Problems with the supply of Mistral-class landing ships from France prompted the Russian leadership to think about the advisability of acquiring them. The fact is that the combat capabilities of these BDKs do not correspond much to the naval doctrine of the Russian Federation. Already by the time of the planned transfer and after the Russian crews were retrained to service imported models of equipment, doubts began about the advisability of their use. Assumptions were made about how they would be most useful to use - either as headquarters command ships, or as floating hospitals. Here they remembered the two large landing ships of project 1174 "Rhino" ("Mitrofan Moskalenko" and "Alexander Nikolaev"), which have been in reserve for many years. Perhaps, if you dig well and scrape "in the bottom of the barrel", you can find the right thing at home, and not far beyond the sea.
Project
About what to do if you urgently need to use force away from your native shores, Admiral Gorshkov first thought after the Caribbean crisis, when many military supplies, including special forces and missiles,had to be delivered to the Cuban coast by ordinary merchant ships. By 1964, these thoughts were formed in the form of a technical assignment issued by the Nevsky Design Bureau, located in the city of Leningrad. Two people in charge were appointed - chief designer P. P. Milovanov and an observer from the Navy, captain Bekhterev A. V.
KB would have coped with the task faster, but the requirements of the military often changed, and by no means in the direction of simplification. The Americans began building Tarawa-class amphibious assault ships, they planned interventions (like the Vietnam War), and their technical solutions, which became known to the Soviet leadership, influenced the change in the TK. The general sketch was ready by October 1965. The project was approved in 1968. However, changes continued to be made to it, and only after almost a decade and a half, the Kaliningrad shipyard Yantar completed work on the Ivan Rogov, the first unit of the BDK series of project 1174 ("Rhino"), consisting, according to the plan, of three ships.
Current State
Currently, two of the three ships are suitable for restoration of combat capability. The first of the Rhino BDK series, which gave it the name according to NATO classification, that is, the lead one, called Ivan Rogov (built in 1977), was decommissioned and dismantled for metal in 1996. The second, "Alexander Nikolaev" (launched in the fall of 1982), was decommissioned a year later and mothballed. The same fate befell Mitrofan Moskalenko, but later - in 2002. This ship was for sale. ATAmong the possible buyers was China, which at one time already used the decommissioned cruiser "Kyiv" as a floating hotel in Macau, but the deal for some reason "did not grow together." It is quite possible that in appearance, the Rhino project BDK is not attractive enough to become a bait for tourists, and it was considered difficult, complex and expensive to repair it for the PRC fleet. The technical condition of the boats after a long stay at the quay wall has yet to be assessed by specialists.
Design specifications
The main indicator for a shipbuilder is the displacement equal to the mass of the ship in an empty and fully equipped condition. In this case, it exceeds 11.5/14 thousand tons, respectively. The length of the BDK "Rhino" is 158 meters, the width along the midship frame is -24 m, the keel is submerged in water at a full load of five meters. The maximum speed is 20 knots, with 18 knots it can overcome 7.5 thousand miles with full tanks of fuel. Autonomy depends on the number of loaded paratroopers: if there are 500 of them, then the supply of provisions is enough for half a month. The crew consists of 239 crew members, including officers (37 people).
It is possible to take fuel from floating refueling tankers at sea; for this, the Rhino large landing ship is equipped with all the necessary equipment. Ship-to-board transport facilities are also provided for resupplying food and other dry cargo.
Power and energyinstallation
The power plant includes two gas turbines with a capacity of 18 thousand liters. with., located along the sides in an echelon way. During the development of the project, it was not possible to solve the problem of their all-aggregate replacement due to the complex technical requirements for the general architecture of the ship, therefore, repair work, if a decision is made to restore the combat capability of the units, may become problematic, although feasible. During operation ("Alexander Nikolaev" - 15, "Mitrofan Moskalenko" - 12 years), the engines have undergone wear and tear, they need to be either overhauled or even changed to more modern ones. You will have to disassemble the turbines on the spot, inside the case, and this is more expensive.
The sources of power supply for the large landing ship "Rhino" are on-board generators (there are six of them on the ship) of half a megawatt each, a total of 3 MW.
