Arleigh Burke-class missile ships. Orly Burke-class URO destroyers

The guided missile destroyer USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) is the lead destroyer of the Arleigh Burke class built for the US Navy. Named in honor of Admiral Arleigh Albert Burke (Arleigh A. Burke), who fought on pacific ocean During the Second World War.

It was built at the Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine. The construction contract was concluded on April 02, 1985. The keel laying ceremony took place on 06 December 1988. Launched on September 16, 1989. The ship was sponsored by the wife of Admiral Arly Albert Burke, after whom it was named. The admiral himself attended the ceremony of commissioning the ship into the Atlantic Fleet on July 4, 1991 in Norfolk. Home port naval base in Norfolk, Virginia.

Main characteristics: Displacement total 6630 tons. Length 153.92 meters, width 20.1 meters, draft 9.3 meters. Maximum travel speed 32 knots. Cruising range 4400 nautical miles at 20 knots. The crew of 337 people, including 23 officers.

Engines: 4 General Electric LM2500-30 gas turbine units, with a total capacity of 108,000 hp. mover 2.

Armament:

Tactical strike weapons: 2 Aegis launchers for 29 (bow) and 61 (stern) missile cells, respectively. In various combinations, they can be armed with: Tomahawk CR Tomahawk, RIM-66 SM-2 Standard-2 SAM, RUM-139 ASROC PLUR.

Artillery: 1x1 127 mm. AU Mark 45. Mod. 2/54 cal., 680 rounds.

Anti-aircraft artillery: Two 6-barreled 20 mm. ZAU "Phalanx".

Missile armament: 2x4 Harpoon anti-ship missiles up to 74 RIM-66 SM-2 Standard-2 missiles.

Anti-submarine weapons: PLUR RUM-139 ASROC.

Mine-torpedo armament: 2x3 324 mm. TA Mk. 32 (torpedoes Mk.46 and Mk.50).

Aviation group: 1 SH-60 LAMPS helicopter, no hangar.

In 1993, he participated in Operation Provide Promise.

During the second combat deployment of the ship in 1995, she arrived in the Mediterranean Sea and participated in the air security of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

During his third voyage in 1998, he visited the Mediterranean, Adriatic, Red and Black Seas, as a participant in numerous naval exercises with the participation of the US Navy.

During the fourth long-distance cruise of the ship in 2000-2001, she served in the Mediterranean and Red Seas and in Persian Gulf by enforcing UN sanctions against Iraq and by conducting joint naval exercises with US partners in the military-strategic sphere.

During her fifth deployment, which lasted from January to June 2003, the destroyer, along with other ships of the carrier strike group formed around the carrier, participated in Operation Enduring Freedom. During this military campaign, the destroyer attacked targets in Iraq using Tomahawk cruise missiles, escorted merchant and auxiliary military vessels, and also fought piracy in the Gulf of Aden. Spent nearly 93 percent of the time at sea during deployment.

In October 2007, he was involved in anti-piracy operations in Somalia.

In 2009, it was deployed to the east coast of Africa.

In August 2010, he arrived at the BAE Systems Ship Repair shipyard in Norfolk, Virginia, to modernize the ship's systems and extend the life of the ship to 40 years.

On September 23, 2014, a Tomahawk missile was launched from the Red Sea at ground targets in Syria.

Left home port on 28 August 2018 for planned deployment. In September, conducting operations in the area of ​​responsibility of the US Sixth Fleet as part of an aircraft carrier strike group. October 25 with a scheduled visit to the port of Haifa, Israel.

In June 2011, the US Navy announced its plans for the future of US Navy destroyers. Promising destroyers of the Zumwalt type turned out to be too expensive for mass production, so it was decided to leave the Arleigh Burk project as the main destroyer of the Navy. In addition, ships of the Orly Burke type will be added to the fleet until the early thirties of this century. During this time, American shipyards will assemble two dozen destroyers. Based on the normal service life of ships in the United States Navy, it can be assumed that the last ship of the Orly Burke class will be withdrawn from the fleet only in the seventies of this century. Apparently, the US Navy command has its own considerations that allow these destroyers to be included in such a distant future.

To ensure an advantage over the Soviet Navy in the mid-70s, American sailors wanted to receive destroyers of a new project. The recently appeared Spruences, although they were modern ships, still did not have great prospects and required, if not replacement, then at least a serious addition. In addition to this, Spruance class destroyers, despite the available weapons, in official documents were listed as ordinary destroyers, and the time and situation required full-fledged URO destroyers (with guided missile). Work on the formation of the appearance of the new ship and the terms of reference for it took several years, and the development competition began only in 1980. It took seven shipbuilding companies at once about three years to create competitive preliminary designs, after which three contestants remained: Bath Iron Works, Ingalls Shipbuilding and Todd Shipyard. The third firm was never able to get the “attention” of the tender committee, which is why the construction of the first two ships of the new project was entrusted to Bath Iron Works and Ingalls Shipbuilding, respectively. The project, as well as its lead ship, was named after Admiral Orly Albert Burke, who commanded various destroyer formations for most of World War II. The contract with the Bath Iron Works for 322 million dollars was awarded in April 85th. However, the total cost of the lead destroyer turned out to be several times higher. Taking into account all electronic equipment, weapons, etc. it cost the Pentagon $1.1 billion.

The construction of the USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) began in late 1988, and on Independence Day 1991, she entered service. In the future, two shipyards - Bath Iron Works and Ingalls Shipbuilding - built another two dozen such ships. The first two dozen ships of the new project were made in accordance with the first version of the project, which was named Flight I. However, soon after the start of construction of the lead project of the first series, American shipbuilders began to modernize. As a result, the destroyer USS Mahan, ordered back in 1992, was completed as the first ship of the second series. The construction of the destroyers of the Flight II version had a more modest scale: only seven ships. It is argued that a small second series was originally considered as a transitional link from the first to the third. And so it happened, however, contrary to logic, the new version of the project had not a triple in the index, but the designation IIA. This line turned out to be the most numerous. On the this moment 34 Orly Burke destroyers of the IIA series have been built and their construction continues. The total number of ships according to the old plans was to be 75 units, but for now only 62 are ready. Most likely, those 24 destroyers that will be ordered later will be made according to the next version of the project.

All existing series of ships - I, II and IIA - have only minor differences in design. They are caused by the features of the installed equipment and the features of the operation of helicopters. The rest of the design is similar. "Orly Burke" of all three series are single-hull ships with a long forecastle. It is noteworthy that the vast majority of ship hull parts are made of high-strength steels. The fact is that after the Second World War, American shipbuilders began to actively use aluminum parts in the construction of ships of this class. In engineering terms, this was a good undertaking, but the experience of fighting with the participation of aluminum ships forced a return to steel. Aluminum destroyers "Orly Burke" made only some parts, such as masts. The low-sitting hull has a relatively small flare in the bow and a relatively wide middle section. This hull shape slightly increases water resistance, but improves stability and reduces pitching. On ships of the IIA series, a bow bulb was added to compensate for the deterioration of the flow due to the peculiarities of the hull contours. Watertight bulkheads divide the internal volume of the hull into 13 compartments. It is curious that the lower decks have a layout that allows you to move around the ship without restrictions without leaving the upper deck. This is done so that the crew is not at risk if the enemy uses weapons. mass destruction. In addition to specially planned interiors, the crew is protected from chemical, biological and nuclear weapons by a special ventilation system with multiple filtration of the air taken from outside.

Orly Burke became the first American destroyer, whose hull and superstructure are made using stealth technology. To reduce radar visibility, the outer surface of the ship's superstructure consists of several large, even panels mated at sharp angles, which leads to a noticeable scattering of radio waves. Chimney casings are made in a similar way. In addition, the exhaust of the power plant before being thrown out passes through a special mixing chamber, where it is mixed with atmospheric air and cools down. As a result, ships of the Orly Burke type have almost half the radar and thermal visibility than their Spruence-class predecessors. The use of large parts that reduce visibility, among other things, made it possible to make the design of the ship modular. Thanks to this, 10-15 weeks pass from the laying of the ship to its launch.

