Oleg Kuleshov
Construction of onshore infrastructure will extend the life of new underwater equipment
January 14, 2021 00:01 am
Anton Lavrov, Roman Krezul
Photo: TASS / Press Service of the RF Ministry of Defense
The coastal base for Poseidon nuclear submarine robots will be ready in the summer of 2022. By this time, the construction of the infrastructure for the maintenance and storage of this new strategic deterrent will be completed. Tests of its first carrier are already nearing completion. The creation of the base in advance will extend the service life of this equipment, experts say.
Home stretch
A storage and maintenance base, warehouses and workshops are being built for the Poseidons, where they will be trained for combat duty and launches. According to the terms of reference for the work (available at Izvestia's disposal), they should be completed and handed over to the Ministry of Defense in June 2022. By this time, it is planned to complete the improvement of the territory.
The defense department has not yet announced where the submarines, armed with the Poseidon nuclear powered marine robotic complex, will be based. At the end of last year, the Ministry of Defense announced the successful progress of work on the complex. The crew of the first carrier submarine has already begun the practical development of the new weapon.
On Tuesday, January 12, the general director of "Sevmash" Mikhail Budnichenko said that the enterprise was testing the nuclear submarine cruiser K-329 "Belgorod". It is he who will become the lead warship equipped with these devices.
“In Soviet times, it was a common occurrence when a new ship came to the place of registration, and there was nothing there except a hastily erected floating pier,” Rear Admiral Vsevolod Khmyrov, Hero of Russia, told Izvestia. - Then the following technique was practiced: first create a system, and then think about how to provide it. But at the current stage of development of science and technology, it is no longer possible to do this.
The products for which the infrastructure is now being built are high-tech robots, which are difficult to maintain in working order, the expert added.
“Throwing such a technique straight into the water is like throwing it out, making a piece of iron out of it,” the Rear Admiral explained. “Such equipment cannot exist on its own; it must enter the appropriate atmosphere.
According to the former commander of the submarine, Captain 1st Rank Igor Kurdin, mistakes of the Soviet period led to the fact that aircraft carriers and other large ships could not land at the berth at unprepared bases.
- They were forced to stay on the roads and independently provide themselves with electricity, - the expert noted. - As a result, it turned out that the ships did not even go out to sea, but already spent their motor resources. Submarines were deployed in bases built in the 1950s. This caused, to put it mildly, inconvenience. Establishing the infrastructure in advance will significantly extend the life of the new technology.
Lords of the oceans
The underwater drone received the modern name "Poseidon" following a public vote held in March 2018. During development, the complex had the code name "Skif".
For the first time information about him appeared at the end of 2015, when the media got information about the development of a super-powerful nuclear torpedo in Russia. Then it was reported that it was designed to destroy the enemy's most important coastal infrastructure and inflict guaranteed unacceptable damage to him.
According to the characteristics published now, thanks to the nuclear power plant, the underwater vehicle will have an unlimited cruising range. A sophisticated autopilot will allow him to hit a coastal target in any ocean. According to analysts' assumptions, the dimensions of the device make it possible to place a warhead in it, significantly superior in power to conventional intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Prior to the commissioning of submarines - carriers of new weapons, tests were carried out on the experimental submarine B-90 "Sarov". Since 2008, launches of models have been tested on it, and then prototypes of the complex.
The first full-time carrier of the Poseidons will be the special-purpose submarine K-329 Belgorod. It was built according to a modified design of the Soviet nuclear submarine cruisers 949A Antey. Nuclear drones will be located in six silo launchers.
Construction is underway for one more submarine, armed with strategic nuclear drones. According to media reports, the launch of the Khabarovsk nuclear submarine is scheduled for this fall.
Containment tools
Simultaneously with Poseidon in March 2018, Vladimir Putin announced the development in Russia of five more weapons designed for strategic deterrence. It was stated that they must guarantee our country the ability to deliver a powerful retaliatory strike against a surprise nuclear attack and make senseless the global missile defense system being created in the United States.
Some of them have already entered the Armed Forces. Thus, the Kinzhal hypersonic aircraft missile systems were put on experimental combat duty. A squadron of MiG-31K fighters, formed in the Southern Military District, flew hundreds of sorties with them on patrols and exercises.
In December 2019, the first regiment of intercontinental ballistic missiles with hypersonic gliding units "Avangard" was put on alert. This allowed it to be called the world's first strategic hypersonic nuclear weapon. The 13th missile division of the Strategic Missile Forces near Orenburg was equipped with a novelty. Two more silo launchers are expected to be announced soon.
The first batch of Peresvet laser systems, capable of dazzling reconnaissance space satellites, is already on alert. Now work is underway to improve the system, reduce the size and composition of the machines in order to increase its mobility.
The heavy liquid-propellant intercontinental missile "Sarmat" is being prepared for flight tests. Its characteristics will allow it to overcome any missile defense systems, both modern and promising. The infrastructure for them is being created in the Orenburg Region and Krasnoyarsk Territory.
Tests of the Burevestnik nuclear cruise missile with unlimited flight range are underway. Its unique power plant will allow the ammunition to be in the air for many days in constant readiness to attack the enemy from the most unexpected directions.
#####
H I Sutton
Nuclear-powered submarine Belgorod to test US defense
The nuclear submarine "Belgorod" was launched - YouTube
Russian special-purpose sub to be first carrier of Poseidon strategic underwater drone
Russian special-purpose sub to be first carrier of Poseidon strategic underwater drone
Russian Mystery Submarine Likely Deployment Vehicle for New Nuclear Torpedo / Status-6 (Статус-6), aka KANYON
No comments:
Post a Comment