and budget possibilities led to several reductions in the planned series. A few years ago, Congress cut the appropriations for the Zumvolt destroyers to a level sufficient to build only three ships. It is worth noting that after that there were proposals to complete the construction of the lead destroyer and close the overly expensive project, but the Pentagon was able to defend three ships. It should also be noted that by the time the design work on the Zumwalt project began, the requirements had been changed towards simplification. Because of this, the existing prospective project has several major differences from the planned DD(X).
Preparations for the construction of the lead ship DDG-1000 began in the fall of 2008, and the laying ceremony took place in November 2011. At the end of October 2013, the first destroyer of the new project was launched. Preliminary work on the construction of the hull of the second ship DDG-1001 (USS Michael Monsoor) started in September 2009 at the Ingalls Shipbuilding plant. In 2015, it is planned to hand over the lead destroyer to the customer and continue building the next ships. The order of the third destroyer DDG-1002 is planned for the 2018 financial year.
According to available data, the cost of each of the three new destroyers, taking into account the cost of creating the project, can exceed $7 billion. For comparison, the new ships of the Arleigh Burke project cost the treasury about 1.8 billion, which is more than three times less than the cost of the Zumvolts. At the same time, it should be taken into account that the timing of the construction of the third promising destroyer, which is planned to be ordered only in 2018, may accordingly affect its price. Thus, there is every reason to believe that the total cost of the program will constantly increase.
Ship skin
The new Zumwalt-class destroyers will serve in the US Navy for the next few decades. It is the groundwork for the future that explains the many original and bold technical solutions that immediately catch the eye. The most noticeable feature of the new ships is their appearance. In the past few decades, engineers have been trying to reduce the visibility of ships for radar systems and have achieved some success in this. In the case of the Zumvolt destroyers, visibility reduction became the main task in designing the contours of the hull and superstructure. A promising American destroyer looks like a long and narrow platform, in the middle of which there is a superstructure of complex shape. All the contours of the surface of the ship are a complex system of planes conjugated with each other at different angles.
The hull of the ship has a relatively low side, which reduces visibility. It should also be noted that the sides are tilted inward. Due to the use of low sides, the authors of the project had to use the original stem of a characteristic shape. Such hull contours provide high running performance and at the same time reduce the visibility of the ship for radars. In the middle of the 2000s, the AESD Sea Jet demonstrator boat was built, on which the capabilities of the original hull shape were tested. The test results of the experimental boat showed the correctness of the calculations. However, there are still doubts about real characteristics new destroyer. There are suspicions that the bow of the ship will burrow into the water.
The ship USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) turned out to be large: the length of the hull is about 183 meters, the maximum width is 24.6 m. The displacement of the destroyer is approximately 14.5 thousand tons. It is noteworthy that with such dimensions and displacement, the Zumvolt ships turn out to be larger than not only the Orly Burke destroyers, but also the Ticonderoga cruisers.
In terms of their combat capabilities, promising ships should also surpass existing cruisers and destroyers. The abandonment of the CG(X) program led to the transfer to destroyers of some of the functions previously assigned to cruisers. Although in the course of determining the technical and financial appearance of the project, the promising destroyer lost some elements of equipment and weapons, in terms of its characteristics it should be ahead of ships of existing types.
As the main power plant on the USS Zumwalt, two Rolls-Royce Marine Trent-30 gas turbine engines with a total capacity of 105,000 hp are used. The engines are connected to electric generators that supply energy to all systems of the ship, including two electric motors that rotate the propellers. Such an architecture of the power plant made it possible to provide relatively high running characteristics of the ship. The declared maximum speed of the destroyer exceeds 30 knots. In addition, two generators provide electricity to all ship systems. The parameters of the electrical system make it possible in the future, as part of the modernization, to equip the ships with new equipment and weapons.