The twin-shaft power plant of the Orly Burke destroyers of all series is composed of four LM2500 gas turbine engines manufactured by General Electric. Each engine is equipped with a thermal insulation circuit, which reduces fuel consumption by up to a quarter, and is mounted on shock-absorbing mounts to reduce noise. The entire power plant of the ship is a single module, which, if necessary, can be dismantled entirely. The maximum possible power of the power plant is in the range of 100-105 thousand horsepower. As backup engines, destroyers of all series have three Allison 2500 gas turbine engines. The power of the main and standby engines is transmitted to two shafts that rotate five-blade variable-pitch propellers.

The destroyers of the Orly Burke project are capable of speeds up to 32 knots, but the maximum cruising range is achieved at an economic speed of 20 knots. In this case, the destroyers of the first series can travel up to 4,400 nautical miles, and the ships of the II and IIA series - five thousand miles more. At the same time, some American sources claim that reducing the speed to 18 knots can bring the cruising range up to six thousand miles. However, there are some doubts about this.

The first 28 ships of the Orly Burke type (series I and II) had a crew of 320-350 people: 22-25 officers and 300-330 sailors, warrant officers, etc. The difference in numbers was due to some differences in armament and in the number of helicopters. On the ships of the IIA series, the required number of crew in a number of services was revised and a maintenance group for two helicopters was added. All this led to an increase in the crew to 380 people (32 officers). The Americans especially note the fact that designers and ergonomics specialists participated in the layout of the living quarters of the Orly Burke ships. Due to this, with an area of ​​​​about four square meters per person managed to create all the necessary conditions for normal living.

The weapons of the Orly Burke destroyers include many systems, but its basis is the Aegis control system (read "Aegis"). This multifunctional combat information and control system (CICS) combines a whole set of detection, control and destruction tools. Aegis includes a multifunctional phased array radar, air and surface target detection radar, electronic warfare equipment, communications equipment, etc. In addition, Aegis has a number of subsystems for outputting information, transmitting data to other ships, and direct weapon control systems.

Missiles are the main armament of the Orly Burke destroyers. various types. In the bow and stern of ships of all series there are universal silo launchers Mk 41. On ships of series I and II, the bow and stern launchers have 30 and 60 cells, respectively. On the IIA series, the number of cells increased to 32 and 64. A transport and launch container with a BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missile, an SM-2 or SM-3 anti-aircraft missile or a block of four containers with RIM-7 Sea Sparrow anti-aircraft missiles can be placed in one cell . The launcher equipment makes it possible to simultaneously prepare 16 missiles of various types for launch and launch them at a rate of one missile per second. In addition to launchers, the Mk 41 has several cranes for loading TPK with missiles. However, the features of the crane equipment and the design of the destroyer do not allow reloading Tomahawk or SM-2/3 missiles from supply ships. Loading such weapons is possible only in the conditions of the base. This disadvantage is compensated by the flexibility of the weapons range: if the ship has to attack ground targets, then it will receive Tomahawks if the ship will perform the functions air defense- Loads Sea Sparrow or SM-2/3 onto it.

The “main caliber” of the destroyers’ artillery armament is the 127-mm Mk 45 mount. At the same time, the Mk 45 Mod was installed on the first 30 copies of the Orly Burke. 2, on the rest - Mk 45 Mod. 4. A mount with bulletproof armor can aim a 127-mm rifled gun in the range from -15° to +65° vertically and in almost all horizontal directions, of course, with the exception of the sector covered by the ship's superstructure. The rate of fire of the Mk 45 with conventional projectiles reaches 20 rounds per minute, and in the case of guided munitions, it drops by half. The maximum firing range of an unguided projectile for the Mk 45 mod. 4 is 35-38 kilometers. When using an ERGM guided active rocket, this figure increases to 115 kilometers. In the artillery cellar of the destroyers "Orly Burke" fits in the ammunition load of 680 shells of various types. It takes about 15-16 hours to load all this number of shells.

Anti-aircraft artillery "Orly Burke" can be equipped with various types of weapons. On ships of the I, II series, as well as on the first few destroyers of the IIA series, six-barreled 20-mm anti-aircraft guns Mk 15 Phalanx CIWS were installed with a rate of fire of up to 3000 rounds per minute. A smaller number of ships were equipped with 25-mm Bushmaster automatic guns, and almost all Orly Burkes carry several (three to six) Browning M2HB heavy machine guns on board. Despite their original purpose, the M2HB and Bushmaster are ineffective for air defense. Therefore, they are used only for training personnel and shelling small targets, like light boats and motor boats.

To destroy more serious surface targets, the destroyers of all three series have two built-in Mk 32 torpedo tubes with a total ammunition load of six torpedoes. It can be Mk 46 or Mk 50. When creating the Orly Burke destroyers, the main emphasis was on missile weapons, so reloading torpedo tubes by the crew after firing all six torpedoes is not provided. In the early versions of the project, engineers considered the possibility of using depth charges on the Orly Burke, but this tactical and technical solution did not even reach Flight I.

One SH-60 helicopter could be based on the deck of ships of the first and second series. Near the landing site there was a kerosene tank and a small "warehouse" with weapons - nine Mk 46 torpedoes. Helicopters intended for deployment on the Orly Burke destroyers are equipped with the LAMPS-3 anti-submarine system integrated into the overall Aegis CICS. Due to the limited volumes of the ships of the first two series, they did not have any means of maintaining or repairing the helicopter, other than those that are on board. Thus, any more or less serious damage led to the fact that the ship was left without rotorcraft "eyes". When creating the version of the IIA project, these shortcomings were taken into account and the shipbuilders made a special helicopter hangar in the aft part of the ship's hull, due to which the destroyer's aviation group doubled. This is what required the introduction of an aircraft maintenance group into the crew. The engineers also increased the arsenal for helicopter weapons: on the Orly Burke IIA series, it fits up to 40 torpedoes, air-to-ground missiles of various types, and even several MANPADS.

Destroyers of the Orly Burke type participated in several military conflicts, starting almost from the very beginning of their service. Iraq in 1996, 1998 and 2003, Yugoslavia in 1999 and several other operations. Due to their large number (there are currently sixty ships in service), these destroyers participate in almost every campaign of the US Navy. However, in Russia these ships are better known thanks to the "mission" of the destroyer USS McFaul (DDG-74), which he carried out in August 2008. Recall that then, a few days after the end of the infamous "War of the Three Eights", this ship brought 55 tons of humanitarian cargo to the Georgian port of Batumi.

In addition to combat successes and an interesting design, the Orly Burke destroyers are in some way record holders in the US Navy. The fact is that with a total displacement of about 8500 tons (series I), 9000 tons (series II) and 9650 (series IIA), the Orly Burke is the most massive American warship with a displacement of more than five thousand tons. This fact suggests that this type of ship is an undoubted success of American shipbuilding. Also in favor of the success of the project is the fact that the Japanese were interested in it at one time. In 1993-95, four destroyers of the Kongo type entered the Japan Self-Defense Forces. In fact, these are the same "Orly Burke", but modified in such a way as to comply with the legal features of the Japanese fleet.

Like any other project, Orly Burke eventually had to be replaced by newer equipment. But, unfortunately for the US Navy, a promising URO destroyer project called Zumwalt turned out to be much more expensive than planned. Thanks to such a failure of the Zamvolta, the Orly Burke will remain in service in the future. When these ships were put into service, it was planned that they would serve for about 35 years. But the lack of the possibility of mass production of Zumwalt destroyers forced the command of the US Navy to start last year the creation of a new version of the project (series III) and outline plans to purchase 24 ships in addition to the 75 already ordered. Together with the assumption regarding the possible duration of the Orly Burke's service until the seventies of the current century, this may help these destroyers set another record. This time it's about durability.

Arleigh Burke-class destroyers (Russian "Arleigh Burke") - a type of URO destroyers (with guided missile weapons) of the fourth generation. Destroyers have been built by order of the US Navy since 1988, and the construction of ships of this type continues. The name of the type was given by the lead ship, the destroyer URO "Arleigh Burke", named after the American admiral of the Second World War. The first Arleigh Burke-class destroyer was commissioned into the US Atlantic Fleet on July 4, 1991. After decommissioning on September 21, 2005 of the last destroyer of the Spruance USS Cushing in the US Navy was the only type of URO destroyers - destroyers "Arleigh Burke".

As of May 2010, the Arleigh Burke destroyer is the largest-scale type of surface warship with a total displacement of more than 5000 tons for the entire post-war history fleet. Given the rather low pace of construction of destroyers in other states, in the coming years, not a single state in the world will be able to beat this kind of record.

