The events of recent years have clearly shown that the state without fail needs a powerful fleet that can perform various tasks. Unfortunately, the collapse of the USSR and the subsequent events seriously undermined the defense capability of the Russian Navy. However, recently the government has been paying a lot of attention to this problem, new vessels are constantly being put into operation. This also includes the Ivan Gren, a large landing craft.
Today, the Zubr and Murena projects are widely known, which to this day continue to be built for foreign customers. Today, the domestic industry has a larger task - to saturate its fleet with landing ships, which are much larger than the projects mentioned above. However, the Soviet Navy had such. The task is to modernize them and bring them to the requirements of modern warfare at sea.
Current situation
Today atthe fleet includes ships related to projects 1171 and 775. They were designed with the aim of possibly transferring up to one battalion of marines with heavy armored vehicles, artillery and other weapons attached to it. The first ships of this class were designed in Leningrad, I. I. Kuzmin was the general designer. Some of them were built at the Yantar plant in Kaliningrad, others at Polish shipyards. This happened between 1974 and 1990. Subsequently, the leading Central Design Bureau for development were reassigned, but the ships themselves practically did not change from this.
General characteristics of projects
Project 1171 ships were characterized by a total displacement of 4000 tons, they could be used to carry out landings of up to 313 people, fully armed. It was assumed that ships could simultaneously carry up to seven medium or more than twenty light tanks. In 1966-1975, the USSR Navy received 14 such vessels, with the Voronezh Komsomolets being the lead one. The ships during this time were modernized up to four times (in the process of construction and design). Project 775 assumed almost similar characteristics in terms of capacity and carrying capacity, but these ships were noticeably better armed. A total of 24 were built.
To date, about 20 ships of projects 1171 and 775 remain in the Navy, and there are more of the latter. Fortunately, even with the collapse of the Union, the fleet was able to keep almost all of them. Of course, their youth is not increasing, the resource is gradually expiring, and therefore the country needs to buildnew ships of this class. It is reported that Ivan Gren will gradually replace its predecessors.
The situation in NATO countries
It is important to note that in NATO the situation with landing craft is somewhat different. Both the United States and the EU countries strive to have the most versatile ships in their fleets, which can perform not only the tasks of landing manpower and military equipment. Despite the high cost of such projects, they are quite successful. The Americans have especially succeeded in this: even if we build large landing ships at an accelerated pace, we will not reach their level in the next two decades.
They have new military equipment in the fleet in a stormy stream. In principle, such a passion for landing craft is understandable, since the transfer of large quantities of manpower is much cheaper if carried out by sea. Given the aggressiveness of American foreign policy, it could not be otherwise.
The first domestic landing ship in the new century
The new ship, which should initiate the restoration of the landing capabilities of the Russian fleet, was named "Ivan Gren". This name was chosen for a reason, because the ship was named after a talented artilleryman and scientist. Until 1941, Gren directed the Naval Research Institute. He began his service even before the Revolution, in the Imperial Navy. He participated in testing and field studies of almost all systems that were being developed at that time. With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, he became in charge of the artillery of the entire B altic Fleet. Showed himself asan excellent strategist and master of counter-battery shooting.
Grenov development details
The very first "Ivan Gren" is supposed to be the lead ship of the entire project 11711. As for its development, it is still being carried out in the same place, in St. Petersburg. General designer - A. Viglin, V. N. Suvorov was appointed chief designer of the ships of this series.
Unlike the previous ships of project 1171, all the requirements and real experience of all recent years were taken into account here. That is why the Ivan Gren BDK can be used with equal success not only for military, but also for peaceful operations. Thus, it is assumed that this class of vessels can be used to transport large volumes of cargo, including those with entry into river fairways. The large landing ship "Ivan Gren" is capable of transporting all modern military equipment of the Russian Federation, since its design and construction took into account not only the requirements of the marines, but also conventional ground forces.
Improving living and working conditions for the crew
Special attention was paid to creating the most comfortable conditions for the life and work of the ship's crew. There is even a large training complex designed to keep sailors and officers in good physical shape. In addition, it is in the ships of this series that a special method of landing will be provided. Recall that in the standard BDK produced by the USSR, a bow ramp is provided, which made it possible to “release” up to three light amphibious tanks from the belly of the ship at the same time directly into the sea, subject to wavesno more than three points.
The same ramp was used for shore discharging. In this case, the slope of the coast is extremely high. In case of violation of the relief, the old ships of the Navy could only “land” equipment by swimming. But this applies only to light, amphibious tanks. All heavier vehicles remain on the ship. The non-contact method used in this case involves the establishment of a light pontoon crossing: this technology is traditionally used only by the ground forces.
Several pontoons that extend instead of a ramp allow you to quickly create a reliable bridge that even relatively heavy armored vehicles will pass through. This method has been used in foreign armies for quite a long time, as it allows you to significantly expand the combat capabilities of landing ships.
