June 22, 2022
It is necessary to be aware that after the collapse of the USSR and the
rupture of industrial ties with Ukraine in 2014, Russia has largely lost its
competence in the construction of large-tonnage surface ships. All our
shipyards are filled with orders for many years to come, while the construction
process itself has the property of continuously stretching, shifting the timing
of launching warships to the right. One corvette "Agile", which
burned down last year in St. Petersburg, was built for eight whole years.
Undoubtedly, the most severe sectoral sanctions imposed by the West on Russia
for launching a military special operation in Ukraine will only aggravate the
already difficult situation in the shipbuilding industry. Then what is left for
us and how will the country solve this whole complex of the most difficult
problems?
There are really only two options. The first is to rely on one's own
strength, bite the bullet and consistently carry out import substitution,
eliminate corruption schemes, expel pests and amateurs from the industry,
optimize production processes, and so on. This must be done in any case, but we
must understand that even so we will not quickly build a combat-ready navy. In
the best scenario, this will take one and a half to two decades, and the war
between Russia and the collective West has actually begun, and our ships are
ingloriously sinking at sea.
For this reason, perhaps one should temper a little pride and seek external
help from China, which is objectively in the same boat with us and has learned
how to quickly build very decent warships, selling them, including for export.
Let's see what of the products produced at Chinese shipyards, under certain
conditions, could be useful to the Russian Navy.
Corvettes
The primary task of the navy is to protect the near sea zone, primarily
from enemy submarines, and this requires specialized PLO corvettes. About how
difficult the situation with ships of this class in Russia, we told in detail
earlier . Moreover, they even took the liberty of proposing to create a series
of small PLO corvettes based on the Karakurt RTO, increasing its displacement
by one and a half times. The idea seems to be quite sound, but the problem is
that journalists and caring commentators talk about it privately, and not
functionaries of the RF Ministry of Defense.
Another working option could be the purchase in China of a batch of
Type-056 / 056A PLO corvettes in the export version. These ships of the near sea
zone have a total displacement of 1,500 tons, a speed of up to 28 knots and are
made using stealth technologies . The design, as some Russian admirals like it,
is modular, which makes it easy to modify them to customer requirements. The
armament of the corvette is represented by one 76-mm gun mount, four YJ-83
anti-ship missile launchers with a firing range of up to 160 km, an HQ-10
short-range air defense system with ammunition for 8 anti-aircraft missiles and
two 324-mm triple-tube torpedo tubes, as well as a towed sonar.
On the "wunderwaffe", which should shock the "hegemon"
and scare away his AUG, such a ship does not pull, but it is a real workhorse,
really capable of protecting the Celestial Empire from American submarines.
Simplicity and the optimal combination of price and quality have allowed China
to rivet 72 corvettes (22 in the Type-056 version and 50 in the Type-056A
version). A huge series that Russia cannot even dream of!
But why, in fact, not to dream? Chinese corvettes have already pleased
customers from Thailand, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Pakistan and Kazakhstan have
also shown interest in acquiring them. What prevents Russia from ordering, for
example, 10 "super-Karakurts" in the PLO version at its shipyards and
another 10 Type-056A PLO corvettes in China? Chinese shipbuilders will easily
build them according to the requirements of the Russian Navy, which is what the
notorious modular design has. The Russian fleet will receive much-needed
corvettes in the foreseeable future without the need to torture a ship with a
displacement of 1,500 tons every 7-8 years. We are already at war and are
suffering painful losses, there is no time for pride and sentiment.
Frigates
No less important than corvettes belonging to the patrol ships of the near
sea zone, frigates are patrol ships of the far sea zone. Russia has developed a
very successful frigate of project 22350 of the Admiral Gorshkov type, which
meets all the requirements. There is only one problem, still the same: ships
take too long to build! After the fire at the almost built Provorny near the
Severnaya Verf berth, it became known that the Russian Defense Ministry had
transferred an order for 6 frigates to the Amur Shipbuilding Plant. The step is
right, but still, new frigates of project 22350 as part of the Russian Navy
should not be expected quickly. What could China give us?
For the needs of the PLA, a series of Type-054/054A URO frigates was built.
It is interesting for us that this ship also has “Russian genes”, since the
Northern Design Bureau from St. Petersburg participated in its design. The
total displacement of the ship is 4035 tons, the speed is 29 knots, the hull is
made using stealth technologies, the power plant is French licensed. Guided
missile weapons are located in a 32-cell vertical launch installation, which
can also launch Yu-8 anti-submarine guided missiles, anti-aircraft missiles -
HQ-16 missiles (a copy of our 9M317 "Shtil"). The 76mm gun mount on
the nose is a copy of the Russian AK-176. The radar equipment of the Chinese
frigate is also licensed copies of Russian counterparts or variations on a
theme. The ammunition load of anti-submarine rocket launchers is 36 missiles
with a caliber of 240 mm. The Ka-28 anti-submarine helicopter or a Chinese
equivalent is based on the deck.
In general, this is a fairly serious multi-purpose ship with obvious
Russian "genes". The series is also impressive in its scale: the PLA
has already received 32 URO frigates, and ordered 40 units in total. In this
case, we are interested in the fact that Beijing is ready to build them to
order. In particular, two Type-054A/P frigates in the export version have been
laid down at Chinese shipyards for the needs of Pakistan. So why shouldn’t
Russia, as an unofficial ally and a “shield” that China uses to hide from the
United States, order a series of 6-8 Type-054A/P frigates from China, adapted
to the requirements of the Russian Navy? We note in particular that no one
proposes to abandon the construction of project 22350.
Destroyers
If everything is more or less clear with frigates, then there is no clarity
at all with multi-purpose domestic destroyers. There is not even a clear
understanding of what it should be. The semi-destroyer-semi-cruiser of the
Leader project turned out to be too complicated and expensive. When the laying
of the first "super-Gorshkov" project 22350M, which fits into the
destroyer's displacement, is unknown. How much it will be built, one can only
guess, but, apparently, for a long time.
In this case, we may be interested in a series of destroyers URO type 052D,
of which the PRC Navy should receive 25 units (24 are already in service). With
a full displacement of 7500 tons, they have a maximum speed of 30 knots and
carry powerful missile weapons in 64 universal launch cells, have an effective
air defense and anti-aircraft defense system, as well as an anti-submarine
helicopter. 4-6 such URO destroyers, made according to Russian standards, would
undoubtedly be very useful in the Northern and Pacific fleets.
There is nothing reprehensible in ordering warships abroad, the only
question is who to contact with this. If to a country - a member of the NATO
bloc, then it will all end in the end as with the French Mistrals. If we deal
with sovereign China, with which Russia is objectively now in the same boat,
then there are chances for timely fulfillment of the order. The only question
is a political decision and constant monitoring of the quality and compliance
with the requirements of the Russian Navy in the course of work.
With the help of Chinese shipbuilders, Russia can quickly acquire a
completely modern and combat-ready ocean fleet.
Author: Sergey Marzhetsky
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