Missile complex club in Crimea. Missile system "Club-K" in a sea container
The so-called throw tests of the Kh-35UE missile, fired from launchers located in a standard cargo container of the Club-K complex, were successfully completed. The launch took place on August 22 at one of the specialized test sites.
The X-35 anti-ship missile is distinguished by its stealth and flight to the target at an altitude of no more than fifteen meters, and at the final part of the trajectory - four meters. The combined homing system and powerful warhead allow one missile to destroy a warship with a displacement of 5,000 tons.
Roll tests are the first stage of testing any missiles. It becomes clear whether the launch preparation algorithms have been developed correctly, how the product itself reacts to given commands, and in general whether the missile is capable of leaving the launcher without any problems.
Unfortunately, we have developed a strange practice. Tanks, missiles, airplanes are still in the drawings, but it is already stated that they will definitely be put into service with a specific date indicated. All dates pass, years fly by, but the promised miracle weapon is still not there. So the belated message about the successful launch of a rocket from the Club-K container gives hope that the work is going on schedule and in the right direction. That is, there was a thorough check of the results obtained, and only after that the success was publicly announced.
| Video: Sergey Ptichkin / RG |
For the first time, a prototype of this missile system was shown at a military-technical salon in Malaysia in 2009. He immediately created a sensation. The fact is that Club-K is a standard 20- and 40-foot cargo containers that are transported on ships, by rail or by trailers. Inside the containers there are command posts and launchers with multi-purpose missiles such as Kh-35UE, 3M-54E and 3M-14E, capable of hitting both surface and ground targets.
Any container ship carrying a Club-K is essentially a missile carrier with a devastating salvo. And any train with such containers or a convoy of heavy-duty container carriers are powerful missile units capable of appearing where the enemy is not waiting.
Nothing like this has been developed either in the USA or in Western Europe. At first, adherents of world order were even indignant, expressing concern that such containers with missile surprises could fall into the hands of terrorists, which is unacceptable. Later, however, they calmed down, which is natural - Russia does not trade weapons with terrorists.
But allegations have emerged that the developers of the original missile system are simply bluffing, trying to push a dummy onto the world market. According to Western engineers, it is physically impossible to place four launchers and a control cabin in the limited space of a cargo container, and the Russians are definitely not able to do this.
Successful tests on August 22 showed that Club-K is not a fiction, but a real one. combat system. As RG learned, similar tests are now being prepared with 3M-54E and 3M-14E missiles. By the way, the 3M-54E missile is capable of destroying even an aircraft carrier. Moreover. It is planned that the Club-K mobile missile systems will take part in the large-scale exercises "Caucasus-2012", that is, their military tests are beginning.
By the way, the English word Club has several Russian synonyms: club, container and club. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the new “Dubina” turned out to be not a primitive weapon at all, but one of the most high-tech missile systems in the modern world.
First missile system "Club-K" was presented by the Russian OKB Novator at the Asian Defense Systems Exhibition, held in April 2009 in Malaysia. In Russia, “Club-K” was shown to the general public in St. Petersburg at the naval show. The system is a launcher with four Kh-35UE anti-ship cruise missiles, as well as missiles of the 3M-54KE, 3M-54KE1 and 3M-14KE types.
The complex looks like a standard sea (20 or 40 foot) cargo container, used for sea transport. Thanks to this camouflage, it is almost impossible to notice the Club-K until it is activated. Functionally, the Club-K complex consists of a universal starting module (USM), a module combat control(MBU) and energy supply and life support module (MES). Russian developers call the missile system “affordable weapons” strategic purpose", each container costs, according to various estimates, about 10...15 million dollars.
The Club-K containerized missile system has caused real panic among Western military experts, as it can completely change the rules of modern warfare. Compact container can be installed on ships, trucks or railway platforms, and due to the excellent camouflage of the missile system, the enemy will have to conduct much more thorough reconnaissance when planning an attack.
