This week, the US Navy will take delivery of the world's largest destroyer, Zumwalt, worth $4.4 billion (named after Admiral Elmo Zumwalt). American media call it the most advanced warship in naval history.

The latest generation multi-purpose ship is designed using stealth technologies and is distinguished by a characteristic angular hull shape. In addition, special radio-absorbing materials and coatings were used in production. As a result, as the developers assure, the destroyer is visible on radars as a small fishing vessel.

Meanwhile, the ship is far from small. Its length is 183 m, width - 24.6 m, displacement - about 15 thousand tons. The Rolls-Royce gas turbine unit develops a power of 58 MW and provides the ship with a cruising speed of 20 knots. If the power is increased to a maximum of 78 MW, the speed will be 30 knots. The destroyer was built at the Bath Iron Works shipyard (Maine), owned by General Dynamics.

Despite its impressive size, the ship is operated by a team of only 158 people, thanks to the highest level of automation. The destroyer's armament is also impressive. It is equipped with 20 of the latest Mk.57 vertical launch missile modules from Raytheon. These missiles can hit air, ground and surface targets. Compared to the previous generation of missile weapons, the Mk.57 differs in even greater autonomy and security in case of defeat by the enemy or emergency situations on board.

In addition, the ship's weapons system includes Tomahawk cruise missiles, two 155-mm long-range AGS artillery mounts, anti-aircraft missile system type RIM-162 ESSM, an anti-submarine missile system of the Asroc family and two small 30-mm artillery mounts.

Finally, the destroyer is equipped to operate one Sikorsky MH-60 Seahawk helicopter and three MQ-8 Fire Scout helicopter-type reconnaissance and combat drones from Northrop Grumman with a range of up to 280 km.

To manage this economy, the ship's crew had to be intensively trained for two years.

According to the American television channel ABC, the transfer of Zumwalt to the US Navy will take place on May 20 in Bath (Maine). And the official ceremony, after which the destroyer will take up combat duty, will take place in October in Baltimore. The ship will then head to its permanent base in San Diego.

Against whom does the United States plan to use the “invisible” super-destroyer, what ships can Russia oppose to the Zumwalt?

The Americans themselves de facto admit that the idea of ​​building a series of advanced destroyers of the Zumwalt type did not justify itself, notes Konstantin Sivkov, President of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, Doctor of Military Sciences, Captain 1st Rank.

To date, the US Navy has ordered only three hulls of such ships from General Dynamics, although it was originally planned to build several dozen. The point here is largely due to the high cost of the project. In terms of cost, one Zumwalt is equivalent to two Ticonderoga-class missile cruisers, or three Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. And it cannot be said that the combat capabilities of these ships are in the same ratio.

Of course, the Zumwalt has a powerful combat information and control system that allows you to solve a wide range of tasks information support activities of this ship. But many questions arise about the remaining combat components of the newest destroyer.

- What are the weak points of Zumwalt?

For starters, the Zumwalt only has 80 missile launchers. For comparison: a Ticonderoga-class cruiser with a displacement of 9.6 thousand tons has 124 such installations, and an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer has 96. This means that the Zumwalt’s strike capabilities are significantly less.

The newest destroyer's air defense capabilities are likely higher, primarily due to more advanced electronic equipment that provides target detection. But even here the question arises: how many ammunition loads of surface-to-air anti-aircraft missiles does it have? I would venture to suggest that the Zumwalt also has less ammunition than the Ticonderoga and Arleigh Burke.

Meanwhile, if the Zumwalt is attacked by a carrier strike force that is capable of firing a salvo of 40 missiles, 80-90 anti-aircraft missiles will be required to repel them. This means that after two or three enemy missile attacks, Zumwalt will simply lose its air defense ammunition.

It turns out that the new destroyer also has less ability to repel air targets than the Ticonderoga and Arleigh Burke - however, it is capable of detecting these targets more quickly. In addition, the Zumwalt will be more effective at repelling low-flying targets.

But from the point of view of solving anti-submarine missions, the “stealth” destroyer will definitely be superior to the “Ticonderoga” and “Arleigh Burke”. It probably has more advanced equipment.

Plus, it is more effective for supporting ground troops. Its 155mm artillery mounts are capable of hitting targets at long distance. Of course, this is not 180 kilometers, as some sources indicate. The actual range of such weapons is about 40 kilometers. Otherwise, the cost of the projectile will be close to that of a rocket: in particular, it will require a powerful powder accelerator. Fitting such a large projectile into a 155 mm barrel is a big problem, and I don’t think the Americans have solved it.