In addition to the US Navy, four ships of the Arleigh Burke type, albeit with a slightly modified design and built according to civilian standards (destroyers of the Congo type), are in service with the Japanese Naval Self-Defense Forces. For 2000, it was planned to introduce three more ships into the Japanese Navy by 2010, upgraded to the level of the IIA series, but at present, the construction of these ships has been abandoned in favor of more advanced Atago class destroyers .

Purpose of ships of this type

1. Protection of own aircraft carrier and ship strike groups from massive enemy missile attacks, which uses anti-ship missiles launched both from surface ships and from nuclear submarines with missile systems.
2. Air defense of own forces (naval formations, convoys or individual ships) from enemy aircraft.

• Fight against submarines and surface ships of the enemy;
• Ensuring a naval blockade of certain areas;
• Artillery support for landing operations;
• Tracking enemy ships;
• Participation in search and rescue operations.

The history of the development of the construction of ships of the series

Development of a new type of URO destroyers capable of supplementing 31 destroyers Spruance type and replace the destroyers of previous types, began in the late 1970s and, as a result, led to the creation of the appearance of ships of this type and the emergence of a program for their construction. A fundamentally new type of URO destroyers was supposed to be a means to achieve the superiority of the US Navy over the Navy of the Soviet Union. Initially, the development of a new destroyer project was proposed in 1980 to the designers of seven shipbuilding enterprises. Their number was already reduced to three companies in 1983: Todd Shipyards, Bath Iron Works, and Ingalls Shipbuilding.

As a result, on April 5, 1985, the Bath Iron Works shipyard won a contract to build the first ship of the Ι series. The contract was signed for $321.9 million, and the total cost of the first-born destroyer, together with weapons, was $1.1 billion (in 1983 prices). The Bath Iron Works shipyard also received a contract to build the 3rd and 4th destroyers in the series, and later sought more and more contracts. The second destroyer of the first series was ordered by a second company, Ingalls Shipbuilding (Todd Shipyards was unable to secure a contract).

Serial construction

After the order for the construction of the first three destroyers (DDG-51 - 53), on December 13, 1988, an order for the construction of five more destroyers of the series followed. This order was followed on February 22, 1990 by a new one for the construction of an additional five destroyers, then the shipyards received an order (dated January 16, 1991) for four more destroyers. The last order for five destroyers of the first series of the ship was received by the Bath Iron Works and Ingalls Shipbuilding shipyards on April 8, 1992, and the last of the five destroyers ordered in 1992, Mahan, was already being completed as a ship of the Flight II series.

Orders for ships of the II series were distributed as follows: January 19 - January 21, 1993 - four destroyers (DDG-73 - DDG-76), July 20, 1994 - three (DDG-77 - DDG-79), and the last of these three destroyers, "Oscar Austin", built according to the Flight IIA project.

Orders for the construction of ships of the IIA series were carried out on the following dates: January 6, 1995 - three units. (DDG-80 - DDG-82), June 20, 1996 - two units. (DDG-83 - DDG-84), December 13, 1996 - four units. (DDG-85 - DDG-88), March 6, 1998 - thirteen units. (DDG-89 - DDG-101), September 13, 2002 - eleven units. (DDG-102 - DDG-112), June 15, 2011 - one unit. (DDG-113), September 27, 2011 - two units. (DDG-114 - DDG-115), option declared for DDG-116.

At the beginning of June 2011, it is planned to build 75 destroyers of this type, of which 61 ships have already been built and 2-3 new ships are put into operation annually. The last, 61st destroyer of the series, Spruance, was commissioned into the US Navy on October 1, 2011. After the refusal in July 2008 of the large-scale construction of destroyers of the DDG-1000 type, plans appeared to build another 8-11 ships of the Arleigh Burke type in addition to the already ordered 62 and increase the total number of built destroyers of the series to 70-73 units. The construction of new destroyers of the Arleigh Burke class, following the USS Michael Murphy (DDG-112), allows US shipyards not to interrupt the production of destroyers until the start of mass production of cruisers of the new types CG (X) and CGN (X) at these enterprises, which expected no earlier than 2015 (except for the small-scale construction of the DDG-1000 destroyers). In December 2009, the US Navy awarded a $117 million contract to purchase materials for the DDG-113 destroyer, and in April 2010 a $114 million contract to purchase materials for the DDG-114 destroyer.

In June 2011, it became known that the leadership of the US Navy decided to increase the order for Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and continue their construction until at least 2031. As part of the 2012 and 2013 programs, it is planned to develop a new improved modification of the destroyer - Series III, according to which, starting from 2016 (from the DDG-122 ship), 24 new ships of this type should be laid down. It is planned that ships from DDG-113 to DDG-121 will gradually "saturate" with Series III technologies.

Construction cost

The cost of building the lead destroyer in 1983 prices was $ 1.1 billion. In 2004, the average cost of building one ship of the IIA series was $ 1.1 - 1.25 billion, and the annual cost of servicing one ship (with one repair every two years ) = $ 20 million. By 2009, due to inflation, the cost of one destroyer of the third sub-series (Flight IIa) increased to $ 1.4 billion (equivalent to 26.32 billion rubles in purchasing power parity), and the annual maintenance cost to $ 25 million

The bulk of the funds from the total cost of building and arming destroyers of the Arleigh Burke type goes directly to the acquisition and installation of weapons systems on destroyers. So, 6 destroyer hulls ordered by Bath Iron Works for laying down in 2002-2005 cost $3,170,973,112; hull of one destroyer, equal to ≈ $ 500 million, that is, slightly more than a third of the total cost of the ship. Thus, almost two-thirds of the cost of commissioning a ship is its armament. The most expensive armament of the Arleigh Burke destroyers is combat system Aegis - its cost is approximately $300 million.

The next Arleigh Burke-class destroyer after USS Michael Murphy (DDG-112) (construction is expected to begin in 2009) will cost the US Navy $ 2.2 billion. average cost the remaining destroyers of the future series, the construction of which is still only planned, will not exceed $ 1.7 billion.

The increase in costs is due, in addition to inflation, to the installation of new weapons systems on ships under construction.

ship design

Series I

Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are typical single-hull ships with a hull aspect ratio (along the waterline) = 7.1 of a long-tank design. For the first time in many years, the hulls of the ships of the series in American shipbuilding practice began to be made almost entirely of high-strength steel, using only individual units and sections of aluminum, in particular, pipes of gas turbine plants and the main mast. Experience pushed American designers to return to the use of steel in the construction of ships Falklands War , which revealed the weak security of British ships with aluminum hulls, as well as a number of fires on their own ships (in particular, the fire on the Belknap missile cruiser that occurred on November 22, 1975 when the cruiser collided with the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy completely destroyed the superstructure of the cruiser and claimed the lives of 7 people).

The hulls of the ships are divided, taking into account rationality, by watertight bulkheads reaching the upper deck into 13 compartments and have a double bottom throughout their length. Two continuous decks run through the entire ship, not counting the top. In the lower decks there is a through passage that allows the crew to take up combat posts without going to the upper deck for this. The collapse of the sides is more than 8 ° over a significant length of the hull length. The height of tween decks for the US Navy is standard - 2.9 m.

The ships are built according to the modular principle, that is, the ship's hull during construction is formed from pre-assembled modules (blocks). This facilitates and speeds up the construction process. The complete process of building a ship (from laying to launching) takes from 10 to 17 months, with most ships built in less than 15 months. A certain delay in construction schedules was observed after Hurricane Katrina , which slowed down the delivery of several destroyers by the Bath Iron Works shipyard in Pascagoula.

Arleigh Burke-class URO destroyers became the first after frigates type "Lafayette" ships, the construction of which uses technology "Stealth" . The destroyers of the Arleigh Burke class are the first ships in the US Navy, which, as a result of the creation of superstructure architecture made using stealth technology (with sharp ribs, for greater scattering of radio waves) and the use of coatings that absorb radio emission energy, have significantly reduced the effective scattering area. In order to reduce the thermal field, the chimneys of destroyers are equipped with special mixing chambers in which exhaust gases are mixed with cold air. The reduction of the thermal field of the ships was achieved by isolating hot sections through the use of an air cooling system for exhaust gases.