In fact, the situation is much worse. It's simply catastrophic. The fact is that in any decent developed country all ports and railway stations just filled with 40-foot containers. These containers, in addition, are widely used as temporary warehouses and for housing workers’ cabins, as well as for equipment - for example, modular oil and gas boilers, diesel power plants, tanks with liquids, and so on are mounted in them.
Thus, the entire territory of the country is filled with tens and even hundreds of thousands of such containers. Which ones contain rockets inside? How to determine this? Civil transport is perfectly suited for transshipment of such cargo. A huge number of railway platforms, river and sea vessels and even cargo trailers can transport such containers.
The Daily Telegraph claims that If Iraq had had Club-K missile systems in 2003, the US invasion of the Persian Gulf would have been impossible: Any civilian cargo ship in the Gulf would pose a potential threat to military ships and cargo.
Pentagon experts are concerned that Russia is openly offering Club-K to anyone who is under threat of attack from the United States. If this missile system enters service with Venezuela or Iran, this, according to American analysts, could destabilize the situation in the world.
« This system enables the proliferation of cruise missiles on a scale we have never seen before., - Pentagon defense consultant Ruben Johnson assesses the potential of Club-K. - Thanks to careful camouflage and high mobility, you will no longer be able to easily determine that an object is being used as a launcher. First, a harmless cargo ship appears off your shores, and the next minute your military installations are already destroyed by explosions».
The main element missile system"Club" is a universal Alpha rocket, which was demonstrated in 1993 at an arms exhibition in Abu Dhabi and at the MAKS-93 international aerospace show in Zhukovsky. In the same year it was put into service.
According to the Western classification, the rocket received the designation SS-N-27 Sizzler (“hissing”, for the characteristic hissing sound at launch). In Russia and abroad it was designated as “Club” (Сlub), “Turquoise” (Biryuza) and “Alpha” (Alpha or Alfa). However, these are all export names - the domestic military knows this system under the code .
The first foreign customer of the Club missile system sea-based became India. Surface- and underwater-based missile systems are installed on Project 11356 frigates (Talwar class) and Project 877EKM diesel submarines of the Indian Navy, built by Russian enterprises. On previously purchased submarines, the Club complex is installed during repair and modernization work.
The Club missile system is also supplied to China, and agreements have been reached on supplies to several other countries. Iran and Venezuela have already expressed their interest in purchasing the new product, reports the Sunday Telegraph.
But so far we have been talking about sea-based Club systems - for surface ships and submarines. Now Russian developers have taken a revolutionary step - they put ship-based missiles in a standard container and achieved their autonomous launch. And this radically changes the tactics and strategy of using missiles.
At the same time formally Club-K missiles are not subject to any restrictions. Their flight range is up to 250-300 km, and they are not even ballistic, but winged. The Americans themselves at one time brought out cruise missiles outside the brackets of treaties limiting the export of missile technology - now they are reaping the benefits.
Why did Club-K scare Pentagon military experts? In principle, in combat and technological terms there is nothing super new there - the complex “shoots” subsonic cruise missiles of various modifications (even the 3M54E missile is subsonic - only the last 20-30 km its strike part travels at supersonic 3M in order to effectively overcome powerful air defense and create a large kinetic impact on a large target). The system allows you to hit sea and ground targets at a distance of 200-300 km from the launch point, including aircraft carriers - but it is not Wunderwaffe in itself.
The main thing here is different - the whole complex is designed in the form of a standard 20 or 40-foot sea container. This means that it becomes virtually invisible to any type of aerial and technical reconnaissance. This is the whole “salt” of the idea. The container may be on board a merchant ship. On the railway platform. It can be loaded onto a semi-trailer and delivered to the application area by a regular truck as normal cargo. Truly, how can one not remember railway launchers? ballistic missiles“Scalpel” from the times of the USSR!
However, if the destruction of “refrigerated trucks” can be explained by the needs of monitoring the launches of ballistic missiles, then here you won’t be able to ride a crooked goat. Cruise missiles are “a means of coastal defense” - and that’s it!