- Does the use of stealth technologies make this ship invulnerable?

Not at all. It is less noticeable to detection tools than traditional ones warships, and even then not from all angles. You need to understand: stealth does not make Zumwalt truly invisible, and weakens its detection capabilities not radically - by 2-2.5 times.

The main disadvantage of this “invisible” device is its noise. Russian maritime reconnaissance assets today rely not on active location from aircraft, but on searching for the enemy with submarines that have powerful acoustic systems. Our submarines will be able to safely detect Zumwalt as part of the so-called orders (groupings) of ships.

- Does the adoption of Zumwalt change the balance of power in the oceans in favor of the US Navy?

I don’t think that three such destroyers will make radical changes to the combat capabilities of American groups. In the event of a mass introduction of Zumwalt-class ships, the amplification effect would have an effect, but three weather units do not.

Yes, if our opponent is a Zumwalt, detection of it by Russian missile homing heads will be difficult. This needs to be taken into account, and, perhaps, appropriate technical changes must be made to the guidance systems. For example, make these systems operate in several frequency ranges to obtain higher accuracy in ship detection. But I don’t see any other fundamental difficulties.

- It turns out that the ships of the Russian Navy will be able to effectively fight the Zumwalt?

The combat durability of the Zumwalt, if our missiles have captured it as a target, is no higher than that of an ordinary American destroyer. Perhaps even slightly lower - some systems that increase self-defense capabilities are not visible on its deck. In particular, automatic cannons for “finishing” missiles that have broken through. For me, Zumwalt is nothing special as an enemy...

Ships of the Zumwalt type are intended primarily for the Asia-Pacific region, says Ivan Konovalov, director of the Center for Strategic Studies.

Let me remind you that at the end of February China placed on the disputed Woody Island in the South China Sea the latest fighters J-11 and JH-7. US intelligence reported this. Earlier on this island, which is disputed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam, the Americans detected HQ-9 missile defense systems and a high-frequency radar. According to US military experts, this allows China to control sea and air traffic in the Strait of Malacca, through which up to a quarter of all maritime trade in the world passes. In essence, things are heading towards the fact that China, in military terms, will receive a “veto right” on the actions of the United States and its allies in the region. This, of course, is not to the taste of Americans.

This is why I believe Zumwalt is targeting China specifically. The Americans are sticking to the Shift to Asia course outlined under Barack Obama. This course, in particular, implies a serious strengthening of the US grouping near China. According to plans, up to 60% of the US Air Force and Navy should be concentrated in the Pacific region.

I do not rule out that such ships could be used in the Black and Baltic Seas, but only for the purpose of demonstrating the capabilities of the American fleet, and for solving purely political problems.

Yes, Zumwalt is a serious ship, it is only called a destroyer, but according to previous ideas it is equivalent to three or four cruisers. But the specificity of the Baltic and Black Sea theaters is that here the ships are almost defenseless from aviation. These are very cramped theaters in which the use of large ships is, to put it mildly, unwise.

However, given the incidents during which our combat aviation has proven itself brilliantly, including the story of overflights of the American destroyer Donald Cook (DDG-75 Donald Cook) in the Baltic Sea, I don’t think that Zumwalt will go to the Baltic at full speed.

I repeat: such ships are not intended against Moscow, but against Beijing. Therefore, the path of Zumwalt most likely lies either in the South China Sea or in the East China Sea. And we can say that the Chinese are already waiting for him. It is no coincidence that in recent years the Celestial Empire has been developing its Navy at an unprecedented pace. The Chinese have adopted an aircraft carrier, are sending new nuclear submarines on sea voyages, and have added new destroyers, corvettes, hospital ships and even reconnaissance ships to the fleet. I hope the Chinese will cope with the Zumwalt-class destroyers, if not in quality, but in quantity...

Finish of the super destroyer Zumwalt: US Navy suffers non-combat losses

The newest American Zumwalt-class destroyer USS Michael Monsoor broke down during testing and was forced to return to the shipyard. The $4.4 billion super-stealth destroyer suffered harmonic filters that protect sensitive electrical equipment from unwanted power fluctuations a day after setting sail, the US Navy said in a statement. Because of this, the ship lost the ability to use a complex electrical network under high loads. True, the shipbuilders claim that it was this element that they intended to test during the tests, and the breakdown will not in any way affect the commissioning of the ship, which is scheduled for 2018.