The main armament of the Zumvolt destroyers is the Mk 57 universal vertical launcher. This system is a further development of the similar Mk 41 launcher used on modern cruisers and destroyers. The Zumwalt ship will carry 20 Mk 57 modules placed in different parts of the hull. Each of the modules has four cells for missiles. The launcher cell can accommodate from one to four missiles, depending on their size. It is proposed to load missiles of various types into 80 cells of launchers: anti-aircraft, anti-submarine, etc. The specific composition of the ammunition load will be determined in accordance with the tasks that the ship must perform.
The main anti-aircraft ammunition of the Zumwalt destroyers will be the RIM-162 ESSM missile. It was previously stated that the SM-2, SM-3 and SM-6 missiles would be included in the ship's ammunition, but at the moment there is no new information about such weapons of the ships. It is possible that work is underway to prepare missile systems for use on promising destroyers, and the expansion of the available range of weapons will take place only after the lead ship is accepted into the Navy. To attack enemy submarines, Zumvolt-class destroyers will carry RUM-139 VL-ASROC anti-submarine missiles.
An interesting feature of the Zumwalt destroyer weapons system is the fact that at the moment there is no information about the use of anti-ship missiles. Obviously, the existing RGM-84 Harpoon missiles were considered unsuitable for use on promising destroyers. A similar approach was also applied in the formation of requirements for the latest series of Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.
In the bow of the destroyer DDG-1000, it is planned to install two AGS artillery mounts with 155 mm caliber guns. The AGS system is a gun turret with advanced underdeck units. An interesting feature of this artillery mount is the ammunition. Despite the caliber, the AGS system will not be able to use existing 155mm ammunition. The LRAPS projectile was created especially for the new naval artillery mount. Active-reactive ammunition is similar to a rocket: its length exceeds 2.2 meters, and after exiting the barrel, it must unfold wings and a stabilizer. With its own weight of 102 kg, the projectile will be able to carry an 11-kilogram warhead. Using inertial and satellite navigation systems, the LRAPS projectile will be able to hit targets at a distance of at least 80 km.
The total ammunition capacity of the two artillery mounts will be 920 rounds. The autoloader stowage of both AGS systems will hold 600 rounds of ammunition. The large length of the projectile forced the use of several interesting solutions in the design and operation of automatic loading. So, ammunition will be fed to the gun in a vertical position. To do this, before loading, the gun barrel must rise to vertical position. Shooting is possible with elevation from -5° to +70°. The original automatic loader, according to official data, provides a rate of fire of 10 rounds per minute. Declared the possibility of firing in long bursts.
In the past, it has been argued that destroyers Zumwalt could become the world's first ships carrying an electromagnetic gun. Similar developments already exist, but they are far from being used on military equipment. One of the main problems of this promising is its colossal power consumption. When using the power generators installed on the new destroyers, for firing from an electromagnetic gun, almost everything would have to be turned off for a while. electronic systems. It is quite clear that such features of the work put an end to the application of such systems in practice.
The artillery armament of promising destroyers consists of two AGS installations and two Swedish-made Bofors Mk 110 anti-aircraft guns. It is noteworthy that the caliber of these guns is much larger than the caliber of previously used anti-aircraft systems. The reason for the use of 57-mm guns can be considered the fact that the power of 20- and 30-mm shells is not enough to guarantee the destruction of modern and advanced anti-ship missiles. Thus, the greater power of 57 mm shells can compensate for the lower rate of fire at 220 rounds per minute.
In the stern of the Zumwalt ships, there is a hangar for helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles. The destroyers will be able to carry one SH-60 or MH-60R helicopter, as well as up to three MQ-8 drones. Thus, a small aviation group will be able to monitor the environment and take on some of the functions of the ship's electronic complex.
To monitor the situation and control weapons, Zumvolt-class destroyers will receive a Raytheon AN / SPY-3 multifunctional radar station with an active phased antenna array. It was previously planned to install a second Lockheed Martin AN / SPY-4 radar on new ships, but later it was abandoned. The use of two stations at once, operating in different ranges, was considered too expensive and did not provide a corresponding increase in performance. Thus, ships under construction will be equipped with only one radar station.