It goes without saying that during an attack, air defense systems are first suppressed, and then the coastal defenses are blown to smithereens. But there is nothing to destroy here - hundreds, or even thousands and even tens of thousands of false targets ( regular containers, which someone aptly called “red blood cells of world trade”) simply will not allow either fluff or dust to be allowed.
This will force aircraft carriers to stay away from the coast, thereby limiting the range of aircraft from them - this time. If it comes to landing, then some of the containers can “open” and send landing ships to the bottom - that’s two. But to hell with them, with the ships - but there is also a landing party, the main striking force and equipment, the losses of which are operationally irreplaceable.
And thirdly, this allows you to keep more serious weapons and reserves closer to the coast. After all, we have driven away the aircraft carriers, and their ability to influence the shore is greatly reduced.
Of course, it would be nice to hide coastal air defense systems in containers like this. Then for sure - the sea borders will be locked. And, of course, trade, trade and trade these systems again. After all, no one is forbidden to defend themselves.
Now let's figure it out - is Club-K really as scary as it is made out to be? I must say that the Club family now includes several cruise missiles for various purposes,range and power.
The most powerful of them is winged anti-ship 3M-54KE, created on the basis of the Granat missile, designed specifically for attacks on aircraft carriers. Its flight takes place at a speed of 0.8 M (0.8 speed of sound). When approaching the target, it is separated from the main engine and accelerates to Mach 3 - over 1 km/s - at a flight altitude of 5-10 m. The high-penetrating warhead contains 200 kg of explosive. The missile's range is 300 km.
Winged anti-ship missiles ZM-54KE and ZM-54KE1 have a similar basic configuration. They are made according to a normal winged aerodynamic design with a drop-down trapezoidal wing. The main difference between these rockets is the number of stages.
The ZM-54KE rocket has three stages: a solid propellant launch stage, a liquid propulsion propulsion stage and a solid propellant third stage. The ZM54KE missile can be launched from the universal vertical or inclined launchers ZS-14NE of a surface ship or a standard 533 mm caliber torpedo tube of a submarine.
The launch is provided by the first solid propellant stage. After gaining altitude and speed, the first stage separates, the ventral air intake extends, the second stage sustainer turbojet engine starts, and the wing opens. The missile's flight altitude is reduced to 20 m above sea level, and the missile flies to the target according to target designation data entered into the memory of its on-board control system before launch.
During the cruising phase, the rocket has a subsonic flight speed of 180-240 m/s and, accordingly, a greater range. Target guidance is provided by an onboard inertial navigation system. At a distance of 30-40 km from the target, the missile makes a “slide” with the activation of the ARGS-54E active radar homing head.
ARGS-54E detects and selects surface targets (selects the most important) at a distance of up to 65 km. The missile is aimed in an azimuth sector of -45°, and in a vertical plane in a sector from -20° to +10°. The weight of the ARGS-54E without body and fairing is no more than 40 kg, and the length is 700 mm.
After the target is detected and captured by the homing head of the ZM54KE missile, the second subsonic stage separates and the third solid-fuel stage begins to operate, developing a supersonic speed of up to 1000 m/s. During the final 20 km flight segment, the rocket descends to a height of up to 10 m above the water.
At supersonic speed of a missile flying over the crests of waves in the final section, the probability of intercepting the missile is low. However, to completely eliminate the possibility of the ZM-54KE missile being intercepted by the target’s air defense systems, the on-board missile control system can select the optimal route to reach the attacked ship. In addition, when attacking large surface targets, several missiles can be launched in salvo, which will approach the target from different directions.
The missile's subsonic cruising speed allows for minimal fuel consumption per kilometer of travel, and supersonic speed should ensure low vulnerability from the enemy ship's short-range anti-aircraft self-defense systems.
The main difference between the ZM-54KE1 cruise missile and the ZM-54KE missile is the absence of a third solid fuel stage. Thus, the ZM-54KE1 missile has only a subsonic flight mode. The ZM-54KE1 missile is almost 2 meters shorter than the ZM-54KE. This was done in order to be able to place it on small displacement ships and submarines that have shortened torpedo tubes manufactured in NATO countries.