Important changes and additions to the design
Another important innovation is the constructive ability to transport standard sea containers (up to 20 tons). Even better, due to its non-contact landing method, the ship can deliver these cargoes even to a coast that is completely unsuitable for this. Ordinary transport ships never dreamed of such a thing. The total weight of the transported cargo is up to 1500 tons. To simplify the loading / unloading procedure, the ship is equipped with a crane with a lifting capacity of up to 16 tons.
Today they are talking about the possibility of creating a "complete" amphibious boat, which will be stored in the internal hangar of Project 11711E ships. He can not onlyaccompany the ship, but also perform independent tasks. Surely this opportunity will especially attract rescuers, engineers, geologists.
Need for ships
How much will the Ivan Gren project be in demand? The need is already such that the manufacturer is loaded with orders for many years to come. When the first ship of the project was laid down, this event was attended by almost all the top officials of the state, as well as the management of all those enterprises that will provide production.
As the manufacturers themselves say, the vessels of project 11711 "Ivan Gren", while maintaining the current geopolitical situation, are urgently needed by the country. Since the order for the construction of ships was received by the famous Yantar enterprise, there is no doubt about the quality of the work.
Disappointing facts
Everything would be fine, but the journalists wrote the same thing in … 2004! Just a few days ago, really fantastic news arrived: the lead landing ship of project 11711 has finally begun to be tested in the B altic! It took 11 years from the moment of laying to launching. I am glad that the shipbuilders swear an oath not to drag out the deadlines so monstrously during the construction of the second copy (it is already in full swing). At the end of this year, they promise to finally transfer the lead ship to the fleet.
Four years were planned for the construction of the lead ship, another ship is planned to be handed over to the fleet within two years. It is known that initially the fleet ordered five vessels of thisseries, but sailors have already abandoned three of them. However, after the story of the ill-fated Mistrals, there is hope that the number of these ships will still be increased, since they are extremely important for ensuring state interests far beyond the borders of the country. Finally, information has already been received today that the military is still interested in building the entire series (up to seven ships), but the final decision will be made only after the flagship has passed all the tests.
To be or not to be?
Finally, information slipped that next year it was decided to start building larger landing ships, so perhaps the fleet will still be limited to only two ships. In any case, there are already projects for large landing ships of the new generation, so we can expect that these are not empty talk. In any case, "Gren" is an interesting project, and the need for it is really very great.
Specialists are baffled by the decision of the military to reduce the "livestock" of these vessels: after all, they were also counting on the possibility of transporting marines along inland rivers, which is an extremely important feature in local operations. Two ships will obviously not be enough for this!
Because of what the deadlines were missed?
Don't blame Yantar alone for everything. First, shipbuilders were plagued by a lack of funding. Secondly, for the first time the specification for the project was provided by the customer back in 2003, but since then the appearance and design of the ship has been constantlychanges were made, which could not but affect the speed of work. So, in 2005, updated specifications were presented, which included changes in almost all nodes. And this has happened more than once.
Import as a source of problems
The main problem of the entire project is a large number of imported components. In the light of recent events, they are urgently required to be abandoned and replaced with domestic ones. That is why engineers today continue to refine the long-suffering project. In principle, all the required components have already been delivered earlier, so difficulties are expected only with the second ship. But these difficulties are considerable.
The vessel needs to replace a large number of imported components, which were originally provided for in the specifications. Thus, considerable difficulties have already arisen with the choice of water purification and desalination systems. However, manufacturers say that domestic companies have experience in the production of this kind of components, so the issue is again stuck in the budget. It also adds hope that the second ship will already be built according to a proven scheme, and not from scratch. Several sections of the hull have already been laid down.
In general, the "root of evil" of this project is that after the collapse of the Union, it suddenly turned out that almost all the enterprises that produced components for shipbuilding ended up abroad. In particular, on Ukrainian territory.
Main technical characteristics of the project
- Estimated displacement - up to five thousand tons.
- Length - 120 meters.
- Maximum width - 16.5meters.
- Estimated draft - 3.6 m.
- Type of power plant - diesel.
- Maximum full speed 18 knots.
- Estimated crew size - about a hundred people.
What weapons can the landing ship "Ivan Gren" boast of? Here is his proposed list (far from everything is known so far):
- Two A-215 "Grad-M" launchers.
- Artillery. One AK-176M 76mm automatic mount and two AK-630M (caliber 30mm, automatic).
- One Ka-29 anti-submarine helicopter can be based on the ship.
- Capacity of landing compartments - up to 36 armored personnel carriers or 13 MBTs (weighing up to 60 tons). Up to 300 fully equipped and armed paratroopers can also be carried on board.
At the moment, the flagship is undergoing final checks at full speed, being at the final stage of construction. Because of this, most of the weapons on board have not yet been mounted, so it is too early to judge the final appearance of the ship and its armament. We hope that by the end of this year we will still see the Grena in full combat readiness.