Zumwalt destroyers will be able to search for submarines and mines. To do this, they will be equipped with three sonar systems AN / SQS-60, AN / SQS-61 and AN / SQR-20. The first two are installed in the ship's hull, the third has a towed hydroacoustic station. It is alleged that the characteristics of the sonar systems of the new destroyers will be significantly higher than that of the equipment of existing ships of the Arleigh Burke type.
Quality and Quantity
Based on the available data, it can be assumed that the promising Zumwalt-class destroyers will become the most advanced among all US Navy ships. Nevertheless, the existing advantages of a technical and combat nature, under certain circumstances, can be completely offset by the existing disadvantages. The main disadvantage of the new project is the high cost. The cost of the lead ship, including development costs, is estimated at $7 billion. Thus, the new destroyer costs about the same as the cost of the last American Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77). Such a high cost of destroyers was the reason for a radical reduction in the planned series.
Even if austerity congressmen do not push for the elimination of one or even two Zumvolt-class destroyers, the total number of these ships in the US Navy will remain too small. Just three destroyers - even if they are head and shoulders above all existing ships in terms of their characteristics - are unlikely to have a serious impact on the overall potential of the Navy. In other words, the latest destroyers run the risk of becoming what is commonly called a white elephant or a suitcase without a handle. An expensive project, which, in light of recent funding cuts, may look unreasonably high, while maintaining existing views, will not be able to give the expected results in terms of fleet combat capability.
In the context of the Zumwalt project, the Pentagon's plans for the ships of the Arleigh Burke project look interesting. According to statements in recent years, the construction of these destroyers will continue, and they will serve until the seventies of the XXI century. How long the Zumvolt destroyers will serve is not yet clear. Nevertheless, even without taking into account the service life, we can confidently say that most of the combat work will fall on the ships of the old project.
To justify the new ships, it should be said that the Zumwalt project used a large number of new technical solutions and technologies. Therefore, promising destroyers will become a platform for testing equipment, weapons and technologies that will be used on the ships of the future.
According to the websites:
http://globalsecurity.org/
http://naval-technology.com/
http://raytheon.com/
http://navyrecognition.com/
http://navweaps.com/
http://baesystems.com/
MOSCOW, December 13 - RIA Novosti, Andrey Kots. The ultra-modern American destroyers "Zamwalt" seem to be haunted by a "family curse". No sooner had the experts finished discussing last year's failure of the lead ship DDG-1000 in the Panama Canal, as this week its "little brother" - DDG-1001 "Michael Monsour" partially failed. . The ship's harmonic filters, which protect sensitive electrical equipment from power fluctuations, have failed. As a result, "Michael Monsour" temporarily lost most of its high-tech electronic stuffing. The American military sailors have added a headache: the ships, second only to aircraft carriers in price, stubbornly do not want to get rid of many "childhood diseases". About why the project of the newest destroyers is still stalling - in the material of RIA Novosti.
Too advanced
Destroyers with Zumwalt guided missiles were supposed to become universal warships, but with an emphasis on combating coastal and ground targets. It was planned to entrust the Zamvolts with the tasks of fire support for amphibious assault, strikes with high-precision weapons against troops and infrastructure, as well as attacks on enemy surface ships. The program for the construction of promising destroyers started in 2007, when Congress allocated $ 2.6 billion for the creation of the first two Zamwalts. In total, the US Navy expected to receive 32 ships of this type and keep within 40 billion.
However, the cost of the ships of this project, which American engineers tried to bring up to the high requirements of the military, began to grow at an astronomical pace. First, the order was reduced to 24 destroyers, then to seven. As a result, in 2008, the fleet decided to limit itself to only three ships. Each of them, according to the latest data, cost the treasury $ 4.4 billion, not counting the cost of maintaining the ship throughout its life cycle(the total cost may exceed seven billion).