But the ZM-54KE1 rocket has almost twice as much combat unit(400 kg). The flight of the ZM-54KE1 rocket is the same as that of the ZM-54KE, but without acceleration at the final stage.
In terms of its design and tactical and technical data, it is almost no different from the ZM-54KE1 missile. The difference is that the ZM14KE missile is designed to destroy ground targets and has a slightly different control system. In particular, its control system includes a bar altimeter, which ensures greater secrecy of flight over land by accurately maintaining altitude in terrain-following mode, as well as a satellite navigation system, which contributes to high guidance accuracy.
As for the new Kh-35UE cruise missile, we will consider it a little later in a separate article.
It should be noted that a number of significant technical factors are ignored in Western media publications. For example, “Club-K” is positioned by its manufacturer, JSC Concern Morinformsystem-Agat, as a universal launch module that houses a lifting launcher for four missiles. But in order to bring the Club-K complex into combat condition and launch missiles, two more of the same 40-foot containers containing Combat control module And Power supply and life support module.
These two modules provide:
— daily maintenance and routine checks of missiles;
— receiving target designation and firing commands via satellite;
— calculation of initial shooting data;
— conducting pre-launch preparations;
— development of flight missions and launch of cruise missiles.
It is clear that this requires trained combat crews, centralized command post, satellite navigation and communications. This is unlikely to be available to terrorists, even if they are from Hezbollah. They do not have their own satellites; Club-K, naturally, is tied to the Russian space constellation and corresponding control.
Present appointment container complex"Club-K" - arming mobilized civilian courts during a period of threat. In the event of possible aggression, a coastal state can quickly receive a small fleet designed to combat a naval strike group of a potential enemy.
The same containers located on the coast will protect it from approaching landing craft. That is, it is very effective weapon defense At the same time, it is very cheap - about 15 million dollars for a basic complex (three containers, 4 missiles). This is an order of magnitude lower than the cost of a frigate or corvette, which are usually used for coastal defense.
"Club-K" is capable of replacing the fleet and naval aviation. For poor countries with a long coastline, this is a serious alternative to purchasing expensive equipment, which is usually purchased in Western European countries. Spanish frigates, German submarines, French missile systems, Italian helicopters and other weapons, components for which are manufactured in a dozen countries, may lose a significant sector of the market.
/Based on materials warcyb.org.ru, en.wikipedia.org And i-korotchenko.livejournal.com /
Club type missile system / Photo: bastion-karpenko.ru
According to the magazine "Jane's Missiles & Rockets" in the article James Bingham "Novator reveals new Club system, missile and range details", at the international defense and space exhibition Gulf Defense & Aerospace, held in Kuwait in December 2017, the Russian (Ekaterinburg; part of) for the first time presented a new ground-based mobile version of its Club missile system (export version of the Caliber complex), designated Club-T.
Model of a self-propelled launcher of the Club-T missile system with six 3M14E1 cruise missiles developed by JSC Novator Experimental Design Bureau named after L.V. Lyulev" at the Gulf Defense & Aerospace exhibition in Kuwait, December 2017 / Photo: James Bingham / Jane's
In contrast to the similar ground mobile complex Club-M, first demonstrated at the MAKS-2007 air show (equipped with anti-ship missiles of the 3M54KE and 3M54KE1 types and cruise missiles 3M14KE), the Club-T complex in its current version is intended only for the use of modified cruise missiles to destroy ground targets 3M14E1 . Accordingly, target designation equipment with the corresponding vehicle was removed from the complex, and only autonomous self-propelled launchers on the MZKT-7930 chassis with an 8x8 wheel arrangement were left, each of which accommodates six transport and launch containers with 3M14E1 cruise missiles.
How exactly the 3M14E1 version of the cruise missile differs from the previously demonstrated 3M14E/KE missile is not disclosed. Although the Novator OKB officially declares the flight range of the 3M14E1 missile to be 275 km, the head of the Novator external relations department, Mikhail Pakhomov, confirmed at an exhibition in Kuwait that the range could be increased to more than 300 km, which would go beyond the limits of the Missile Control Regime technologies (MTCR). The mass of the missile warhead, in accordance with the MTCR limits, is declared at 450 kg.
