Photos from open sources
Postponed visit
On April 10, 2014, the Donald Cook, a US Navy destroyer, entered the Black Sea. The warship was supposed to conduct joint exercises with its NATO partner (Romania) and provide moral support Kyiv authorities, who are grieving the loss of Crimea. A call to the Odessa port was envisaged. Almost a thousand Odessa residents took to Primorsky Boulevard to express their “fe!” overseas guests. It was in vain that the residents of Odessa got wet in the rain. The destroyer never showed up at the roadstead. (website)
US accuses Russia of provocation
On April 14, the Pentagon issued an angry statement accusing Russia of “provocative actions.” According to the text of the document, on April 12, the Russian SU-24 bomber flew over the American ship, imitating a military attack, which is strictly prohibited by signed international agreements. These actions, according to the American military, are “unprofessional” and “not gentlemanly.”
Destroyer and bomber
Photos from open sources
Launched in 1997, the Donald Cook is equipped with the Aegis air defense system, Phalanx air defense system and Standard-2 missiles. The SU-24 bomber was adopted by the USSR Air Force back in 1975, the last aircraft was produced in 1993. The Belarusian Air Force removed the bomber from service in 2012. In Russia, SU-24s are still flying, but their fate has already been decided: by 2015, 103 bombers will be scrapped. Why did the outdated bomber so annoy the American destroyer?
Surprise
The Americans detected the “drying” from afar and did not feel any alarm at all. On the contrary, the officers were even glad to have the opportunity to conduct exercises in conditions as close as possible to combat ones. A combat alert was announced. The servicemen took their places according to the combat crew in readiness to repel the enemy attack. The fact that the enemy was not entirely conventional gave the exercises a flavor of piquancy. And here the American sailors were in for a surprise.
The Aegis multifunctional air defense system turned out to be “blind” when the Russian aircraft approached. On the monitors, the operators saw only a white spot. In response to persistent demands to give out the coordinates of the target, they only mumbled indistinctly. Similarly, the tracking system of ZAU "Falanx" failed. But the sailors could visually observe how the bomber, released back in the late 70s, imitates combat approaches over and over again. In a combat situation, the destroyer would have made a glug-glug several times already. The ship’s defense systems “came to life” only when the bomber, having “destroyed” the target, turned around and went towards the airfield.
This is how the bomber crew demonstrated to the Americans the operation of the newly created complex electronic warfare“Khibiny”, which the Russian Air Force command soon intends to install on every Russian combat aircraft.
Consequences
Photos from open sources
Instead of Odessa, the destroyer went to the safe Romanian port. According to Pentagon spokesman Colonel Stephen Warren, this “brazen act by the Russians” had a demoralizing effect on the ship’s crew. Many needed the help of a psychologist.
27 servicemen from the crew submitted reports of dismissal, since further service on the destroyer “poses a threat to their lives.” Even the news that the amount of insurance payment had been increased from $1 million to $3 million did not affect their decision. Joint exercises with ships of the Romanian Navy took place, but went without the expected enthusiasm. It was decided to postpone the visit to Ukrainian ports until better times. On April 25, the Donald Cook left for the Mediterranean Sea.
It is interesting that judging by the comments on numerous websites, Russian technical specialists do not see anything special in what happened. The vulnerability of American electronic security systems is not news to them for a long time. As for the morale of the American military, it turns out to be very different from the standard created by Hollywood.
There aren’t enough self-hawks even for cities))) “...Since 1945, the United States has produced 66.5 thousand. atomic bombs and nuclear warheads. Let's assume that disarmament has been screwed up and they are all there. This is a clear exaggeration, since half degrade for physical reasons. Well, screw him. Average power 100 kilotons. This is a convincing destruction of a square kilometer and the littering of a hundred (10x10), which is also, in general, an exaggeration. However, I think to the maximum, for starters.
Further. There are 14 nuclear power plants in Russia, although there are much more power units, but that doesn’t matter. Each nuclear power plant will shut down in an unfavorable situation, a square of 100 x 100 kilometers, that’s 10 thousand.
Bombs without nuclear power plants - 100 sq. km * 66,000 = 6.6 million square kilometers.
Nuclear power plant hits - 10,000 sq. km * 14 = 144 thousand. Nothing at all.
As a result, two thirds of Russia will be completely free of radiation. And they definitely won’t bomb the collective and state farms, so there won’t be any problems with food.