Ships of the Zumwalt type have already been repaired several times, although the first of them was launched just last fall. Even before the official commissioning ceremony, a leak was discovered in its power plant, and soon after, while passing through the Panama Canal, the heat exchangers providing the destroyer with electrical power failed, after which it had to be towed to the base. Now a breakdown has been discovered on the second Zumwalt-class ship.

In addition to not the highest reliability, it turned out that the “super destroyer” is very expensive to operate. One cannon shot costs the American budget 800 thousand dollars. According to Defense News, the US Navy has already reduced its purchase plan for ships of this class from 28 to three units. The entire project for the development and construction of three Zumwalt-class ships is being assessed by the US Naval Institute at $23 billion

The incident with the destroyer was another blow to the reputation of the American fleet, spoiled this summer by two incidents of warship collisions. On June 17, a collision occurred between the US Navy destroyer Fitzgerald and the Philippine container ship ACX Crystal off the coast of the Japanese prefecture of Shizuoka. The captain of the Philippine vessel said the Fitzgerald did not respond to his warning signals. On August 21, the destroyer John McCain collided with the merchant ship Alnic MC in the Strait of Malacca near Singapore. The two accidents killed 17 sailors and cost more than $500 million to repair. Ten senior ranks of the 7th Fleet were dismissed, as well as all destroyer officers.

After the incidents, some Chinese media called the US 7th Fleet a “paper tiger”, and a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying expressed the Chinese side's concern about the threat to the safety of navigation in the South China Sea. This cannot worry Washington, for which “gunboat diplomacy,” or rather destroyers, remains one of the main instruments of foreign policy.

In 2018, the United States intends to spend $26.2 billion on strengthening the fleet. The funds are planned to be invested in the construction of 14 ships. According to experts, this indicates that the United States is relying on equipping the Navy, as well as the Air Force (more than $10 billion has been allocated for the purchase of 90 multifunctional fighter-bombers).

But experts, including American ones, say that the problem of the fleet is not so much underfunding as in human factors. Official reports of the destroyer collisions show that the watchmen and helmsmen behaved extremely unprofessionally and did not have the necessary skills to avoid disaster. Moreover, psychologists say that the “exclusivity factor” could have played a role - the helmsmen were simply confident that the civilian tanker would go off course on its own, and went to ram it.

Another problem is that the US Navy is overloaded with missions, and the performance of officers is reduced due to lack of rest. As for ordinary sailors, they often lack basic knowledge, since literally “just anyone” is recruited into the fleet to fill numerous vacancies. If this is the situation in peacetime, it is difficult to imagine what will happen during the conflict.

Expert of the Independent Military Review Vladimir Shcherbakov explains that the failure of the Zumwalt project has long been obvious, but for some reason the United States did not dare to curtail it in time. At the same time, the American Navy also has truly successful projects for new ships.

Initially, this destroyer was intended for completely different purposes. It was supposed to be a versatile ship, filled with all sorts of new technologies. But when the latest technology forms a significant part of the facility, problems are bound to arise. It takes a long time to finish everything and bring it to mind. As a result, the Zumvolt series was reduced from 32 ships to three, which, as we see, are also breaking, and the price has quadrupled.

As far as one can judge from the outside, the Americans themselves do not quite understand why they are experiencing these breakdowns - both with the first ship and with the second. In particular, the root cause of seawater entering certain structures is not clear.

One can only quote the words of the notorious senator McCain, which we usually criticize. He stated that the Zumvolt-class destroyer of the DDG-1000 project - good example how the program ultimately goes beyond the initially approved budget, implementation time frame and stated characteristics. It's hard to disagree with this.

In addition, some of the planned weapons will definitely no longer be on the destroyer. For example, the Americans are closing the project to develop a railgun, which means that a railgun cannon will not be placed on it. And the shells of the guns that stand on it cost almost a million dollars apiece. This raises questions even among the most patriotic American military and congressmen, because it is simply wasteful.

In short, it is not clear what to do with the Zumvolt. It carries fewer cruise missiles than the Arleigh Burke destroyer, which is more compact in size, has been proven in operation and is significantly cheaper. Zumwalt costs almost as much as two attack submarines that can hide in the depths, attack with cruise missiles and are generally the latest technology.

Besides, American admirals Recently they have begun to say that this destroyer cannot be a universal ship. Instead, he must solve the problem of destroying enemy ships in the ocean. But there are only three of these destroyers, what will they destroy? Not to mention the fact that back in 2015 a report was prepared, the meaning of which was that the ship cannot be released into the sea, because potential adversaries have weapons of destruction against which it is powerless.