It is reported that the launch of cruise missiles from the Club-T launcher can be carried out within 15 minutes from the moment of deployment, the missiles are launched at intervals of 5-10 seconds.
Pakhomov said that they are close to completing work on integrating the 3M54E and 3M54E1 anti-ship missiles into the Club-T complex (as you can understand, their use is assumed based on external target designation data).
Also OKB "Novator" at the exhibition in Kuwait presented materials on new version sea-based cruise missile 3M14E, designated 3M14TLE and intended for underwater launch from vertical submarine launchers (Club-S complex).
... the fight was inevitable. At 17:28, the signalmen lowered the Dutch flag, and a banner with a swastika flew up on the gaff - at the same moment the raider “Cormoran” (German cormorant) fired a point-blank salvo from its six-inch guns and a torpedo tube.
The mortally wounded Australian cruiser Sydney, with her last effort, fired three shells into the German bandit and, engulfed in flames from bow to stern, left the battle. On the raider, the situation was also bad - the shells pierced the Kormoran (the former diesel-electric ship Steiermark) and disabled the power plant transformers. The raider lost speed and extensive fires broke out. At night, the Germans had to abandon the ship, at which time the glow of the dying Sydney was still visible on the horizon...
317 German sailors landed on the coast of Australia and, observing exemplary order, surrendered; further fate The cruiser "Sydney" is unknown - none of the 645 people on its crew survived. Thus ended a unique naval battle on November 19, 1941, in which an armed civilian ship sank a real cruiser.
Where would a smart person hide the sheet? In the forest
The container complex of the Club-K missile is externally a set of three standard 20- or 40-foot cargo containers, which house a universal launch module, a combat control module and a power supply and auxiliary systems module. The original technical solution makes the “Club” practically undetectable until the moment of its use. The cost of the kit is half a billion rubles (frankly speaking, not so little - the Mi-8 helicopter, for example, costs the same).
"Club" uses a wide range of ammunition: anti-ship missiles Kh-35 "Uran", 3M-54TE, 3M-54TE1 and 3M-14TE missiles of the "Caliber" complex for hitting surface and ground targets. The Club-K complex can be equipped with coastal positions, surface ships and vessels of various classes, railway and automobile platforms.
Analogs
In a broad sense, the practice of concealing weapons has been known since the birth of Humanity.
In the narrow sense, there are no analogues to the Club complex.
ABL on the stern of the nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser USS Mississippi
Of the systems closest in purpose, I could only remember the armored launcher Armored Box Launcher (ABL) for launching Tomahawks. ABLs were installed in the 80s on Spruance-class destroyers, battleships, as well as on the helipads of nuclear-powered cruisers of the Virginia and Long Beach class. Of course, no versatility was provided - the ABL was a compact box-type launcher and was used exclusively on warships. ABL was withdrawn from service after the introduction of the new Mark-41 UVP.
Club-K for attack
If a samurai takes his sword 5 centimeters out of its sheath, he must stain it with blood. The ability to kill an enemy in one movement, only momentarily showing the weapon and hiding it back, was considered especially chic. These ancient rules are best suited to describe Soviet "trains" special purpose" The RT-23UTTH “Molodets” railway-based strategic missile system was guaranteed to provide the enemy with a “one-way ticket.”
The developers of the Club complex often draw an analogy between their product and the RT-23UTTH. But here there is the following “nuance”: railway complex with the Molodets ICBM designed for preventive/reactive nuclear strike in case of global war; it is understood that a second shot will no longer be required. Such weapons must be hidden and camouflaged whenever possible, so that at the right moment they can suddenly be “snatched from their sheaths” and hit an enemy on the other side of the Earth with one blow.
Unlike the truly formidable RT-23UTTH, the Club complex is a tactical weapon and its power is not so great that it can finish off enemy forces with one, ten or even a hundred launches.
