In the autumn of 2016, a new warship was built on the berths of the shipyard "Severnaya Verf" in St. Petersburg - the Corvette of the Project 20386 "Daring". The bookmark ceremony was held in a solemn atmosphere and was timed to the 350th anniversary of the Russian Navy. Despite the solemnity of the situation, this event among military experts was greeted ambiguously. Many of the military experts in the field of modern shipbuilding were skeptical about the beginning of the construction of ships of this class. Prospects for the new Russian corvettes of the project 20386 are rather vague, even taking into account the fact that the design of the ship contains a number of innovative ideas and developments.
The reason for this situation is deeply rooted in the depths of the Ministry of Defense and the Main Naval Staff of the Russian Navy. Neither the first nor the second department still can not decide on the concept of fleet development at the present stage. What ships are needed in the domestic fleet in the first place, what tasks should new ships solve, and are new ship projects needed, whose implementation is questionable?
Story with the project 20386
The new corvette, which received the heroic name "Daring", is a prototype of the ship of the future. During the creation of the ship, the designers of the Central ICD Almaz took into account the blunders and mistakes made in the implementation of the previous project 20380. The creators decided to wipe at something more and make a fundamentally new ship, something between a patrol ship and a frigate. The new brainchild of the Almaz design bureau was attributed to the corvettes class, but in reality it looks more like a destroyer - a more powerful and large ship.
In accordance with the technical requirements, the project 20386 corvette must successfully confront the enemy on the near and far approaches to the sea borders of our country. The combat functions assigned to the new ships are impressive. It can be said that the designers were given the task of accommodating the capabilities inherent in ships of different classes, namely:
- protection of maritime communications within the 200-mile economic zone;
- counteraction to the ships of the probable enemy at any distance from the fleet bases;
- ensuring sustainable air defense of the ships' connections against air strikes;
- search, detection and destruction of submarines in a given area;
- providing air defense and fire support amphibious operations.
With such an extensive range of combat missions, the new ship must be significantly different from its predecessors and have special qualities. It was necessary to create a warship with striking power and at the same time capable of performing patrol, military-police functions. Whether such a decision would be correct - time will tell. For the patrol ship and the launch pad, the new corvette is too big. In addition, there is a question about the period of construction of a series of such vessels and the total cost of the project.
In the Russian fleet, there is a tendency to create different types of ships capable of solving similar combat missions. The most unpleasant is that all new projects are limited to small series. This makes it impossible to timely equip the fleet with modern combat ships in the required quantities.
For example, in the US Navy the famous destroyers of the Oliver Perry class were built in the amount of 71 units. The Chinese, who managed to build nearly two dozen corvettes of type 056 in 10 years, are not far behind the Americans. In total, the Chinese are planning to build 60-80 ships of this class for the needs of their own military fleet.
Despite all the vicissitudes around the new Russian corvette, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in April 2014 signed a contract with the Central Design Bureau "Almaz" to perform development work.
Project 20386 - a tangle of technical and tactical contradictions
The Russian defense industry has been working in an intensive mode for the last 10-15 years. The point is not that large numbers of new military ships and military equipment come down from the stocks and from the factory conveyors. In fact, several projects are being simultaneously implemented, each of which is a regular trial version. In the shipbuilding industry, there is a tendency to build small warships that later equip weapons systems of unprecedented power. The idea is good, and today no one can compete with Russian designers in this regard.
But already at the project implementation stage, another attempt arises to improve or improve the design data. This leads to a slowdown in the serial construction of ships, so necessary for the modern fleet. In the Ministry of Defense and in the high offices of the General Staff of the Navy, the battle of views continues: give preference to corvettes or build large quantities of small rocket ships.
So it happened with the ships of the project 20380, the predecessors of the corvettes of the project 20386. These were new combat ships on which it was planned to install the most powerful air defense system - the Redut system equipped with long-range 9M96M missiles and the naval version of S-400 MANPADS. Already built ships of the series are part of the Baltic Fleet as ships with the most powerful air defense system. This is no longer the usual patrol, such ships are more like air defense cruisers, allocated in a separate class in foreign fleets. The next version - the project 20385 corvettes - has already received weapons comparable in power and type to those of the project 11356 frigates.
Therefore, the designers in the new project 20386, which has become an improved version of the project 20380 corvettes, decided to reduce the number of weapons and reduce the combat load on the ship design. The prevailing view is that the corvette is a ship that performs several other tasks. Escort and patrol missions are more inherent in ships of this class, and the impact functions are not typical of them. To build a corvette at a cost comparable to the price of the frigate is impractical. In addition, corvettes as a class of ships are urgently needed for fleets to operate in the Baltic, on the Black Sea and in the Pacific Marine Theater.
