MOSCOW, 13 Mar-RIA Novosti, Andrey Kots. Roomy, high-speed, modern-in the shipbuilding industry, some characteristics of the universal landing ships of the project 23900 were revealed. Two pennants have already been laid on the slipways of the Kerch plant "Bay". Previously, ships of this class were not built in Russia. Thanks to them, the fleet will receive unique opportunities for expeditionary operations.
Create from scratch
Only a few fleets of the world have universal landing ships. Not every state can afford them, and not everyone needs it. UDC combines most of the functions inherent in other landing ships. In fact, these are floating bases of the Marine Corps. The main tasks are the landing of the expeditionary forces on the equipped and unequipped coast, the support of their actions by aviation, and the delivery of heavy armored vehicles to the combat zone. In addition, the UDC often serves as a headquarters-they manage the marine landing force.
In Russia, the need for such ships was realized at the end of the noughties. We couldn't create our own ones from scratch, so we decided to study Western proposals. In December 2010, we signed a contract with France for two universal landing ships-helicopter carriers of the first rank of the Mistral class.
Mistral-class ship Vladivostok at SNX France docks
Image source: © RIA Novosti / Alexey Filippov
These UDC units would provide the Marine Corps with its own transport, capable of providing a long-term presence of military contingents in remote areas of the world, giving them air support and full control. UDC, named "Vladivostok" and "Sevastopol", Russia was supposed to receive in the fall of 2014, but due to the situation around the Crimea, Paris, under pressure from the allies, suspended the contract. As a result, Moscow was compensated, and the Mistral was bought by Egypt.
Since the conclusion of this transaction, the Russian expert community has not subsided disputes around the UDC. Critics insisted that their tasks are quite capable of performing large landing ships already in service.
In addition, Russia at that time did not conduct and did not intend to conduct expeditionary operations abroad. However, the military operation in Syria has put everything in its place. UDC would be very useful in the Middle East for the transfer of military equipment and military personnel to Tartus. And air groups of ships would help in the fight against terrorists.
Forty thousand tons
The universal landing ships of the project 23900 were developed in the Zelenodolsk design Bureau. The first two UDC - "Ivan Rogov" and "Mitrofan Moskalenko" -were laid in Kerch in July 2020. According to the plans, they should be built, tested and handed over to the fleet by 2027-2028. The Kerch specialists face an extremely non-trivial task: according to the project, the displacement of each UDC is about 40 thousand tons. Such large ships in post-Soviet Russia have not yet been laid.
The length of the promising UDC is 220 meters, the width is 38 meters. A powerful diesel-gas turbine unit will provide a speed of 22 knots. Range-six thousand nautical miles, autonomy-60 days, crew-320 people. The housing will be made according to the block-modular principle with the simultaneous production of large elements and their subsequent connection.
View of the shipyard " Bay " in Kerch
Image source: © RIA Novosti / Sergey Mamontov
The design includes a running bridge, command and staff rooms, compartments for the crew and landing troops, helicopter and cargo hangars, and technical areas. UDC project 23900 will be able to take on board up to a marine regiment (one thousand soldiers) and up to 75 units of military equipment. Speedboats will be placed in the dock chambers for the landing of the troops. Strike weapons are not expected, and anti-aircraft missile systems "Pantsir-ME"will protect against the threat from the air. In addition, quite powerful air groups will be based on board.
"We are talking about Kamov helicopters," a source in the shipbuilding industry told RIA Novosti. -Shock Ka-52K and other models, including the Ka-27. Capacity — 15-16 cars. In addition, four drones. The Defense Ministry has long agreed on the requirements for the appearance of the UDC. The final project in terms of functionality is not worse, and maybe even better than the French"Mistral".
Force projection
Universal landing ships are available in the American, French, South Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Australian, Spanish and Turkish navies. The US Navy is considered the trendsetter. During the Vietnam War, the US navy experienced serious difficulties in coordinating the actions of heterogeneous landing pennants.
Universal landing ship of the "Tarawa" type (USS Tarawa LHA 1)
Image Source: © Photo : U.S. Navy/ Jon Husman
The dock ships carried landing gear, the tank landing ships carried military equipment, the Marines were on helicopter carriers, they were airlifted to the shore, the staff ships controlled the landing and actions on the shore. As a result, the US Navy ordered a new type of landing craft that combines all these functions. The Fleet received the Tarawa-class UDC series. Today, the Americans have seven UDC of the more advanced type "Usp" and one UDC of the project "America". These ships participate in all operations with the Marine Corps.
China is also actively developing its amphibious fleet. In terms of the number of UDC, China is second only to the United States, but, according to experts, in the near future it will take the first place in the world. At the disposal of the PLA Navy, six UDC type 071 with a displacement of 19 thousand tons each, two more are under construction.
In addition, two of the three ordered UDC type 075 with a total displacement of 36-40 thousand tons are undergoing sea trials. China is increasingly paying attention to the use of the armed forces for what it calls the "protection of foreign interests" - far from the borders of the PRC. This is mainly Africa and the Middle East. In addition, the UDC may be needed to land in Taiwan if Beijing decides to return the island by force.