Series II

The metacentric height of the ships of the 2nd series has been increased by reducing the weight of the superstructure. On three quarters of the hull length of the destroyers of the 2nd series, the thickness of the metal plating was increased, fuel efficiency was improved due to changes in the design of the bow of the vessel. The propeller design has also been improved to reduce cavitation noise. In addition, the living quarters of the destroyers of the series were expanded to accommodate the personnel of the air group, as well as women soldiers. In order to increase combat survivability, five armored bulkheads were additionally installed in the ship's hull.

Series IΙA

Compared to the destroyers "Arleigh Burke" of the first series, the hull is lengthened by 1.37 m - up to 155.29 m. The width of the hull remains the same. For the construction of destroyers of the IΙA series, a previously unused technology is used, in which sections are saturated before they are integrated into the main hull modules. Beginning with USS Shoup (DDG-86), helicopter hangars are made from composite materials to reduce secondary radar field levels. All destroyers of the IIA series are equipped with satellite communications, allowing members of the ship's crew to call home at any time or use the Internet. All destroyers, starting with USS McCampbell (DDG-85), have a dedicated laundromat. In addition, a number of other, smaller changes have been made to the design and equipment of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers of the IIA series.

Power plant

A new phenomenon for American shipbuilding was the twin-shaft main power plant installed on the Arleigh Burke destroyers, consisting of 4 gas turbine engines. General Electric LM2500 with a heat recovery circuit, giving an additional 25 percent fuel economy. The main power plant of the ship is mounted on soundproof foundations and shock-absorbing supports. GEM (gas turbine, compressor, pipelines) and soundproof casing are made in the form of a single unit (module). The propulsion system of the ship allows it to develop a full speed of at least 30 knots in any sea state. The lead destroyer of series I USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) on sea trials with a full displacement of the hull developed a 30-knot speed in a 35-foot (10.67 m) wave and a total shaft power of 75,000 hp. With. On ships of all series there are 3 standby Allison 2500 gas turbine engines (each with a capacity of 2.5 MW), on which the ships are able to move when the power plant fails. The movement of the Arleigh Burke destroyers is provided by 2 five-bladed KaMeWa variable-pitch propellers.

The maximum cruising range of destroyers of the Arleigh Burke type of the I series at the operational and economic speed (20 knots) reaches 4400 nautical miles (8148.8 km), on ships of the II and IIA series due to an increase in the fuel efficiency of the ship, achieved due to the improvement of the design of the bow parts of the hull and the placement of additional fuel tanks, the cruising range of the ship was increased to 4890 miles (9056 km). The cruising range of destroyers at economic speed (18 knots), according to some sources, reaches 6,000 nautical miles (11,112 km). The cruising range of the destroyers "Arleigh Burke" is estimated as relatively small, especially since for the previous type of destroyers of the US Navy - Spruence-class destroyers she was 6000 miles at 20 knots and 3300 miles at 30 knots.

Crew

combat survivability

Vital combat posts are located below the main deck; REV antenna posts were distributed throughout the ship in order to reduce the likelihood of damage. Control posts for anti-submarine sensors and missile fire control "Tomahawk" placed separately from the BIC. The premises of the power plant, REV and control posts have Kevlar anti-shatter protection. In total, more than 130 tons of Kevlar are spent during construction to protect the main combat posts and units of each destroyer of the Arleigh Burke type (including 70 tons of this durable, but expensive material, goes to protect combat posts).

The purpose of protecting mechanisms and equipment below the design waterline is also served by local anti-fragmentation armor made of high-strength aluminum-magnesium alloys up to 25.4 mm thick. Plates made of these alloys protect the main waveguides, cables and the most important combat posts (upper tiers of superstructures, BIP rooms, ammunition cellars). The hull and superstructure of Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, including the AN / SPY-1 radar antennas), are designed for an overpressure during an explosion of 0.5 kg / cm², which is more than 2 times higher than previously accepted in military shipbuilding US standard value is 0.21 kg/cm². To reduce hydroacoustic visibility, destroyers of the Arleigh Burke type are equipped with systems whose functions include air supply to the underwater part of the ship (Masker system) and to the edges of propeller blades (PRAIRIE system). As a result of the operation of the latter system, a cloud of air bubbles is formed, distorting and smoothing the acoustic signal of the ship. A ship using the PRAIRIE system can be identified by a paler and more foamy wake than usual. When using the Masker system, the trail does not start under the stern, but at about half the length of the hull.

The ships of the project received an improved system of protection against weapons of mass destruction. There are no portholes in the hull and superstructures, the ship's ventilation system is equipped with automatic shutters and special filters. All doors along the outer contour of the ship are equipped with air tambours for air insulation purposes. Overpressure is artificially created in the inboard spaces to prevent contaminated air from entering them. Destroyers of the Arleigh Burke type also have a water protection system and decontamination posts.

Many experts consider Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to be among the most protected destroyers in modern fleets in the world. However, the experience of combat operation of ships makes one take a more balanced attitude to such statements and makes it possible to identify a number of significant shortcomings in the ships of this project. So on October 12, 2000, an explosion with a capacity of only 200-230 kg of TNT on the Cole destroyer, breaking through the two-level armor protection of the central part of the hull (near the midships), completely disabled the ship's gas turbine engines, depriving it of its progress and control. During the explosion, the cockpits were flooded, and one sixth of the crew (56 people) was disabled (including 17 killed). Nevertheless, despite the damage received, the ship remained afloat, while the roll that arose after the explosion did not exceed 4 °.

The incident with the destroyer "Cole" showed once again that, despite the lessons of the Falklands and Iran-Iraq wars, not only destroyers of the "Arleigh Burke" type, but absolutely all modern destroyers of the URO have weak constructive protection (or do not have it at all) . The protection of individual elements of the hull, engines and weapons with the help of Kevlar, as the Cole experience has shown, provides only anti-fragmentation or, at best, anti-projectile protection against the action of light and medium-caliber artillery shells. The constructive protection of all modern types of destroyers cannot protect against the destructive action of powerful explosive devices and anti-ship missiles.

To a large extent, the weak constructive protection of destroyers of the Arleigh Burke type is compensated by powerful anti-aircraft and anti-submarine protection provided by the capabilities of the Aegis multifunctional CICS, as well as the introduction of means to reduce thermal and acoustic visibility on destroyers. The defeat of Arleigh Burke-class destroyers by a single anti-ship missile or torpedo is almost unbelievable, given the combat capabilities of the system Aegis generally.

In order to increase the combat survivability of Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, it is planned to equip them, starting with USS Oscar Austin (DDG-79), with mine protection systems. In many respects, the decision to install mine protection systems on ships of this series was due to the incident with the destroyer USS Forrest Sherman (DDG-98), when on August 8, 2007, during the latter’s visit to Sevastopol, a German 480-kilogram galvanic impact anchor ship mine of the times of the Great Patriotic War with the power of an explosive device equal to 50 kg in TNT equivalent. The mine was safely defused by the joint actions of divers of the Black Sea Fleet of Russia and the Ukrainian Navy. As a result of mine clearance operations, the American destroyer was not injured.

The Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are equipped with two 24-foot (7.32 m) semi-rigid inflatable search and rescue boats RHIB or RIB (abbreviated from the English rigid hull inflatable boat), stored on sloops on the starboard side. A commercial crane is used to launch and retrieve RHIB boats. The equipment of the destroyers "Arly Burke" also includes 15 life rafts, each of which is designed for 25 people.

Armament

Aegis (eng. Aegis combat system) is a multifunctional combat information and control system (CICS), which is an organizational and technical association of shipborne means of lighting the situation, destruction and control based on the widespread introduction of automated combat control systems (ASBU). In addition, the system is capable of receiving and processing information from sensors of other ships / aircraft of the formation and issuing target designations to their launchers. Thus, the system can support the air defense commander of the formation, although it cannot fully automate all air defense functions. In a typical case, however, this role is played not by destroyers, but by URO cruisers.