In the new project, everything was done to avoid catastrophic delay in construction time. For example, four corvette project 20380 built almost 8 years! During this time, navigation and radar equipment has become morally obsolete, weapons systems and methods of fighting at sea have gone ahead. Build a knowingly old ship - up waste. Corvettes are an intermediate class of military courts, especially since the main "chip" of this class is their low cost and massive construction. It is inexpedient to make a ship a powerful strike combat unit, and to turn such a ship into a specialized air defense system also has no reason. For these purposes it is necessary to build ships of other classes and in a different quantity.
Distinctive features of the project 20386
After a long and painful search for the best option, the designers made the only right decision: to build new corvettes according to a fundamentally new scheme. The vessel must have a small displacement and a balanced set of weapons. The ships use a complex of low-profile architecture integrated into the general system of superstructures and hulls. The hull of the ship and the superstructure are based on composite materials. Robotic systems and new radar equipment significantly reduce the crew.
The layout of the ship is based on the principle of modularity, allowing to assemble on board any other type of weapons. A distinctive feature of the corvette is the presence in the ship's hold of spacious hangars with lazportami in the sides of the surface part. Compared with the basic project, in practice ships should have a contractual displacement of no more than 2500 tons. For comparison, initially it was announced that the new corvettes will have a displacement of 3-3.5 thousand tons.
The propulsion system on the ship is combined, it consists of the M90FR gas turbine engines and electric generators. The total power of the main engines is 54-55 thousand hp. Electric motors have a power of 4400 kW. Engines on the corvette of domestic assembly, which makes the ships completely independent from the supply of equipment from abroad. A ship with a gas turbine installation should have a maximum cruising speed of up to 30 knots and a cruising range with an economical course of 5000 km.
New Corvette still at the design stage was very different from its predecessors. In contrast to the corvette "Watching", the new ship has better seaworthiness, its cruising range and autonomy should increase. More comfortable living conditions have been created on the ship.
Project Armament 20386
New Russian corvettes will be significantly enhanced by stationary types of naval weapons. Evaluating the design characteristics of the Corvette 20386, it is already possible to say that the ship has become an order of magnitude more powerful than the ships of the same type being built for foreign fleets.
In the bow of the corvette 20386 is a batch installation of the Redut anti-aircraft missile system. Behind her on the upper deck there is a powerful automatic 100 mm installation, and its tower is also made by technology "Stealth".
In the main superstructure hidden launchers of the main armament of the ship - PRK "Uran". On the upper part of the superstructure, two AK-306 gun mounts are installed on both sides, providing close cover of the ship. In the internal hangars of the corps there are two launchers of the anti-submarine complex “Package-NK”. With such a set of weapons, the new Russian corvette is able to effectively solve various combat missions. He can act independently as a patrolman, and as part of the connection of ships.
The corvette is also equipped with reconnaissance and rescue equipment. In the stern there is a hangar and a takeoff platform for a helicopter. In addition, the vessel assumes the presence of unmanned aerial vehicles. The latest means of electronic warfare will significantly enhance the combat capabilities of the ship. Domestic developments in this direction make it possible to create effective means of suppressing the navigation equipment of foreign ships. In terms of the quality of technical equipment, the introduction of new technologies in the design of the ship and the use of innovative techniques, Russian combat ships can be compared with the new American and British ships such as Zumwalt and Daring.
However, such a comparison does not fully look incorrect. The cost of building a single American or British destroyer with the price of building a Russian ship is incommensurable, since foreign projects require a truly enormous allocation. Yes, and the tactical and technical characteristics of foreign ships are strikingly different from the parameters possessed by the domestic project 20386 corvettes.
The final version of the armament of the corvettes of the project 20386 has not yet been approved. In particular, it is impossible to dismiss the idea of equipping combat ships with Caliber cruise missiles.
Finally
We can say that the only wise decision has finally been found, and that the project 20386 corvettes will be the very lifesaver that will bring the Russian Navy to the proper form. Today, the Russian Navy is in dire need of ships of this class. It all depends on how quickly the series will be built.
In the future, the corvettes of this project can become a solid support for the Russian fleet. An analysis of recent events in the Eastern Mediterranean speaks in favor of the fact that almost any operational-tactical tasks can be solved by warships of a smaller displacement. The presence of strike missiles makes modern small combat ships an effective tool for military presence. A large series of vessels of this type, given the low design cost, may in a short time solve the tasks of fleet technical equipment with new combat units.
The plans of the Supreme Naval Administration, voiced during the laying of the lead ship of the project 20386, sound optimistic. The first ship is scheduled to be handed over to the fleet in 2021. Serial construction is still focused on building 10 ships of this project. The total value of the contract is estimated at 20 billion rubles. Will the Corvette "Daring" be able to take a worthy place in the battle formations of the Russian fleet - time will tell!