Now let's cut the sturgeon.
As of October 1, 2016, the US strategic nuclear forces include 1,367 nuclear warheads on 681 deployed strategic delivery vehicles, 848 deployed and non-deployed delivery vehicles. Total about two thousand. Most of the 848 are tactics that, even if one wants to, cannot be used on Russian territory.
A million to one and a half square kilometers remain.
At least half will be shot down. All this shit will fall on Europe, but at the beginning of the scenario I wrote myself off as collateral damage.
There are 500-700 thousand left.
Further, the declared 100 kilometers is ten times too high for an average ammunition of one hundred kilotons. In fact, there will be a square kilometer at the epicenter and a 3x3 kilometer square, where agriculture It's better to wait ten years.
There are 50-70 thousand left.
The impacts will be massive, i.e. in some places a dozen warheads will arrive, and in others not a single one. There is no need to talk about uniform distribution. Here I am not making predictions - but can one seriously think that if 50 thousand square kilometers out of 18 million are destroyed, a general Hell and Israel will come? For some reason I'm not so sure about this.
Yes, Moscow, Leningrad, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Kyiv and Zhitomir will be razed to the ground. But is this the end?
These were theoretical calculations. But here are the specifics - what the Pindos actually have at their disposal.
1. The Strategic Missile Forces themselves are consolidated into three position areas: Wyoming, Montana, and North Dakota. Former bases in California, Kansas, Arkansas, Arizona, South Dakota, and Missouri have lost their status.
2. Air Force - B-52s are consolidated into two wings, Louisiana and Northern Dakota; B-1B was withdrawn from the number of carriers of nuclear weapons in 1995; B-2 is one wing in Missouri. There is no provision for basing outside the mainland.
3. Fleet - The surface fleet is deprived of nuclear weapons with the withdrawal of the missile defense system, the submarine fleet is based at two (one per shore) - Bangor and Kings Bay bases. Guam, Pearl Harbor, Rota, Charleston, Holy Loch lost their home base status.
4. There are a number of bombs in Europe - Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany. The F-16 and F-15 are designated as carriers, which due to their combat characteristics are not capable of being offensive weapons. The only clear function in such a duet is defensive use (alas, in Eastern Europe) in the event of an enemy attack.
All this wealth cannot be taken as an offensive configuration. There cannot be an explosive deployment; logistics in the US Armed Forces is an honorary department, not an ensign in a warehouse and miracle heroes under the hatches ready to attack without a pipifax.
It is naive to think that in such a configuration they are capable of winning a nuclear war. Yes, yes, I’ve heard a thousand times that everyone will lose it, because mutants and nuclear winter. But with this insignificant arsenal, is it possible to bomb Russia - not to mention the whole world - into the Stone Age?
At this point, let me remind you that by 1942 the USSR had lost about 10 percent of its territory. And not in the form of radioactive spots, but as a result of occupation. However, the coherence of the remaining part was not broken, and the leadership remained in the hands of the then government. Putin, of course, is not Stalin, but his verticality is enough for even Cruz’s quite optimistic scenario to remain just a fantasy.
PS. The most obvious example of the area after nuclear strikes is the test site on Novaya Zemlya, where many nuclear explosions were carried out in a fairly short period of time, including ground-based explosions of enormous power. As a result, the zones of long-term contamination of the area with isotopes with long half-lives occupied no more than six square kilometers, in the area of four ground explosions. Throughout the rest of the test site, even at the height of the testing period, the background radiation was within the acceptable range. The plume stretched for thousands of kilometers, but as a result, the concentration of radioactive fallout was so low that in the places where it fell the background also did not exceed the permissible level.
...
ernobyl? Chernobyl released thousands of times more radioactive crap than any other nuclear explosion. During an explosion, much less material is used, and it simply burns out. During the accident at the nuclear power plant, in fact, the lid “torn off the pan” and the contents were mechanically scattered. That is, the Chernobyl zone or Fukushima itself cannot serve as a model of nuclear war; they are models of a reactor accident and nothing more.
But it completely refutes another myth - about mutants. The most common animals live on the territory of the zone, and in general, due to its closed nature, flora and fauna flourish there. Mutations in the vast majority of cases lead to the death of the mutant; this is a deformity, not an improvement. Those very first eyeless fish in Pripyat died out in the first year, no one saw them again.