• helicopter subsystem LAMPS;
• equipment of the helicopter subsystem LAMPS Mark Z;
• Radar for detecting air and surface targets;
• friend-foe identification station;
• electronic warfare subsystem AN / SLQ-32;
• navigation equipment;
• BIUS PLO with internal GAS ;
• terminal equipment of a digital radio link (LINK-11);
• automated command and control subsystem (Mark 1);
• automated subsystem for the coordinated control of shipborne weapon systems (Mark 1);
• radar control unit with HEADLIGHTS;
• antenna and transceiver part of the multifunctional radar;
• automated subsystem for testing for operation, search and localization of faults;
• information display subsystem;
• radio communication equipment;
• terminal devices of a digital radio communication line;
• launcher of the passive jamming subsystem;
• automated artillery fire control subsystem;
• SAM "Aegis";
• launchers for ship-based CR, SAM and PLUR;
• automated fire control subsystem KR "Tomahawk" ;
• automated fire control subsystem RCC "Harpoon" ;
• anti-aircraft artillery complex "Volcano Phalanx" ;
• automated subsystem for controlling the firing of anti-submarine weapons.

The main components (subsystems) of the Aegis multifunctional weapon system are closely interconnected. The means of management and control of the system are common, that is, they are used in the interests of each element and the entire system as a whole. These tools include OMWC and the display subsystem.

The Aegis system also includes a display subsystem, which can include up to 22 multifunctional consoles (MFPs) with tactical situation displays, including four commanders (the latter display a generalized situation). The display equipment is located in the combat information center (CIC) of the ship. Functionally, display equipment is divided into the following circuits: tactical information processing, evaluation of this information and decision-making, air defense, anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, and coastal strikes.

Nomenclature of weapons of the destroyers "Arleigh Burke"

The armament of the Arleigh Burke destroyers of different sub-series is quite different. The main weapons of all 53 active ships of this type are 2 vertical launch units (VLR) Mark 41 VLS. The standard set of weapons of the UVP destroyers of the first two sub-series consists of 74 anti-aircraft missiles RIM-66SM-2 , 8 cruise missiles BGM-109 Tomahawk (and 8 RUM-139 VL-Asroc anti-submarine missiles in a multi-purpose version or from 56 BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles and 34 RIM-66 SM-2 and RUM-139 VL-Asroc missiles in a strike version.

On destroyers of the IIA series, the total number of missiles carried by the ship increased from 90 to 96. RIM-7 Sea Sparrow (four per cell), 8 BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles and 8 RUM-139 VL-Asroc anti-submarine guided missiles.

Artillery

The main artillery armament of ships of the Arleigh Burke type is a lightweight 127 mm gun mount Mark 45 . In mod. 2, it is installed on the first 30 destroyers of the type (DDG-51-DDG-80), in the mod. 4 - on all other destroyers, starting with USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG-81). The standard ammunition of the Mark 45 Mod. 2 - 680 unitary shots Mark 68, Mark 80, Mark 91, Mark 116, Mark 127 or Mark 156. Horizontal range - 23 km, maximum rate of fire - 20 rounds per minute. The mass of the gun mount is only 24.6 tons.

Weight and rate of fire of the Mark 45 Mod. 4 remained the same as the previous modifications. The firing range of high-explosive fragmentation shells has been increased from 23 to 37 km, ERGM and BTERM active-rocket munitions with a flight range of up to 116 km have been introduced into the ammunition load. The standard ammunition of the Mark 45 Mod. 4 is increased due to changes in the design of the artillery cellar. There are the following options for completing the ammunition of the artillery mount - 700 high-explosive fragmentation rounds or 400 ERGM active-rocket rounds or (in a mixed version of ammunition) 232 high-explosive fragmentation rounds + 232 ERGM or BTERM rounds. It usually takes 16 hours to fully reload the artillery magazine of the destroyers Arleigh Burke.

Anti-ship and anti-submarine weapons

On the ships of the first two series, two quadruple installations are installed in the stern RCC "Harpoon" . The main anti-submarine weapons of the Arleigh Burke-class ships are LAMPS-III helicopters. Airborne weapons are anti-submarine guided missiles (PLUR) RUM-139 VL-Asroc . They are capable of hitting submarines at a distance of up to 20 km from the PLUR carrier ship.

As auxiliary anti-submarine weapons, the destroyers of all three series have two built-in torpedo tubes Mk. 32. Ammunition - 6 anti-submarine torpedoes Mk. 46 or Mk. 50. The maximum range of torpedoes is 10 km. There is no way to recharge them. On the ships of the IIA series, the Harpoon anti-ship missile systems were abandoned due to the requirement to reduce the cost of the ship. The torpedo tubes on the ships of the IIA series were retained.

air defense

The main component of the destroyers' air defense is the Aegis air defense system, the same name as the multifunctional CIUS. The composition of the air defense system may include, depending on the distribution of ammunition, from 34 to 74 anti-aircraft missiles Standard-2ER under RIM-67B missiles (1981, maximum firing range - 128 km), RIM-67C (1981, maximum firing range - 185 km), RIM-156 (Standard-2ER Block IV, 1999, maximum firing range - 240 km), currently all new destroyers are armed with anti-aircraft guided missiles Standard-3 with a doubled (up to 500 km) launch range and a launch altitude virtually unlimited within the Earth's atmosphere (up to 250 km).

Tactical strike weapons

Each Arleigh Burke-class destroyer is armed with up to 56 cruise missiles BGM-109 Tomahawk Block 3 (with a launch range of up to 1250-1609 km in the tactical (non-nuclear version) and 2500 km in the strategic (nuclear) version. In 2004, the Tactical Tomahawk cruise missile (a modernized version of the Tomahawk, English Tactical Tomahawk Block 4).

Aviation

Due to the lack of a helicopter hangar, only 1 helicopter can be temporarily based on ships of series I-II SH-60 Sea Hawk . The ammo magazine, located next to the helicopter deck, stores weapons for the helicopter (up to 9 Mark-46 torpedoes). There is also an aviation fuel tank. But the maintenance or repair of helicopters is not provided.

Additional armament

As anti-sabotage, as well as auxiliary anti-aircraft weapons, 4 12.7 mm machine gun M2HB . As an option, it is possible to install 25-mm Bushmaster assault rifles. They have a low elevation angle, and are unsuitable for anti-aircraft fire.

Overall evaluation of the project

In one of our articles, we have already touched on the topic of American destroyers. There we gave general information about the entire history of destroyers, and now we decided to give a complete picture of the modern Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, which is the only (except for 2 Zumwalt-class destroyers) representative of the destroyer family of the American fleet. I called it “the only one” because the destroyers of the Zumwalt series did not live up to the expectations of the command of the Navy and have a high price of construction, which led to their removal from mass production (it is planned to build a maximum of 1 more destroyer of this type). As a result, it was decided to continue the serial construction of the Arleigh Burke warships.

History of creation

The time of the Cold War consists of changes of confrontation and warming. By the end of the 1960s, the governments of the Soviet Union and the United States came to the consensus that the risk of nuclear war could lead to dire consequences for both sides and the world in general. Therefore, from the beginning of the 1970s, the emphasis was more concentrated on the defusing of nuclear weapons. However, the rivalry did not end there, but simply moved from weapons of mass destruction to conventional ones.

Design

From the navy's point of view, the US wanted to maintain its advantage. But the destroyers built in the 1970s, the Spruance, did not meet the standards of the changed policy. The main drawback of the Spruance destroyers is the lack of missile control. After the advent of the URO system, the Naval Command decided to create a new type of destroyer to complement the Spruence destroyers and replace the old ones. The first project of a destroyer with a URO system appeared in 1980. This project was supposed to give America a significant advantage in terms of destroyers. Seven shipbuilding companies offered their projects for a new type of ship. In 1983, only 3 companies remained, and in 1985, 2 shipyards won the construction tender: Bath Iron Works and Ingalls Shipbuilding.

Construction

This type of destroyer was named "Arleigh Burke" by the ex-head of combat naval operations (Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations) Admiral Arleigh Burke, who proved himself to be a true leader and strategist during the Second World and Korean Wars. The first ship also received the name of the admiral.

The squadron destroyer "Arleigh Burke" was built in a year and was launched in 1989 with the participation of the wife of the ex-leader (the complete process of building the ship took a little over a year), and entered into operation the US Navy on June 4, 1991 ( 2 years was on trial). The admiral himself attended the ceremony.

After successful tests of the destroyer, which took place from September 1, 1989 to June 1, 1991, the mass construction of this type of combat ships was approved. Bath Iron Works and Ingalls Shipbuilding have received an order for twenty more Arleigh Burke-class ships.

