Soviet Union 1991

Third update

"The hull structure of the ship we designed is similar to that of the American LHA, which combines the functions of a helicopter carrier, a dock landing ship and a dock transport ship, but the size is obviously smaller than that of the American amphibious ship, with a full load displacement of about 21,500 tons. In order to enhance With the ability to resist battle damage, the Mistral adopts a double-hull structure and has a simple overall shape. The ship island and mast are both of closed design, and the chimney is integrated behind the rear mast structure to save space.”

"Some parts are deliberately made of composite materials that can absorb radar waves, which can reduce the overall radar cross-sectional area and infrared signals. This class of ships has a rectangular fully-passed flight deck with an area of ​​6,400 square meters. The island structure is located on the starboard side, and there is a The 1,800 square meter lower deck helicopter, vehicle storage bay, 1,000 square meter dedicated vehicle deck and inboard dock adopt a time-saving modular design.”

A majestic seven-story rectangular building in Leningrad, this is the Neva Design Bureau of the Soviet Union, the birthplace of Varyag. Now the chief designer Vlasov will welcome the delegation from France, Minister of Defense Botiero , and Laurent Castan, a designer at the French Pacific Shipyard, they wanted to know what wonderful designs the Soviet Union had that were worthy of investment by the French.

At first, Kastan did not listen carefully to the Soviet Union's opinions, thinking that the Neva Shipyard was just a random transformation like the previous amphibious ships. But the more he listened, the more shocked he was by the opinions of the Neva Design Bureau, because This coincides with the idea of ​​​​the new French navy equipment he plans to design.

Castan corrected his attitude, continued to listen to Vlasov's introduction, and took out a pen to write down something on paper from time to time.

"The vehicle deck inside the ship can accommodate 60 vehicles and has entrances and exits for vehicles to pass in and out. Because this drive-in/drive-out design has become a necessary feature of many planned new generation amphibious assault ships, even the Italian The new generation aircraft carrier also has this capability. The ship has three loading modes. In the general mixed mode, it can carry 450 soldiers, 8 helicopters and 60 vehicles; in the helicopter carrier mode, it can carry 16 helicopters; In vehicle transport mode The hangars and garages of this class of ships are completely used to load vehicles, and can accommodate up to more than 30 T72 tanks, or more than 0 light wheeled armored vehicles. Under standard conditions, it can carry 450 soldiers for a six-month maritime mission. It can carry up to 900 soldiers for short-distance transportation in high-density mode; if used in conjunction with helicopter assault missions, the ship can accommodate 150 commandos, which greatly increases a country's long-distance projection power and seizes the opportunity to intervene in regional disputes. machine."

"There are two helicopter lifts on the ship. The main lift is located near the center line of the stern, with an area of ​​225 square meters, which is enough to allow helicopters with extended rotors to lift and lower. The auxiliary lift is located behind the ship island, with an area of ​​120 square meters. meters, both have a lifting capacity of 13 tons. The flight deck has a total of six helicopter take-off and landing points and is equipped with an optical take-off and landing assist system.”

Hearing this, Castan had a doubt. He raised his hand and asked, "Wait a minute, why does it sound like this amphibious assault ship is specially designed for France?"

"Because there are two versions of ships of this design, one is the foreign trade version, and the other is the Soviet version. The foreign trade version has been improved according to the actual situation in France." Vlasov said following the picture, in fact, this This design plan was passed from the top of the Ministry of Defense, and it is said that it even involved some members of the Political Bureau, but Vlasov did not know the specific situation.

"In the foreign trade version, based on the NH-90 class medium/large transport helicopters, this class of ships can carry 6 to 8 such medium-sized helicopters, and up to 16 can be squeezed in if necessary. In addition, it can also operate SA330 America Leopard helicopter, Tiger armed helicopter aircraft and other types of aircraft. The amphibious ship also takes into account the flexibility of expanding the aircraft types during the design stage, and reserves the ability to operate the US-made CH-53 Super Stallion heavy transport helicopter, so its flight deck must have greater strength. This is the foreign trade version of the plan.”

"It sounds like it was specially designed for France." Kastan said. He was also vaguely curious about the design of the Soviet version that he had been silent about.

In fact, this was the design plan for the later Mistral-class amphibious ship, but Yanayev slightly adapted it to fool the French. However, Neva Shipyard is indeed an experienced shipyard. They only relied on Yanayev's rough sketches and rough analysis, and worked hard to come up with a more detailed plan for the French to refer to.

"As for the power design, the foreign trade version uses an integrated electric propulsion device. In terms of avionics system, I suggest that you can use the nit-9 combat system of the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier and complete command and control equipment, including hf/vhf/uhf/ Various communication channels such as shf and syracu satellite communication systems can control the operation of amphibious vehicles and helicopter teams. "

The more Castan listened, the more he felt that this was a ship tailor-made for the French Navy, so he asked for more details. However, the current Neva Shipyard is more like a theoretical school that has theories but does not know how to operate. The French were simply blocked on the principle of confidentiality.

"If France is not interested, then we will find other countries to cooperate with." Vlasov directly rejected France's monopoly. He warned the French Pacific Shipyard that the Soviet Union was just cooperating with you, not selling all the detailed design drawings to you.

"No, no, no, that's not what I mean. I mean that France is very happy to cooperate with the Neva Design Bureau, but we want to understand it clearly before proceeding.

"So we must see France's sincerity even more, not just lip service to cooperation." Designer Vlasov's intention is very clear. Unless France also brings out its own technology, he will consider further cooperation with the French. Of course, it is willing to give the French time to think, after all, this is not something that can be decided in a short time.

"There is another thing, about the naming of this amphibious ship. The Soviet side named the model it uses the Red Giant Wave-class amphibious ship. "

"As for the foreign trade model, it will be unilaterally named the Mistral-class amphibious ship. ”

(I was so sad to see the news of Britain’s withdrawal from the EU today! Originally, the next plot after writing about France was about Britain’s withdrawal from the EU. The foreshadowing was already designed when Britain gave blood transfusions to the EU! Tomorrow’s plot is the referendum in England! Now it’s embarrassing. If I had written it earlier, I would have the title of the prophet, but I missed it!) (To be continued.)