Weapons
The artillery and missile weapons of landing craft serve two main purposes. First, it must ensure the relative safety of the combat unit itself, with the troops and military equipment loaded onto it. Secondly, during the landing and in the subsequent period, the ship provides him with fire assistance. Of course, the BDK-1174 "Rhino" can hardly be called a heavy-duty floating battery, but it can still do something. The AK-726 type installation is the most powerful artillery weapon on board, its caliber is 76.2 mm. There are also two AK-630 rapid-fire gun mounts with four 30 mm caliber barrels, the purpose of which is to protect against high-speed surface andenemy air weapons. Air defense is reinforced by four compact anti-aircraft missile systems "Strela-3" and one "Osa-M" (with an ammunition capacity of 20 rockets). Fire cover and preliminary preparation of the landing bridgehead is the task of two Grad MLRS mounted on the superstructure. The air wing is represented by four Ka-29 helicopters providing anti-submarine defense and reconnaissance.
Amphibious capabilities
The purpose of the Project 1174 "Rhino" BDK ships is to land an assault battalion on the coast, remote at a distance of its operational radius. There are two main ways to accomplish this task.
The first, and most effective, is to land on the enemy's shore. In this case, the ship rests its nose against its cut, opens the wings and exposes the ramp (project 1174 has a length of 32 m), along which military equipment moves out and personnel run out. The disadvantage of this method is the fact that only 17% of the entire world's coastline allows it to be applied.
The second method involves the use of landing aids plying between the "beach" and the ship. It also has a fundamental drawback: it reduces the speed of landing and unloading equipment, but, when using boats, it can provide them in four cases out of ten. Helicopters can also serve as means, then the nature of the coastline does not matter at all.
Not every large landing ship can boast of being able to use both methods. BDKproject 1174 "Rhino" has two main exits - the bow flaps and the aft folding-type lazport that closes the dock chamber. Thus, if the coast is suitable, he can land troops from both of his extremities, and if it is impossible to come close, use boats.
Capacity
The hold for tanks is voluminous, it has dimensions of 54 x 12 meters and occupies a five-meter interdeck space in height. The volume of the dock chamber is even more impressive - 75 x 12 x 10 meters. In BDK 1174 "Rhino" can fit (in various combinations):
- Light tanks type PT-76 – 50 pcs.
- Infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers – 80 pcs.
- Cars - 120 pieces
- Marines – 500 people
In the dock compartment can be placed:
- Landing craft (project 1785 or 1176) – 6 pcs.
- Hovercraft (project 1206 or Chamois) - 3 pcs.
Without personnel, 1.7 thousand tons of various cargoes can also be transported.
Comparison with Mistral
So why is the expensive French giant so good and how does it outperform the BDK project 1174 "Rhino"? The photo of our ship is really not impressive. Compared to the imposing Mistral, it looks somehow awkward due to its large superstructure. Yes, and there are not enough helicopters on it, 4 against 16. But an attempt to understand the issue objectively leads to a very interesting conclusion that our landing craft is quite comparable to it in many respects. The displacement of the Mistral (21.3 thousand tons) is one and a half times more, and to transporthe can roughly the same number of troops and equipment (four dozen tanks and 470 marines). True, its combat radius exceeds 20 thousand km, but this advantage is not so important for the Russian fleet. Our General Staff does not seem to be planning to land an amphibious assault somewhere in Chile yet.
What is the future for Mitrofan Moskalenko and Alexander Nikolaev?
If Russia really abandons the Mistrals, the French side will be in serious trouble. In the conditions of the global economic crisis, staying with two very expensive helicopter carriers that we ourselves do not need (and no buyers are expected), and even pay a pen alty - the prospect is not the best. But Russia also faces problems. The niche in the combat composition of the operating fleet must be filled. Apparently, a new large landing ship will be built. The BDK of project 1174 "Rhino" can temporarily replace it, but it would hardly be advisable to spend a lot of money on its repair. The development of a new project that meets all modern requirements will take several years, then installation, launching, debugging. All this is not cheap, but that's where the French billions come in handy. Part of the funds is for the modernization of the Rhinos, the rest is for new ships. This, of course, is an assumption, but time will tell how it all turns out.