Like all military equipment, "Arleigh Burke" is not a cheap treat. On average, the price of each ship cost America a little more than 1 billion. dollars (in 1985 1.1 billion, in 2009 1.25 billion). Moreover, there are ship maintenance costs. Every 2 years, the destroyers undergo a planned repair, where each one spends from 20 to 25 million dollars. If we take into account that there are 62 Arleigh Burks in the American fleet, then every 2 years an average of 1.4 billion is spent on repairs. dollars.

general characteristics

The latest destroyer model has a length of 153.9 m, a width of 20.1 m, a displacement of 8,900 tons, a power of 108,000 hp, a maximum speed of 32 knots, and a range of 4,400 miles (at an optimum speed of 20 knots).

Design and General Data

Destroyers of the Arleigh Burke type are slightly different from the Spruence in terms of technology, material, armament and the hull itself.

The Arleigh Burke family is divided into 3 models ("I", "II" and "IIA"). Each model is an indicator modern technologies and weapons, as a result of which the destroyer was modernized, changed internally or externally. Therefore, to describe the design to you, we will analyze each of the models separately. We will discuss topics related to general data and differences in the hull here, and we will analyze the topic of weapons separately.

Model "I"

The construction of the hull takes place according to a modular system, i.e. First, separate blocks are prepared, then they are assembled into one whole. This was facilitated by the very design of the ship, which was designed using the Stealth technology. The Arleigh Burke are the first destroyers built on the Stealth principle. In this regard, the very concept of the ship consists of sharp corners and a minimum of unnecessary on the open deck, which increases the scattering of radio waves. Moreover, ships of this type are equipped with a radio wave absorption system. A ship's chimneys have a similar system for reducing heat waves. Hot air mixes with cold air before it exits the chimney, reducing their visibility on enemy thermal radars. In connection with the innovations listed above, "Arleigh Burke" has 2 times less visibility on radar and thermal radars from its predecessors, "Spruance". And the modular system made the construction of the hull only 10-15 months.

By general characteristics The Arleigh Burke is a classic single-hull ship with an extended waterline and a low-draft hull. After the lessons learned by the allies (Great Britain) in the Falklands War, as well as incidents (fires on ships) that occurred in the US Navy, the ship's hull became steel again for the first time in a long time (before that it was aluminum). The bow of the new hull has full contours, and the branches of the bow frame have a small camber. Despite the fact that because of this, the destroyer may have lost a little in speed and range, for that it received better stability (the pitching range decreased) and seaworthiness.

Due to the danger of weapons of mass destruction, the design of the destroyer URO "Arly Burke" allows personnel to reach any part of the ship without leaving the open deck. The destroyer consists of 13 compartments, 3 decks (2 internal and 1 open) and has a double bottom (increases the quality of survivability).

A total of 21 Model I destroyers were built.

Model II

In general, this model does not have any special changes from the first. Here is a list of all the innovations of the new model:

• Improved living conditions for the crew;
• Reduced fuel consumption due to minor changes to the bow;
• Reduced cavitation noise thanks to a new screw system;
• Increased metacentric height;
• Increased armor thickness.

In total, 7 destroyers of the II model were built.

Model IIA

The third model has significant changes both in the hull and in the construction technology. First, the technology of connecting already saturated modules began to be used, which clearly simplified its construction. The length of the hull was increased by 1.37 m, the width remained the same. Due to this small change in length, they were able to put a full-fledged hangar for servicing the helicopter. Experts consider this one of the main changes in the new model. the lack of a hangar compromised air mobility, submarine protection, reconnaissance and support capabilities should the helicopter fail. Accordingly, the crew of the ship increased (the group serving the helicopter). Moreover, satellite communications and the Internet appeared on the ship.

A total of 34 IIA destroyers were built.

The armament of the destroyer "Arleigh Burke"

There are many different weapons systems and installations on board the main destroyer of the US Navy, but of all I want to single out the Aegis control system, with the advent of which the role of destroyers in the armed forces system has radically changed. Therefore, from all the weapons, we will first analyze it.

Aegis Control System

With the advent of Aegis control system technologies, destroyers got the opportunity to independently destroy any targets in the air, on land or water. Aegis is a multidisciplinary combat information and control system that is responsible for integrating shipborne awareness, control and destruction systems. In other words, the Aegis system is central bank all the data that comes from many ship subsystems, so that a clear picture of the actions appears. Of course, the bank is important for almost all systems / subsystems, but especially for the ship's weapons system.

However, according to some experts, this multifunctional "miracle" has its drawbacks. They are mainly associated with the AN / SPY-1 blind-sighted radar, which does not respond well to low-flying targets.

Artillery

The main artillery weapon of the Arleigh Burke family is the 127-mm Mark 45 class artillery mount. In different periods of time, these installations had different characteristics. Today, the 127mm Mark45 Mod 4 class mount is used, which allows firing 20 rounds per minute at a maximum distance of 37 km. (high-explosive fragmentation) up to 115 km. ("ERGM" and "BTERM") depending on the projectile class.

Flak

Anti-aircraft artillery has undergone modernization the most. While in "I" and "II" models had 6-barrel complexes "Vulcan-Phalanx", now the destroyers are equipped with RIM-7 Sea Sparrow in the amount of 24 pieces. The main weapons are Standard-3 cruise missiles with a range of up to 500 km. and "Tactical Tamahawk" with a maximum range of destruction up to 2500 km. Each destroyer has up to 56 Tamahawk cruise missiles.

Mine and torpedo weapons

The main anti-submarine security system is LAMPS-III class helicopters. From the onboard weapons - RUM-39 VL-Asroc class PLUR and the Mk32 torpedo system. On the latest model of the destroyer, due to financial aspects, the Harpoon-class anti-ship missiles were decommissioned.

Aviation armament

After the modernization of the hull and the appearance of a helicopter hangar on the deck, it became possible to maintain 2 helicopters of the SH-60 Sea Hawk class. These helicopters can use Hellfire and Penguin air-to-ground missiles, Mark-46/51 torpedo submarines, and provide air support to groups of allied forces.

Interesting cases that happened with "Arleigh Burke"

Arleigh Burke-class destroyers have been in operation for over 25 years and have completed many missions. These were mainly tactical exercises, but sometimes military service, held in hot spots of the last 3 decades. Therefore, we will consider only some cases.

The destroyer "Cole" and the terrorist attack in Aden

The destroyer "Cole", belonging to the first model "Arleigh Burke", has an incident in 2000, which showed the world that the armor of the destroyers is not so strong. When the Cole docked in Aden (Yemen) to replenish food supplies, it was later subjected to a terrorist attack. From the explosion of 200-250 kg of explosives by suicide bombers from the left side, a hole 6 * 12m was formed, as a result of which 17 people died and 39 were injured. The engine compartment, cabins, dining room, propeller shaft fell into disrepair.

"Donald Cook" and the Russian Air Force

While the Donald Cook was in the Baltic Sea in 2014, the Russian SU-24 fighter flew over the destroyer more than 10 times and used an electronic attack, after which the Aegis control system failed.

Destroyer "Porter"

After using Tamahawk cruise missiles, the Porter successfully neutralized a Syrian military base in April 2017.

Project evaluation

Of course, Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are considered high-class representatives of their kind. However, we all know that nothing is perfect. Therefore, despite the shortcomings of this type of destroyer, we can say that the Arleigh Burke are worthy warships of our time.

... By his twenty-five years, Vasya had completely sank and lost the meaning of life. Bad heredity and the reduction of financial assistance from wealthy parents played a cruel joke on him: in general, a good guy, according to neighbors and acquaintances, he finally “got out of the loop” and got hooked on the needle. An emaciated skeleton with a swollen face is all that remains of the former athlete, a candidate for master of sports in freestyle wrestling.

The former contender for the title of the winner of regional martial arts competitions has completely lost touch with reality and now attaches importance to things, to put it mildly, strange - he occasionally stretches his flabby muscles, offending kids in the yard, and spends most of his time in coma, shaking in convulsions of another overdose ...

As the reader has already guessed, this is not about a living person, but about a ship - a destroyer with guided missile weapons (em URO) of the type. The destroyer is unusual in many respects, a recognized record holder in terms of a number of combat characteristics and in terms of construction volumes.