By and large, this program has reached a dead end. They should have covered it up much earlier and forgotten about this nightmare, but something prevented them.

“SP”: - So the project can finally be classified as a failure?

There are two very clear examples regarding the new American ships - positive and negative. The first include Ford-class aircraft carrier. This is truly a new word in the creation of ships of this class, ranging from electromagnetic catapults to cableless lifts. It is, of course, expensive, but America can still afford it.

And the second example is the Zumvolt, which turned out to be unsuccessful in almost everything. This admiral, after whom the destroyer was named, is probably turning over in his grave.

The modern Navy of the world hegemon. US Navy. Surface fleet. Aegis. Destroyers, Zamvolt (USN)

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Two weeks ago, the newest futuristic-looking destroyer Zamvolt was transferred to the US Navy. The ship is armed with two 155-mm “supercannons” that fire guided missiles (Long Range Land-Attack Projectile, LRLAP), capable of hitting the enemy at a distance of 80 nautical miles (148 km). However, it is quite possible that the shells for these guns will never be adopted by the US Navy, writes the military-analytical publication Defense News.

The manufacturer of the shells for these guns, Lockheed Martin, claims that this type of ammunition can “hit targets in the urban canyons of coastal cities with minimal collateral damage,” that is, it can be used as a targeted weapon to avoid civilian casualties.

The 155mm 62-caliber AGS (Advanced Gun System) guns for the three Zamvolt destroyers are the most powerful naval guns developed in the United States since World War II.

The shells for these guns are 223 cm long and weigh 102 kg. The guns have a rate of fire of ten rounds per minute per barrel and are capable of firing 600 high-explosive fragmentation shells in half an hour. According to US naval experts, there is no equivalent to such a weapon anywhere in the world.

However, the price for one LRLAP artillery round constantly increased from time to time, since the number of Zamvolt-class destroyers planned for construction was constantly decreasing. At first, it was planned to have 28 such ships in service with the US Navy, then seven, and finally settled on three destroyers.

“We were going to buy thousands of these projectiles, but the number of ships simply killed the affordable projectile,” a US Navy source familiar with the LRLAP production program told Defense News.

According to him, both LRLAP shells and AGS guns have an excellent reputation among the ten largest subcontractors involved in developing technology for the superdestroyer. There were no significant problems with these artillery systems during testing.

“We have no problems with weapons and no problems with a ship equipped with these weapons. We only have a problem with the final price,” said a US Navy representative.

Now the price of one LRLAP projectile is $800 thousand. However, it could become even higher, the publication’s interlocutor admits.

It is known that the Tomahawk sea-launched cruise missile with a range of 1 thousand nautical miles costs a little more than $1 million, Defense News recalls.

US Navy officials have not yet commented on the possible decision to abandon the LRLAP procurement, but admit that they are considering alternative options. “The US Navy continuously monitors industrial enterprises producing naval guns and ammunition. In response to evolving threats, the U.S. Navy is evaluating technical solutions for projectiles (including both conventional and hypersonic) that could be delivered to the Zamvolta in accordance with the program schedule and could potentially be used as an alternative to the LRLAP for the DDG1000,” said to the publication, a representative of the customer's management of the US Navy, Captain First Rank Terraya Kent.

Lockheed Martin has not yet commented on the current situation. Since the US Navy may abandon the LRLAP program, the fleet intends to find other ammunition for the Zamvolt destroyer artillery complex.

One U.S. Navy official told Defense News that three or four projectile options have already been considered to replace the LRLAP, including the Army's Excalibur guided projectile from Raytheon and the Hyper Velocity Projectile (HVP). The latter is a project being developed by the US Naval Research Service and BAE Systems.

“There are firms that have already considered appropriate alternatives. These actions are aimed primarily at reducing the final cost of ammunition,” the interlocutor in the US Navy emphasized.

However, the likelihood remains that in the near future there will be no replacement for LRLAP ammunition for Zamvolta guns. Despite the fact that the lead ship was transferred to the US Navy on October 15, 2016 in Baltimore (Maryland), the combat information and control system will be installed on the destroyer in San Diego for another year and a half. After this, the US Navy will begin in 2018 an extensive program of combat testing of all ship systems (Combat Systems Ship Qualifications Trials, CSSQT) in order to fully confirm the combat capabilities of the ship laid down in the tactical and technical specifications.

It is during these tests that live firing from the ship's 155 mm guns is expected.

The 2015 budget provided $113 million for the purchase of 150 LRLAP shells, which will be used.