During Desert Storm, the US Navy fired 1,000 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Iraqi positions. But the use of a colossal number of Tomahawks did not decide the outcome of the local war - another 70,000 sorties were needed to “consolidate” the resulting effect!
What, in fact, prevented the Coalition forces from continuing to fire at Iraqi positions with Tomahawks? The exorbitant price of cruise missiles is $1.5 million! For comparison: the cost of one hour of flight of an F-16 fighter-bomber is 7 thousand dollars. The cost of a laser-guided bomb is from 19 thousand dollars. A combat sortie of an aircraft costs tens of times less than a cruise missile, while a tactical bomber does its “job” better, more quickly, and can carry out strikes from an “airborne duty” position.
The use of cruise missiles against conventional targets is too ineffective and wasteful: Tomahawks are always used only in conjunction with aviation and ground forces, as an auxiliary means for suppressing air defenses and destroying critical objects in the first days of the war. Therefore, during local operations, the Club missile system loses its advantage - stealth. What is the point of disguising a launcher as a cargo container if, within a few months, thousands of armored vehicles, a million soldiers and hundreds of warships are being transferred to the operation area in front of the whole world (this is exactly how much effort was required to carry out Desert Storm). Simply installing several “Club” kits on a container ship and organizing a trip to the shores of a “probable enemy” is pointless from a military point of view.
Club-K on defense
Specialists of JSC Concern Morinformsystem-Agat are positioning their Club missile system on the world market as perfect weapon for developing countries - simple, powerful, and most importantly, it implements the principle of “asymmetry” so beloved by Russian designers - for example, the annual volume of transportation in China is more than 75 million standard containers! It is impossible to find three containers with a “surprise” in such a cargo flow.
The unprecedented secrecy of the Club complex allows, in theory, to equalize the chances of strong and weak armies. In practice, the situation is somewhat more complicated: a set of three “standard 40-foot containers” is not a weapon in itself, because The Club missile system faces an acute problem of external target designation and communications.
20-foot Club-K container with launcher for launching Uran anti-ship missiles
The armies of the NATO bloc are well aware that target designation and communications are stumbling blocks for the developers of any weapon, therefore they are taking unprecedented measures to destroy enemy communications - in zones of local conflicts the sky is buzzing with radio reconnaissance and electronic warfare aircraft. Radars, radio towers, command centers and communications centers are the first to be hit. Aviation, using special ammunition, disables electrical substations and de-energizes entire areas, depriving the enemy of the opportunity to use mobile and telephone communications.
It is naive to rely on the GPS system - NATO specialists know how to ruin the enemy’s life: during the aggression in Yugoslavia, GPS was turned off all over the world. American Army can easily do without this system - "Tomahawks" are aimed using TERCOM - a system that independently scans the terrain; aviation can use radio beacons and military radio navigation systems. This situation was corrected only with the advent of Russia’s own global positioning system, Glonass.
High-quality data for developing a combat mission for a cruise missile can only be obtained from spacecraft or reconnaissance aircraft. The second point is excluded immediately - in a local war, air supremacy will immediately pass to more strong side. All that remains is to receive data from the satellite, but here the question arises about the possibility of receiving information in conditions of severe electronic suppression, and working electronics unmask the position of tactical missiles.
An important factor is that the cargo turnover of standard 40-foot containers in third world countries (namely, they are the promising customers of the Club complex) is quite limited. The above figure of 75 million refers only to China with its super-industry and billion-dollar population. The USA, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, and Eurozone countries are the main operators of “standard 40-foot containers.”
Container terminal in New Jersey
Three containers standing among the African slums will immediately arouse suspicion, given that the processing and analysis of satellite images is carried out by a computer, which instantly notes all the nuances. 12-meter containers cannot appear in the right place on their own - trailers and a truck crane are needed - such fuss will immediately attract attention. Moreover, now any military specialist in the world knows that the containers may contain the Club complex (in principle, suspicious containers can contain any weapon, so they should be destroyed).