62 built ships in 2013 - the number of American "Burks" exceeds the number of destroyers under the flags of all other countries of the world combined! At the same time, the construction of the Berks continues: two more ships of the new IIA + series were laid down in 2011. In total, according to the plans, the IIA + series will include 9 units. And then even more advanced Berks will pour in a steel avalanche Series III(Flight III) - twenty units after 2020.

Launching USS John McCain (DDG-56), 1992

This is without taking into account the foreign "replicas" of the American destroyer - the Japanese "Atago" and "Congo", the Spanish "Alvaro de Basan", the South Korean "King Sejong" ... The situation is simply taking a frightening turn. The Aegis are spreading across the world like poisonous insects.

The mass appearance of Berks is the result of maximum standardization and unification of the US Navy: in the short term, only one type of universal destroyer should remain in the fleet, which will replace all existing (or existing) types of missile cruisers, destroyers and frigates.

How fair is such a decision? Will the Aegis destroyer be able to effectively solve the tasks of ships of other classes?

The answer is obvious - the destroyer "Berk" will brilliantly cope with the tasks of any frigate, but the economy of any country will "bend" from such "standardization" - a destroyer with a displacement of 10 thousand tons instead of a 4-5 thousand-ton frigate! The Yankees build their boats on unpaid credit, so they don't think too much about the exorbitant costs of the fleet. Despite the fact that the cost of the latest "Berkov" is estimated in the range of 1.8 ... 2 billion dollars.

Will the admirals ask for 20 more destroyers? Sure, not a problem…

Scenarios for the development of the US Navy until 2042. The first, optimistic, assumes a 40-year life cycle for destroyers. The second, pessimistic, with limited funding, assumes a 35-year cycle. The plans are to keep the number of destroyers at around 90 units.
The Ticonderoga-class cruisers (CG-47) will be unequivocally decommissioned by 2028. The Berks I and II series (DDG-51) are gradually being replaced by DDG-51 series III Zamvolts (DDG-1000) - a narrow band, a series of three experimental destroyers DDG(X) - a new generation destroyer. So far, no one even knows what it will look like.

Why the domestic BOD is not inferior to Berk

90 missile launchers. The Aegis combat information and control system, which combines all means of detection and communication, an armament complex and ship damage control systems. Reliable and efficient power plant. A hull built with stealth technology in mind. A multifunctional robot ship capable of destroying targets on land, under water and in the air.

However, the first impression is deceptive. Admiration when meeting with "Arleigh Burke" is quickly replaced by suspicion about the discrepancy between its declared combat capabilities and the real state of affairs.

After all, created as a “castrated” version of the Ticonderoga missile cruiser, the Burke destroyer did not initially shine with high performance and was a “step back” in terms of creating surface warships. The only thing that attracted the admirals in this project was the declared cheapness and efficiency: according to the initial calculations, the destroyer was supposed to retain 2/3 of the cruiser's capabilities at 1/2 of its cost. But even these figures were overly optimistic.

Launched to the sound of fanfare, the lead USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) turned out to be far from the idea of ​​\u200b\u200ba "ideal" destroyer.

Truth is known in comparison. To understand the main problems faced by American sailors, I propose to take for comparison its Soviet / Russian peers - large anti-submarine ships of projects 1155 and 1155.1.

Even for its intended purpose - as an air defense ship - the design of the Burke raised a lot of questions. First and most important, why does a super destroyer have only three target illumination radars? Of these, only one falls on the front hemisphere. Clear evidence that the destroyer, contrary to the declared qualities, is not capable of repelling massive attacks from the air.

For comparison, the Soviet BOD, which was never positioned as an air defense ship, was equipped with two antenna posts for guidance of ZR95 missiles. Each radar with HEADLIGHTS provided SIMULTANEOUS guidance of up to 8 missiles at 4 air targets in a 60 x 60 degree sector.

A small number of illumination radars and a limited number of targets being fired are far from all the problems of the American destroyer. The leadership of the US Navy ignored the claims of sailors to the multifunctional radar AN / SPY-1 (of course! After billions were invested in the program to create a super-radar, there is no turning back).

The main component of the Aegis system is a powerful three-coordinate radar with four fixed phased antenna arrays, capable of detecting and automatically tracking hundreds of air targets, programming autopilots of fired anti-aircraft missiles and tracking targets in low earth orbit.

In practice, she showed the opposite. Despite its ultra-modern appearance and wide possibilities for airspace control over long distances, AN / SPY-1 radar turned out to be “blind-sighted” when detecting low-flying targets (NLTs)- and rightly so!

Usually, specialized radars are used on warships to detect high-speed NLCs - for example, the domestic Podkat radar with a narrow search beam and a high data update rate or a Japanese dual-band radar with active phased array FCS-3A operating in the C frequency bands (wavelength 7.5 up to 3.75 cm) and X (wavelength from 3.75 to 2.5 cm).

The Americans probably thought they were the smartest, so they tried to solve the NLC detection problem with the multifunctional AN / SPY-1 - one radar for all occasions! At the cost of great effort, the programming team managed to “mute” the interference and teach the AN / SPY-1 to scan with a narrow beam in a small elevation angle. But how effective was the work of AN / SPY-1 in this mode?

There is still no information in the open press about the defeat of supersonic air targets by Aegis at extremely low altitude - probably the American Burks have not learned how to deal with such threats. The released "Moskit" or the Russian-Indian "Brahmos" with a high probability will break through the destroyer's air defense / missile defense system and hit the target.

In addition, the AN / SPY-1's ability to detect NLCs is limited due to the unsuccessful location of the antenna devices: unlike other ships, where they try to place antenna posts on the tops of the masts, the AN / SPY-1 phased antenna arrays hang on the walls of the superstructure, like paintings in the Tretyakov Gallery.

This gives the ship a stylish, modern look, but reduces the detection range of the NLC (radio horizon problem). Finally, as follows from the specifics of the operation of the radar itself, four fixed headlamps are not the best solution when repelling massive attacks from one direction. One of the grids becomes overloaded with information, while the other three are inactive.

By now, Arleigh Burke with its AN / SPY-1 is completely outdated - modern British Darings, Franco-Italian Horizons or Japanese Akizuki are head and shoulders above the American destroyer in terms of air defense capabilities, especially in matters of intercepting high-speed NLCs.

On the destroyers of other fleets, radars with active phased arrays (SAMPSON, S1850, FCS-3A) have long been used. Anti-aircraft missiles with active homing heads (European PAAMS air defense systems with Aster family missiles) are flying with might and main. But Americans don't have anything like that! Burke still uses outdated technology with the AN / SPY-1 blind radar and the Standerd-2 family of SAMs and semi-actively guided RIM-162 ESSM. Moreover, as mentioned above, the destroyer has only three AN / SPG-62 illumination radars, capable of simultaneously directing only one missile at a time.

The presence of super-munitions SM-3, capable of hitting targets at atmospheric altitudes, does nothing for the destroyer in a real battle - the three-stage interceptor SM-3 is useless against aircraft and low-flying anti-ship missiles.

That's it. The superhero turned out to be in fact a "fraer" with very mediocre characteristics.

If the capabilities of the destroyer "Burke" in repelling air attacks can be defined as "average", then its anti-submarine and anti-ship capabilities are rated as "below average", or even "none" at all.

For example, the first 28 destroyers (Flight I and II) did not have a helicopter hangar at all - only a landing pad at the stern. At a time when domestic BODs carried two anti-submarine helicopters on board!
A further comparison of the anti-submarine (PLO) capabilities of the first Berks with the BOD pr. 1155 (code "Udaloy") is like a "one-sided game".

Our BODs were equipped with the grandiose Polynom hydroacoustic station weighing 800 tons. The detection range of submarines, torpedoes and sea mines under favorable hydrological conditions could reach 40-50 km. Even the most modern modifications of the American AN / SQS-53 sonar can hardly boast of such characteristics.

On board the BOD there were eight anti-submarine missile torpedoes with a launch range of up to 50 km ("Rastrub-B" / "Vodopad-NK"), not counting auxiliary equipment in the form of RBU. For comparison: the modernized American RUM-139 Vertical Launch ASROC missile-torpedoes are capable of hitting targets at a distance of no more than 22 km. From the point of view of real conditions, 22 and 50 km no longer matter much, due to the difficulty of detecting submarines at such distances. However, the numbers speak against Burke...