Eternal nuclear winter? It doesn't work either. The accumulation of carbon dioxide and soot emissions will lead to warming after a short period of cold. The climate will be wetter, a little warmer than before, that's all. So the post-nuclear world will simply be a destroyed world, nothing more. "© OneGoodMan
The US State Department admitted that the crew of the American destroyer Donald Cook was demoralized after meeting with a Russian Su-24 bomber that did not have bombs or missiles on board. We found out why this happened and what else Russia has that is inspiring.
On an unnamed frequency
On April 10, the American destroyer Donald Cook entered the Black Sea. On April 12, a Russian Su-24 front-line bomber flew over the destroyer. April 14, after a generally ordinary incident - our planes do not approach ships very regularly probable enemy in neutral waters, - the Pentagon made an extremely emotional statement, accusing Russia of violating its own traditions and international treaties. It was mentioned that the crew of the Donald Cook was demoralized after the meeting with the bomber; a number of media reported that 27 American sailors wrote reports of dismissal from the fleet. What scared the destroyer crew so much?
The Donald Cook is not the rusty Zaporozhye submarine, but a fourth-generation US Navy destroyer whose main weapon is guided missiles. This is the most massive post-war ship with a displacement of more than 5,000 tons: 62 have been built since 1988, with 13 more planned. The Cook's main weapons are cruise missiles"Tomahawk" with a flight range of up to 2,500 kilometers, capable of carrying nuclear warheads. In conventional and attack versions, the destroyer is equipped with 56 or 96 such missiles, respectively.
The 380 people who make up the ship's crew are reliably protected. The Donald Cook's combat posts are surrounded by Kevlar - each ship carries 130 tons of this expensive material, but durable material. The small superstructure is covered with material that absorbs radar radiation. Below the waterline, the destroyer is protected by armor made of high-strength magnesium-aluminum alloys. To reduce underwater noise, air is supplied to the edges of the propellers. As a result, a cloud of bubbles is formed, distorting and smoothing out the hydroacoustic “portrait” of the ship.
Finally, the Donald Cook is equipped with the latest Aegis combat information and control system - among other things, it integrates the air defense systems of all ships on which it is installed into a common network, allowing it to simultaneously track and fire at hundreds of targets. On the edges of the destroyer's superstructure there are four huge antennas of a universal radar, replacing several conventional radars. Together with "Tomahawks" in universal launchers At the bow and stern, fifty anti-aircraft guided missiles of various classes are waiting in the wings.
It would seem that the appearance of such a ship in the Black Sea should cause shock and awe. And so it happened, but from the wrong side. The Russian Su-24 front-line bomber that arrived at the Donald Cook did not have bombs or missiles on board. Under the fuselage hung one container with a Khibiny electronic warfare system. Having approached the destroyer, the Khibiny turned off its radar, combat control circuits, data transmission systems - in short, they turned off the entire Aegis, just as we turn off the TV by pressing a button on the remote control. After this, the Su-24 simulated a missile attack on the blinded and deafened ship. Then another and another - a total of 12 times.
When the bomber took off, the Donald Cook hurriedly headed to the Romanian port to calm her nerves. He did not approach Russian waters again. The Americans are accustomed from afar, in complete safety, to crush poorly armed detachments of some desert partisans with missiles. And if that doesn't work out, they don't play.
Soldiers of the invisible front
The more complex the electronic system, the easier it is to disrupt its operation using electronic warfare methods and means. - said the head of the research center for electronic warfare and assessing the effectiveness of reducing the visibility of the Air Force Academy Vladimir Balybin. - To win a modern war, it is not enough to achieve air supremacy. It is also necessary to ensure information superiority.
In addition to Khibiny, the domestic military-industrial complex produces a lot different devices, capable of discouraging both regular enemy units and bandits and terrorists. The Airborne Forces began to receive Infauna complexes. Installed on an armored personnel carrier or other military equipment, the complex finds and jams enemy radio communications in the HF and VHF bands, and “puts to sleep” remotely controlled landmines. They will certainly explode - but only after a column of Russian military personnel passes over them and moves away to a safe distance.
"Infauna" has one more function - optical sensors placed on the sides of the vehicle detect flashes of shots and give the command to set up a smoke screen to shield the column from fire. The "Judoist" information security complex, among other things, finds and neutralizes electronic devices that have been unauthorized connected to data transmission channels.