And the third question: against what targets in a defensive operation can the Club complex be used? Against advancing tank columns? But the loss of one or two will not in any way affect the attack of the aggressor. Against enemy airfields? But they are far away, and the maximum firing range of Caliber missiles is 300 km. Attacks on landing sites on the coast? Good idea, but, even without taking into account the probability of a breakout, several missiles with a 400 kg warhead will not cause serious damage.
Club-K as an anti-ship weapon
The most realistic option for using a missile system. Several containers on the coast can provide control of territorial waters and strait zones; protection of naval bases and coastal infrastructure, as well as provide cover in landing areas.
The problems are still the same - shooting at maximum range is possible only with the use of external target designation. Under normal conditions, the detection range of surface targets is limited by the radio horizon (30...40 kilometers).
But then, what is the difference between the Club complex and the Bal-E mobile coastal missile systems already put into service? There is only one difference - secrecy. But visual secrecy is not the most reliable means. In combat conditions, an activated radar clearly reveals the location of a missile position, and electronic reconnaissance aircraft can detect the operation of the complex’s electronic equipment.
On the other hand, self-propelled Bal-Es on a cross-country chassis can be made up to look like anything and hidden in any port hangar. Bal-E, like Club, can use Kh-35 Uran anti-ship missiles. In principle, the experience of original camouflage of missile positions has been known since Vietnam, and this does not require buying a launcher for half a billion rubles.
To guess which Club-K containers are in, you will have to sink a beautiful ship
As for the idea of installing containers on small ships and container ships, using them in the ocean as ersatz missile carriers to destroy naval ships of a “probable enemy,” the practice of installing weapons on merchant ships has been known since the time of Columbus’s caravels. At the beginning of the article, a case was given of the successful use of a civilian ship by the Germans - the Cormoran, using the factor of surprise and the carelessness of the Sydney crew, launched a preemptive strike and destroyed a large warship.
But... with the development of aviation and radar equipment, the idea of a “raider” disappeared into oblivion. Equipped with modern electronics, carrier-based and base patrol aircraft check hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of the ocean surface in an hour - a lone raider will no longer be able to so easily disappear into the vast expanses of the sea.
Dreaming of an “attack container ship”, in one of the containers of which the launcher of the Club system is hidden, the following problems need to be solved: firstly, who will give the container ship target designation at a range of 200 kilometers? Secondly, a container ship that appears in a combat zone can be easily boarded or destroyed as posing a potential threat. For the US Navy, this is a common event - in 1988, American sailors shot down an Air Iran passenger Airbus and did not even apologize. Do not forget that the container ship does not have any means of self-defense (and their installation immediately unmasks a civilian ship), and during Operation Desert Storm the US Navy and the Royal Navy Great Britain simply shot down all watercraft larger than a boat in the combat zone - British Lynx helicopters were especially rampant, destroying many patrol boats and trawlers converted into minesweepers with the help of miniature Sea Skua missiles.
Conclusion
The wise Lao Tzu once said: “Sending unprepared people into battle means betraying them.” I am categorically against any “asymmetrical” means. In modern conditions, their use leads to even greater human losses, because no “cheap asymmetric means” can withstand a well-equipped and trained army, air force and. I am all for the development of real combat systems and the construction of real warships, and not “container ships with missiles.”
As for the prospects of the original Club-K missile system (“an accessible strategic weapon” according to its creators), I have no right to draw any conclusions here. If Club-K is successful on the world market, then this will be the best refutation of all military theories, although these are already problems of the Open Joint Stock Company Concern Morinformsystem-Agat.
Much more pleasant is the fact that cruise missiles of the “Caliber” family have a diameter of 533 mm, which means they are adapted for launching from torpedo tubes of Russian nuclear-powered Shchukas. This is a real Russian combat system!
Note. The German auxiliary cruiser Cormoran was a large ship with a total displacement of 8,700 tons. The fuel supply allowed him to go around four times Globe(without any nuclear reactors!). The raider's armament is 6 x 150 mm guns, 6 torpedo tubes, 2 seaplanes, a hundred sea mines.
