Chapter 448: Powerful Aircraft Carrier Fleet
Sailing ahead of the two aircraft carriers is also a warship with a displacement of over 10,000 tons. This is another pride of the Red Navy, the Kirov-class nuclear-powered cruiser!
After Gorshkov took office as the commander of the navy, he began to vigorously develop the Red Navy, striving to build an aircraft carrier fleet that could compete with the US Navy in the ocean. At that time, the development of aircraft carriers experienced twists and turns, while the development of this type of cruiser was smooth sailing.
The original planned displacement kept increasing. When it was officially finalized, the displacement of this cruiser was as high as 25,000 tons, second only to aircraft carriers! After the battleship left the maritime stage, this cruiser was the giant on the sea!
The combination of nuclear power and conventional power allows this cruiser to have a speed of up to 32 knots and almost unlimited endurance. As a powerful cruiser, this warship is comprehensive and extremely powerful in anti-submarine, anti-ship and air defense.
The pride of the Red Navy is its anti-ship capability! This Kirov-class ship is equipped with twenty SS-N-19 Granit anti-ship missiles, which are large supersonic anti-ship missiles propelled by rocket ramjet engines. It is 10.5 meters long and weighs 6.98 tons. It is launched by a vertical launcher with a maximum range of 500-550 kilometers and a maximum flight speed of 1.6 Mach. It can be equipped with a 500kT equivalent nuclear warhead or a 750 kg high-explosive warhead. It can be said that this is the nemesis specially tailored by the Red Navy for the US aircraft carrier formation!
It can be said that the Kirov cruiser is a Soviet version of an arsenal ship! In addition to anti-ship missiles, it is also densely packed with anti-aircraft missiles.
The air defense system consists of three lines of defense, mainly composed of air defense missiles and close-in defense systems. Among them, SA-N-6 air defense missiles are the first line of defense, SA-N-9 air defense missiles are the second line of defense, and SA-N-4 is used as an auxiliary. In addition, there are close-in defense rapid-fire guns. It can be said that any enemy aircraft that approaches a target within 100 kilometers of the Kirov class is quite dangerous!
Since there is no Aegis system like the United States, the air defense issue of the Soviet aircraft carrier formation has always been a focus. The Kirov-class ship was originally completed at the end of the 1980s and then delivered to the Northern Fleet. However, with the steady progress of the Soviet aircraft carrier formation plan, the demand for professional air defense ships for escort has become urgent. Before the Soviet version of the Aegis system modified from the Dreadnought-class is put into service, the Kirov-class can only rely on its powerful capabilities. Therefore, after rushing to build this warship, after completing the sea trial at the beginning of this year, it came to the Indian Ocean under the name of sea trial and temporarily joined the aircraft carrier formation. It will return to the base of the Northern Fleet only after the operation is over.
The Kirov-class MP-800 early warning radar can detect air targets 500 kilometers away. Combined with the long-range air defense missiles modified from the land-based S-300, it has built an iron wall for the aircraft carrier formation!
As for anti-submarine capabilities, there is no need to mention it. Relying on two Ka-27 helicopters, the SS-N-14 anti-ship/anti-submarine dual-purpose missile system, and one 10-tube RBU12000 and two 6-tube RBU1000 rocket depth charge launchers, it forms an effective three-layer anti-submarine network.
In addition to the Kirov-class ship, the other warships in the entire fleet were also bathed in the morning light. Two Kara-class cruisers, the latest Sovremenny-class and Dreadnought-class destroyers, and several older destroyers and frigates, with a total tonnage of nearly 180,000, and 14 warships of various sizes, continued to sail towards the Gulf of Oman.
On the Minsk, in the combat command room, Admiral Durt-Spildenov, commander of the Pacific Fleet and commander-in-chief of this formation, was looking at the huge nautical chart. Just last night, their airborne troops had landed in southern Iran, and their responsibility was to use carrier-based aviation to provide air support to the landing airborne troops during the few days when the large ground forces had not arrived!
The airborne troops have few heavy weapons. Once they are surrounded by superior ground forces, the consequences will be disastrous. Therefore, air support is necessary! At the same time, another responsibility of our side is to resolutely fight back if the United States intends to interfere!
Yes, it is a counterattack! This is a war of punishment by the Soviet Union against Iran, and no one else can interfere. If the United States wants to interfere, then let it taste the power of the Soviet Navy!
At present, there are not many American air forces stationed in Pakistan, that is, one fighter wing. The number of aircraft is about 60, of which the main force is ground attack. After all, the United States has crippled Iran's air force. The main task of the fighter is also ground support. There is an A-10 squadron and an F-16 squadron. There is only one squadron of 20 F-15s used to seize air superiority.
Now, the most important task of our aircraft carrier is to attack the ground and support our airborne troops! Of course, this is not an ideal situation. In an ideal situation, our airborne troops should have successfully defeated the Iranian border troops and reached the border between Iran and Pakistan, where they would plant the sickle and hammer flag and declare to the Americans that the Soviet Union was temporarily in control there!
"Report, we have received a request from the 105th Airborne Division, hoping to provide ground support!" At this moment, Lieutenant Colonel Andreyev, the first mate on the Minsk, said.
"Take off four MiG-23Ks and carry out ground attack!" said Admiral Durt.
Take off four! Just take off two from each aircraft carrier! Colonel Victor Alexander Gokinaev, the captain of the Minsk aircraft carrier, immediately gave orders to his warships: "Take off two MiG-23Ks, ground attack mounts!"
In the parking area on one side of the bridge, two MiG-23Ks that had been ready for take-off were towed to the take-off position. Although they took off by ski jumping under their own power, they still took off with the maximum payload!
One of the MiG-23s was fully loaded with bombs on the wing glove racks and under the belly, a total of 16 100-kilogram bombs, which had reached the maximum capacity. At the same time, it also carried two R-60 close-range combat bombs for self-defense.
The other MiG-23 was equipped with four rocket launchers, four Kh-25 air-to-ground missiles, and two R-60 self-defense missiles. These two MiG-23s were enough to rescue their own paratroopers, not to mention the two MiG-23s mounted on another aircraft carrier, the Kiev!