The product "Lesochek" performs the same functions as "Infauna", but is much more compact - it can be carried in a backpack or suitcase. With such a case it is convenient to go to important business negotiations - the most advanced security service will not be able to eavesdrop on them. For businessmen, there is a civilian version of "Lesochka" - it can be mounted in the trunk of a Mercedes.
If the “Lesochek” product had been working in General Romanov’s UAZ in Grozny in 1995, the explosion of the vehicle of the commander of the internal troops might not have happened, said Balybin.
The basis of the radio-electronic protection of tactical formations of the Russian Army is the Borisoglebsk-2 complex. It includes an automated control center and four types of jamming stations - in a single algorithm they find sources of enemy activity on the air and jam them.
The “Resident” device finds and blocks satellite and cell phones, subscriber GPS navigation systems. It proved its effectiveness during the conflict in South Ossetia, disorienting Georgian drones. In Chechnya, the head of the electronic warfare department of the Voronezh Air Force Academy, Vladimir Khrolikov, fought with terrorists:
We had tracking stations throughout the territory. As soon as there was activity on the air, we made a note and passed it on to the gunners. Dzhokhar Dudayev, as you know, was destroyed by a missile aimed at the signal of his satellite phone. In Grozny, electronic warfare specialists neutralized radio-controlled landmines rolled into asphalt.
The re-equipment of Russia's strategic nuclear forces with the latest electronic warfare systems is proceeding at an accelerated pace, said Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Rogozin. If the army and navy as a whole will be re-equipped by 70 percent by 2020, then the electronic warfare capabilities of the strategic potential will be updated by 100 percent.
Electronic warfare is what allows our smart weapons to operate and other people's smart weapons to fall asleep. And that’s right,” the Deputy Prime Minister noted.
The Pentagon has released footage of Russian Su-24 bombers approaching the American destroyer Donald Cook. The incident occurred the day before in the international waters of the Baltic Sea. The Russian Ministry of Defense has already stated that the planes strictly followed safety rules. However, NATO almost called the behavior of the Russian pilots a declaration of war.
Western channels have been playing six seconds of video without stopping for almost a day. According to some media, the plane passed 20 meters from the deck, according to others, it flew right over the deck, and still others almost hit the people on the captain's bridge. The atmosphere is heightened by people in uniform, one after another: Russia has almost declared war.
"The incident is contrary to the professional standards of military personnel operating in close proximity to each other," he said. official representative White House Josh Earnest.
The fact that the planes did not have full ammunition loads under their wings, and as soon as they approached the ship, immediately began to move away, was never reported by Western channels.
“The crews of Su-24 aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces carried out scheduled training flights over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea. All flights of Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft are carried out in strict accordance with international rules for the use of airspace over neutral waters. The flight route of the Russian aircraft passed through the area where the US Navy destroyer Donald Cook was located, approximately 70 kilometers from the Russian naval base,” explained the head of the press service and information department of the Ministry of Defense Russian Federation, Major General Igor Konashenkov.
We are talking about the largest Russian naval base in the Baltic Sea, Baltiysk. At the moment the Russian planes approached, the American ship was only 70 kilometers from this most important operational-strategic formation of the Navy with its headquarters in Kaliningrad. The approach could be called a typical display of the flag, but at that moment there was an entire arsenal of weapons on board the American ship.
The artillery on the American destroyer was a Mark 45, the firing rate of which was 20 rounds per minute, anti-aircraft artillery complex Mark 15 Phalanx CIWS, with subsonic flight speed, and, worst of all, modern system Aegis combat system - long-range missiles - the same tomahawks that fly over a distance of 2.5 thousand kilometers can carry nuclear warhead. Another hour and the ship could have come very close to the Russian port.
It had already approached the Russian shores twice before. Americans like to say that the ship is invulnerable. But in 2014, it was detected in the Black Sea by the Russian Bastion anti-ship system. At the same time, Russian fighter jets approached him.
“Not far from the Crimean coast, our Su-24 bomber turned on electronic warfare equipment at a distance of a kilometer from this destroyer. The entire control system and radio electronics on the destroyer were cut off - it was completely de-energized, the missile defense and control systems did not work missile weapons. Even 20 sailors are said to have written letters of resignation from the destroyer because the US government was unable to protect their lives. We showed them their place and behave correctly. They are not exclusive, not kings at this wedding. They behave as if they can do something, but we can’t do anything,” noted retired colonel, military observer Viktor Litovkin.