© AP Photo / Robert F. Bukaty
The first Zamvolt entered service with the US Navy on October 16, 2016. A month later, on November 21, the DDG-1000 stalled in the Panama Canal on its way to the port in San Diego. Seawater has infiltrated two of the four bearings connecting the ship's induction onboard motors to its drive shafts. Both shafts failed, and the Zamwalt crashed into the walls of the canal. The ultra-modern destroyer had to shamefully return to port in tow. Moreover, in San Diego, a leak was found on the ship in the lubricant cooling system, but its cause could not be established at that time. As recent events have shown, the second destroyer of the series is also experiencing serious problems with the power plant.
“We must be aware that the Americans are able to build warships,” military expert Alexei Leonkov told RIA Novosti. “And Zamvolt, in all its parameters, is a very interesting, original project. Especially its unusual power plant, similar to that used on Ohio-class strategic submarines. The only difference is that Zamvolte has a diesel-gas turbine engine instead of a nuclear reactor. It is connected to electric motors that are used at low and medium speed. In theory, this approach implies fuel savings when the ship is cruising on electricity alone. In practice, such a system dramatically increased the cost of the propulsion system and reduced its reliability. Hence the breakdown."
Alexei Leonkov recalled the old joke: "Americans always find the right solution, but only when they try all the wrong ones." The expert emphasized that the same story was with the initially "raw" M-16 assault rifle and F-16 fighter, which were eventually brought to almost perfection. There is no doubt that the Zamvolts will also be polished over time. But it is still unclear what niche these three ships will occupy in the Naval Forces.
budget hole
The striking capabilities of the Zamvolt are quite high, but not outstanding. Its main armament is 80 cruise missiles in vertical launch silos located along the sides. The know-how of the destroyer was to be artillery weapons. It was originally planned to install two electromagnetic railguns on it. However, the project was doomed to failure, as this weapon would eat up all the energy capacity of the ship. The destroyer armed with railguns, in fact, turned into a floating gun carriage and "disconnected from the network" after each shot.
Later, it was decided to settle on two 155-mm AGS artillery guns of an unconventional active-reactive scheme with a firing range of up to 148 kilometers. The LRLAP projectiles used in them, according to the developers from the Lockheed Martin concern, are so accurate that they are able to "hit targets in the canyons of coastal cities with minimal collateral damage." Everything would be fine, only the cost of one ammunition of this type has already exceeded 800 thousand dollars. For comparison: the Tomahawk cruise missile, well tested in dozens of armed conflicts, has a range of 2,500 kilometers and costs only slightly more - about a million. Since 2016, the command of the US Navy has been looking for an alternative to the "golden" shells for the miracle cannon, but so far without success.
© AP Photo / Robert F. BukatyThe newest destroyer of the US type "Zamvolt" (Zumwalt)
© AP Photo / Robert F. Bukaty
“Thus, the Zamvolts have only 80 Tomahawks per ship,” said Alexei Leonkov. “Now let’s do some simple calculations. One destroyer with 80 missiles costs $4.4 billion. 122 Tomahawks) costs US taxpayers about a billion.The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer (up to 56 Tomahawks plus anti-ship missiles and Aegis missile defense system), according to the latest data, costs about 1.8 billion.Both of these ships are perfectly tested in combat conditions and perfected a long time ago. Yes, the Zamwalt is made with stealth technology. But any radar specialist will tell you that all these games with invisibility are just games. You can only partially reduce the visibility and in a certain range. So Wouldn't it be easier to build two Ohio-class nuclear submarines for the same money, each of which, in a non-strategic version, can carry 154 Tomahawks? submarine cruiser certainly less noticeable than the Zamvolt, and in terms of its striking power it is twice as powerful.
According to the expert, "Zamvolt" will never go to large-scale production, remaining an expensive and useless "toy". As Leonkov stressed, the implementation of at least three ships of this type "in metal" is a direct consequence of the efforts of the lobbyists of the project in the US ruling circles. American industry has long been able to build cheaper and more efficient ships. Albeit not so high-tech and original in appearance.