The anti-submarine capabilities of the Aegis destroyers have increased markedly, only starting from the IIA series (the lead destroyer, the Oscar Austin, was commissioned into the Navy in 2000). The ships of this series had the entire aft part completely reconfigured, where two hangars appeared to accommodate Sea Hawk helicopters of the LAMPS III PLO system.

As one of the readers of the Military Review cleverly put it, modern ships are not designed for naval combat. They are designed for comfortable service of contract soldiers in peacetime.

This statement fully applies to Arleigh Burke-class destroyers - Wi-Fi, pools and restaurant meals, 4.4 sq. meters of living space for each sailor ... The only thing that the ship's designers forgot about is that the destroyer must be able to conduct a sea battle. And the modern "Burke" is categorically not capable of this.

BOD "Admiral Chabanenko" (pr. 1155.1), adopted by the Navy in 1999.
The new Vodopad-NK PLUR complex, launched through conventional TA, made it possible to place eight Moskit supersonic anti-ship missiles on board. The bow battery of 100 mm guns was replaced by a twin automatic 130 mm AK-130 mount. Rapid-fire AK-630s have been replaced by 2 ZRAK "Kortik"

In addition to the general "fragility" of the design, characteristic of all modern ships (the destroyer "Cole" went out of order after blowing up a boat with 200-300 kg of explosives next to its side, 17 dead sailors, 34 wounded. A complete loss of progress and combat capability - it is easy to imagine that will happen in the event of a direct hit on the US Navy destroyer by the most modest anti-ship missiles) - in addition to low survivability and resistance to combat damage, the modern Burke is completely devoid of anti-ship weapons!

The presence of a universal "five-inch" and the theoretical possibility of firing missiles at surface ships can be neglected.

How so?

Very simple. The destroyers of the first series were equipped with two formidable naval combat systems:
- specialized subsonic anti-ship missiles "Harpoon" (firing range 130 km, speed 0.85 M, warhead weight 225 kg) in two Mk141 quad launchers at the stern of the destroyer;
- BGM-109B TASM anti-ship missiles, which are a modification of the well-known Tomahawk SLCM. The TERCOM reliefometric guidance system has been replaced with an active radar seeker, similar to the Harpoon missiles.

Despite ridicule about subsonic speed (Mach 0.75), the anti-ship "Tomahawk" was a deadly munition that was hard to detect, flying on the marching site at an altitude of only a few meters above the crests of the waves (unlike the Soviet monsters P-500/700/1000, which soared up a couple of tens of kilometers). The low speed and obsolescence of the CC data was compensated by special flight modes in the final section of the trajectory (snake search). Finally, a flight range of five hundred kilometers and a warhead weighing 450 kg are 2-3 times greater than those of conventional small-sized anti-ship missiles (exotic bulky "Granites" and "Volcanoes" do not count).

In the 1990s, a number of BGM-109B Tomahawk Anti-Ship Missles were commonly found in vertical launch bays aboard US Navy destroyers and cruisers.

The standard layout of the stern of the "Arleigh Burke" series I.Two AN / SPG-62 illumination radars to cover the aft corners (behind the chimneys), the Phalanx carriage (the complex itself was dismantled for technical reasons), Mk.141 inclined launchers for the Harpoon anti-ship missiles and, finally, UVP cells with "Tomahawks"

Alas, by now, Burke has completely degraded. Due to the disappearance of the only worthy enemy - the Soviet Navy, the anti-ship "Tomahawk" has become an unnecessary ballast. The BGM-109B was completely withdrawn from service in the early 2000s.

On destroyers of the IIA series, the installation of anti-ship missiles was generally considered an unnecessary and useless undertaking. As a result, Burke lost its last weapon - the Harpoon anti-ship missile. Of course, the sailors did not think of abandoning the missiles - everything was decided for them by the command of the fleet, which sought to reduce the already exorbitant costs.

As a result, a shameful situation has arisen: any Iranian corvette or RTOs can “heat up” the defenseless Burke with a pair of anti-ship missiles, and the American destroyer will even have nothing to snap at.

Realizing their helplessness, the sailors made a fuss. The result of the debate was the LRASM (Long Range Anti Ship Missle) project - the development of a long-range subsonic stealth anti-ship missile based on the AGM-158 JASSM aviation cruise missile launched from Mk41 UVP cells.

Instead of a high-speed "race to the bottom", LRASM relies on an "intelligent" breakthrough of the enemy's air defense / missile defense system - high autonomy, low visibility, complex evasive maneuvers, and jamming. Expected that new rocket will enter service with the US Navy in the second half of this decade.

In the meantime, Americans helplessly clench their fists at the sight of Iranian missile corvettes.

Another moment of Arleigh Burke's degradation - the last destroyers enter service without short-range self-defense systems. The usual one was recognized as an obsolete weapon, in return the destroyer received ... an empty seat. Initially, it was assumed that radar-guided anti-aircraft guns would be replaced by RIM-116 Rolling Airfame Missle (RAM) missile systems - a 21-round launcher on a Phalanx carriage; rocket design - fuselage from the aviation "Sidewinder" + infrared seeker from the "Stinger" MANPADS. The complex is suitable for hitting air targets at a distance of up to 9 km.

However, it was decided to save on self-defense air defense systems. "Burke" lost the last line of defense.

USS Spruance (DDG-111) a series IIA destroyer. At the stern is the outdated Phalanx. Front is empty

At the moment, the strike armament of Arleigh Burke-class destroyers is limited to cruise missiles"Tomahawk" - many modifications with different guidance algorithms and types of warheads. In this standings, the American destroyers have no equal - "Burke" in the "shock" version is able to take on board 56 "Axes". A powerful missile launcher for conducting local warfare, capable of finishing off the air defense of any "banana republic" with one salvo. The main thing is not to get close to the shore, otherwise you can get a great "rake" from counterfeit Chinese C-802 anti-ship missiles and other "wunderwaffes" that have bred around the world in extraordinary quantities. There is no hope for AN / SPY-1, and instead of the good old Phalanx, the Americans now, sorry, have a bare ass.

Huge plans

I wonder how the Yankees are going to fight on these, even now obsolete "pelvis", for the next 50 years? After all, no matter how puffed up the Pentagon is, the US Navy will not have other destroyers in the near future (three experimental Zamvolts do not make a difference).

Even if we allow the appearance of promising destroyers DD (X) in the 2030s, the Berks will remain the basis of the surface component of the US Navy at least until the middle of the century. And according to a number of forecasts, the last of the Burke destroyers will leave the current composition in the 2070s! No other type of ship in history has remained in service in the "first line" for such a long time.

Changing the length of the gun barrel from 54 to 62 calibers will not get off here. As well as the addition of various high-tech systems (for example, MASKER, which supplies air bubbles to the bottom of the ship to reduce hydroacoustic visibility). Autonomous RMS mine-detecting robots, active rockets, five armored bulkheads in the superstructure ... no! Something fundamentally different is needed!

The Yankees are very hopeful for the Third Series (Flight III). Accurate information on these ships is not available. Surely even the developers themselves have not yet decided on the appearance of the modernized "Berk".

But one thing is already clear - the AN / SPY-1 radar will retire. Instead, there will be a radar with an active headlamp AMDR or something similar - extremely energy-intensive, to control the upper atmosphere and LEO. Having suffered a fiasco with the “universal” destroyer, the Yankees are increasingly inclined towards the idea of ​​​​turning the Berks into floating rocket launchers of the national missile defense system.

There are plans to reconfigure the engine rooms - instead of gas turbines, destroyers will be equipped with full electric propulsion. If necessary, one of the helicopter hangars will be donated to install an additional generator.

A 155-mm long-range AGS gun instead of a nose gun, active defense systems based on laser weapons, new types of rocket ammunition, target designation from F-35 fighter radars ...

Testing and small-scale assembly of SM-6 anti-aircraft missiles are in full swing. Raytheon promises to deliver the first large batch to the Navy in 2015. The Yankees, 10 years late, still hope to adopt active-guided missiles.

The "degradation" of the destroyer "Burke" is nothing more than a vicious joke. The modern American destroyer really does not shine with its performance characteristics, but sooner or later the quantity turns into quality. The Yankees really have a lot of destroyers, and even more plans to modernize them.