The acquisition of LRLAP is not yet provided for in the 2016 and 2017 budgets. The 2018 budget includes $51 million, but it is not yet clear whether these funds will be used to purchase LRLAP ammunition.

If ammunition for AGS guns is replaced, changes will naturally be required. software destroyer artillery fire control systems. We will also have to resort to rearranging the automatic ammunition supply mechanisms in the ship's turret gun mounts. They are currently designed to hold 300 LRLAP projectiles, but it is unlikely that ammunition developed by another company will have exactly the same dimensions.

The option of adapting 127-mm shells to 155-mm Zamvolt guns is even being considered.

While there is debate about the extremely high cost of LRLAP ammunition, it is unclear whether there are deeper problems with the combat use of these projectiles. The AGS/LRLAP combination was originally conceived to provide Marines with continuous, accurate fire support with the ability to engage targets deep behind enemy lines. However, how effective this will be in practice is controversial.

According to the expert, if we take into account the depreciation of the ship itself and operating costs during the passage by sea, then

artillery firing at the “Mujahideen tent” with 155-mm high-explosive fragmentation ammunition of the LRLAP type will cost the US Navy budget approximately $1.5-2 million.

The same fire missions can be solved by other means at much lower costs, states Makienko.

The Russian Navy may be replenished with a “super destroyer.” Izvestia reported this with reference to a source in the Navy Commander-in-Chief.

The deep sea zone destroyer will be the largest ship designed in our country since 1989. Its displacement can be up to 12 thousand tons. The ship is planned to be made universal: it will receive missile, anti-submarine, anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapons. It will also be equipped with a hydroacoustic station and torpedoes. With the help of the new destroyer it will be possible to support ground forces in the coastal zone. The main tasks of the destroyer will be escorting Mistral-class helicopter carriers and promising Russian aircraft carriers.

The new Russian destroyer will be similar in size to the cruiser Moskva, the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, launched in 1982. American nuclear cruisers type URO will look at least undignified next to our destroyer. Japanese helicopter-destroyers of the Hyuga type, armed with a 12.7-mm machine gun and American ship-to-air anti-aircraft missiles, will not be able to seriously compete with the Russian ship in battle. The same can be said about the British 42-class destroyers or the Canadian Iroquois class. True, the Americans have an analogue to the future Russian destroyer - this is the ship Arleigh Burke: with a displacement of 9648 tons, it carries Harpoon anti-ship missiles and Tomahawk cruise missiles.

The large size of the giant Russian destroyer will give it freedom of movement across the World Ocean and will allow it to ensure the combat stability of Russian surface groups in remote areas. Russia, unlike the United States, has only one overseas base(in Syria), therefore, roughly speaking, the destroyer will carry everything it owns with it.

Over the past twenty years, Russia has been rapidly losing ground in terms of naval armaments, while other countries - the USA, Great Britain, France, Japan, China - have been increasing their naval potential, commissioning large and well-armed ships. The appearance of a new destroyer will mean that Russia is returning to the group of countries with a strong fleet capable of solving serious problems.

The destroyer is still only a preliminary design. Over technical documentation The designers will work for 2–3 years, and only after that the actual construction of the ship will begin. According to Izvestia, the ship will most likely be laid down at the Severnaya Verf shipyard in St. Petersburg.

Back in the 1980s, domestic shipbuilding was one of the most powerful in the world. At that time, up to 50 submarines, warships and support vessels were built by order of the Navy. Now only a few small ships and vessels are being introduced. Russia occupies a niche of approximately 0.6% of the total volume of orders from the three leaders of world shipbuilding - Japan, South Korea and China. And the saddest thing is that in the 90s, experts noted a stop in the development of scientific, technical and technological potential in the field of civil and military shipbuilding.

As of the summer of 2012, Russia had 218 surface warships, most of them with a service life of over 20 years. For example, in 1990–2012, the Russian Northern Fleet included only 15 of 41 ships. 6 of the 15 “new” ships are minesweepers and landing craft. The rest of the warships produced in the 1970s and 1980s are now not in the best condition, and in addition, they are simply outdated. One of these ships is a heavy nuclear missile cruiser"Peter the Great", which became the flagship in 1998 Russian fleet and the largest warship in the world.

At the same time, in the spring of 2012, the US Navy submitted to Congress a new 30-year plan for the development of the country's naval forces. In accordance with this program, by 2019 the total number of naval forces will be increased from 282 to 300 ships. At the same time, annual costs for the construction of ships from 2013 to 2042 will amount to $16.8 billion.