“The appearance of foreign warships in the immediate vicinity of Russia’s maritime borders, of course, should remain in the field of attention of our Aerospace Forces. In the event of a potential violation of the maritime border, Russia needs to do everything to ensure that this does not happen, and that a target hostile to us is driven into neutral waters,” said the military expert, Chief Editor magazine " National Defense» Igor Korotchenko.
The practice of fighters and bombers overflying warships was, in fact, introduced by the Americans themselves. Russian sailors have been on the nerves since the Cold War.
“From personal experience, I remember 1970, when we were sailing on a floating submarine base, airplanes flew over us several times every day different countries. I have a whole bunch of photographs at home. We were completely calm about this. If there is some kind of fear, this already relates to psychological stability. This is a common thing for normal military personnel,” he said. Russian admiral, commander of the Northern Fleet in 1999–2001 Vyacheslav Popov.
“I lived in Japan for 20 years, where the capital was located next to two American air bases. We have seen a huge number of cases where American planes hovered over civilian objects. Let alone the extent to which they did not respect other people's military installations,” said media consultant and human rights activist who worked as a journalist in Tokyo, John Bosnich.
What will be the reaction of American sailors to approaching their ship will become known as soon as the destroyer returns to port. So far, only screams on deck have been reported, “not from fear, but from surprise.”
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Russian Su-24 bombers flew dangerously close to the American destroyer USS Donald Cook several times in the Baltic Sea.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that the US administration is aware of the Russian overflights and considers them “not consistent with military standards of conduct.”
The Pentagon has released photographs and videos showing Russian Su-24s flying "aggressively" at low altitude near the USS Donald Cook.
"The White House is aware of the incident. [...] This incident is in no way consistent with the professional standards of conduct of military forces operating in close proximity to each other in international waters and airspace," Earnest said at a briefing in Washington.
Illustration copyright Getty Image caption According to the US military, Russian Su-24s came dangerously close to the destroyer Donald Cook for two daysThe Pentagon said in a statement that the Russian pilots' actions were "dangerous, potentially provocative and could have resulted in a collision."
The captain of the American ship notes that the planes flew at a distance of less than 10 meters from the ship and conducted a “simulated attack.” It is reported that the bombers were not equipped with weapons.
The aircraft pilots did not respond to radio messages from the destroyer's crew - both in Russian and in English.
It is also reported that a Russian Ka-27 helicopter flew over the destroyer, from which photographs of the ship were presumably taken.
Violation of agreement
Such actions could violate an agreement reached in the 1970s to prevent dangerous incidents on the high seas. It is not yet clear whether Washington will formally protest.
Illustration copyright AFP Image caption Russian aircraft behaved aggressively, although they were not armedUSS Donald Cook is a fourth-generation US Navy destroyer whose main weapon is guided missiles. According to incoming reports, there was a Polish helicopter on board the ship.
The destroyer left the Polish port of Gdynia on Monday.
US European Command released a statement expressing "deep concern" about "unsafe and unprofessional Russian air maneuvers."
“These actions could unnecessarily increase tensions between countries and lead to a miscalculation or incident that could result in serious injury or death,” the US military warns.
Illustration copyright Reuters Image caption The captain of the American ship says the planes flew within meters of the destroyerAccording to the US military, over the past few days, Russian Su-24 bombers have flown dangerously close to the US destroyer USS Donald Cook in the Baltic Sea several times.
Many incidents
Similar incidents between the Russian military on the one hand and the United States and its allies on the other have sharply increased over the past two years after Russia annexed Crimea, leading to a serious deterioration in relations between Moscow and the West.
Illustration copyright EPA Image caption Su-24s were not equipped with weaponsIncidents are accepted various shapes – we're talking about either about airspace violations, or about planes flying so close to each other that we are talking about a possible collision in the air, or about the close passage of warships, or a simulation of an attack.
The incidents occurred in airspace and sea waters the Baltic countries, in the Baltic Sea and even near Stockholm: Swedish authorities were confident that a Russian submarine had penetrated their territorial waters in 2014.
Illustration copyright Reuters Image caption A Russian Ka-27 helicopter also flew over the destroyerWestern experts and politicians believe that Moscow is flexing its muscles, showing that its opinion and its interests must be taken into account.
However, as the BBC's Washington correspondent Gary O'Donoghue says, many fear that this could lead - either accidentally or deliberately - to a confrontation between the two nuclear powers.
