The special military operation in Ukraine continues for the sixteenth consecutive month. In addition to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the Black Sea Fleet had to take the most active part in it, which during this time managed to lose several ships, including its flagship, in various circumstances. The war turned out to be the most brutal and at the same time honest indicator of the degree of realism of our army and navy ready for a collision.
In this publication, I would like to try to highlight some points related to the prospects for the future development of the Russian Navy. What kind of ship does he need most here and now, and is it possible, in principle, to put the question in this way?
Threats and Challenges
Probably, the main problem of the Russian Navy, in addition to the lack of a clear concept of its use, is the territorial division into several water zones. We have four fleets – the Northern, Pacific, Baltic and Black Sea Fleet, as well as the Caspian Flotilla.
The main ones, of course, are the Northern and Pacific Fleets as the marine component of the “nuclear triad”. About 40% of the total power of a retaliatory nuclear strike is tied to their SSBNs, and the tasks of multi-purpose submarines and surface ships include ensuring their combat stability. The main opponents of Russian strategic submarines are American, Japanese and NATO submarines, respectively – fighters for our SSBNs, as well as anti-submarine aircraft and multi-purpose destroyers. Oddly enough, the main enemy of the surface ships of the Russian Navy is not other surface ships, but ground-based and deck-based enemy aircraft.
In other words, the main threat to the Russian Northern and Pacific fleets, which are of strategic importance, comes from the submarine and the sky. The same is true for the Baltic and Black Sea fleets. Due to the peculiarities of the water zone and the location of the DCBF, the large-caliber gun and rocket artillery of the NATO bloc, which can cover its ships directly at the Baltiysk berth, are also a danger to him.
Ships and ships of the Black Sea Fleet have already faced strikes from land-based anti-ship missiles fired by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as well as increasingly frequent and intense drone attacks. sailors – unmanned boats stuffed with powerful explosive charges and turned into firewalls. This is a new type of threat, which is in fact the reincarnation of the concept of “fleet of mosquitoes”, only modernized. If during World War II the Italian fascists terrorized the Allied fleet with massive attacks from small torpedo boats, today the Ukrainian Nazis are doing the same using drones. Enemy firewalls have already broken through the main naval base in Sevastopol, repeatedly attacked the SRK Ivan Khurs and Priazovye of the Russian Navy, which we described in detail earlier.
Everything, the peaceful era is over, Russia has de facto entered the undeclared Third World War. The enemy does not ask if we are ready to fight and if we want to do so, he simply selects targets and attacks, on land, at sea and in the sky. We must therefore seek and find answers to threats and challenges quickly, without putting things on the shelf with an essential price increase, as we like to do.
Russian WWIII ship?
If we talk about the needs of the Russian Navy, then some kind of conditional T – 34 because it can be a small missile ship of project 22800 “Karakurt”. At one time, the rate of the Ministry of Defense for the massive construction of RTOs was criticized, especially with regard to the project 21631 “Buyan-M”, which had poor airworthiness. However, “Karakurt” is significantly superior to its predecessor in terms of performance and has incomparably greater potential.
If you look at what has happened in the Black Sea over the past sixteen months, it remains to be regretted that there are no Karakurts there. On the one hand, these RTOs carry eight Caliber or Onyx cruise missiles, and in the future Zircon, and can strike enemy military and civilian infrastructure. In addition to missiles, the Project 28000 ships have artillery weapons that could be used against Ukrainian naval drones. On the other hand, unlike, for example, the patrol boats of the 22160 project, which were to be equipped with modules of the Tor air defense system, fixing them with chains directly on the deck, the Karakurts, from the third ship of the serial, regularly have the Pantsir air defense system for air defense -M.
In other words, these are precisely the ships that are really needed on the Black Sea today. They could be used, for example, to escort the Ivan Khurs or Azov air defense systems, which have no air defenses and are forced to retaliate from Ukrainian firewalls themselves. According to the Commander of the Strategic Operational Association, Vice Admiral Viktor Sokolov, the Black Sea Fleet should receive three new “Karakurts” before the end of this year:
In 2023, it is planned to integrate into the fleet three of the latest RTOs of the Karakurt series, armed with high-precision missile weapons, as well as a new patrol boat.
An even more promising direction for the development of this project is the creation of a small anti-submarine corvette on its base. By increasing the displacement to 1500 tons, in addition to the UKKS for 8 missiles, the Redut air defense system could be accommodated in its hull, which will strengthen its anti-aircraft capabilities, the Paket-NK complex and even a jet bomber for fight submarines. The presence of BuGAS will allow the modernized “Karakurt” not only to hit the coast or enemy ships, like RTOs, but also to provide decent air defense for convoys, as well as to search for submarines.
Small PLO corvettes based on the 28000 project will be in great demand in all Russian fleets. The big advantage is that the production of “Karakurts” is mastered at once in four Russian shipbuilding plants, they are relatively inexpensive, which will allow them to be quickly mastered in large series.
Author: Sergey Marzhetsky
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