In 2003, the construction of a floating city will be completed, the citizens of which may never go ashore, but will be provided with everything they need. According to forecasts, this colossal ship will usher in a new era of navigation and the era of migration from land to water.
It seems that the multi-billion-strong population of our planet is ripe for the exploration of ocean spaces.
This, without exaggeration, the eighth wonder of the world was called banally and sparingly: Freedom Ship. This is the working name, which, apparently, will be given to the ship. Although old and superstitious people recommend being more modest and naming the ship in honor of Poseidon, for example, reminding ambitious shipbuilders of the history of the unsinkable Titanic. But who will listen to people from the past if the project is entirely focused on the future?
So, facts and nothing but facts. Freedom Ship will have 25 decks, a length of more than a kilometer, and a width of approximately 300 meters. Displacement - 2.7 million tons (for comparison: the displacement of the largest supertanker on the planet - Jahre Viking - 564.739 tons). The weight of the floating city is 3 million tons.
About 70 thousand people will always be on board, of which 50 thousand “islanders” who own real estate on the ship, and 20-25 thousand personnel, including the security service and a small army.
In addition, there may be tourists on board who will stay in hotels. In total, more than one hundred thousand (100,000) people can sit on the Freedom Ship without any hesitation. This is comparable to the population of, for example, Reykjavik. Or two Gorno-Altaisks, for example.
Despite the fact that the ship has not yet been launched, its creators hastened to tell the public about the upcoming routes.
The cost of the project is $9 billion, and $22 million has already been allocated for equipping the construction area alone. To date, 20 thousand residential apartments have already been sold, the cost of each is from 80 thousand to 6 million pounds (the average price in dollars is $800 thousand). Most of the future residents are citizens of Europe (including the British Isles).
According to the advertisement of the floating city website, there are at least 50 architectural and design styles for residential premises. There will be a library, a university, computer rooms with Internet access, a college with in-depth study of engineering, medicine and all kinds of sciences, and a hospital.
Plus banks, restaurants, stadiums, casinos, courts, swimming pools, hotels, several enterprises (light and processing industries, shops and workshops), and, of course, the airport. In addition, 200 acres of “land” have been allocated for parks, gardens and forests where dog owners will walk with their pets.
Modified trolleybuses, trams and other rail vehicles will travel on board. In addition, the ship's citizens have at their disposal small planes, pleasure submarines, boats and ferries. Plus hangars and harbors for boats.
The stunning white liner should be a paradise for those wanted by the tax police.
So, the work schedule is as follows: every two years, the floating island will make cruises around the world, call at ports where local residents will board, who will be allowed to use the benefits of the “Freedom Ship” - buy goods, for example, and so on. Meanwhile, citizens not involved in trade turnover can explore the surrounding area, photograph wild monkeys and local grimy children.
During stops, which will last from one to four days, boats will depart to the shore and back every half hour - the ship itself will remain in the open sea, at a distance of 12 miles, and will almost never enter port waters.
The "floating island" will be much more environmentally friendly than any other existing vessel. To do this, the ship will use high-tech toilets (each costing $3,000) that process wastewater. The water will circulate in a circle: after consumption (for example, washing), it will be able to return to the table as drinking water.
The ship will feature recycling (recycling) of paper, glass, metal and plastic. Materials that cannot be recycled will be burned, and the combustion energy will be used to run generators. Water-based paints, natural fibers and natural wood are already used in construction. In addition, the use of plastics and petroleum-based materials is minimized. Electrostatic filters will be located throughout, destroying dust, bacteria and viruses.
The ship is being built in Honduras. According to the plan, it will be assembled on water from 600 steel fragments. It is planned to attract 15 thousand workers to the construction, who will work almost around the clock - in several shifts.
Tsar and God, the author of the idea and its developer, the head of the team is an ordinary architect and engineer Norman L. Nixon, who, in order to begin building a city in the ocean, only had to obtain a “license for the development and construction of structures intended for civilians."
All calculations are carried out by Nixon's company, located in Sarasota (Florida) - Engineering Solutions. The main supplier of materials for the construction of the “water world” is a plant recently dismantled in Japan and assembled in Saudi Arabia, which is also owned by the company.
According to Nixon, the technology that will keep this colossus afloat is already widely used on floating oil rigs. Really, what speed do these towers reach? The ship's fathers say that if 98 percent of the outer modules that make up the city fail, the ship will sink no deeper than one foot into the water.
In addition, it is “known for certain” that the ship will be able to withstand any hurricane and waves, as well as tornadoes and other maritime troubles. Not a word about the tsunami... But “Svoboda” is a “virtually fireproof” vessel, as it is equipped with an automatic sprinkler system.
According to Nixon's calculations, construction will take 40 months, including assembly at sea, plus at least a year for the arrangement and construction of the "insides" of the ship. According to the engineer, at first there was an idea to build an ordinary floating house, not intended for travel. And they even chose the “mooring place” - one of the Bahamas islands - East Caicos. We thought it would be an ordinary hotel afloat - exotic and fun.
However, now everything is much more serious. Oddly enough, size doesn't really matter in this project. Firstly, “Freedom Ship” is a duty-free territory and a free trade zone, and the raison d’être of its citizens is to engage in small-scale commerce and establish business connections around the world.
Secondly, this is an experiment to create a new type of society under new conditions. “Novelty” consists of two factors: the absence of tax collections on the ship and the inability to escape from the ship. Thirdly, this is an attempt to test the water surface as a new habitat - to identify the pros and cons of living on board. Fourthly, this is a completely anti-American project, although one can argue on this point.
The most interesting thing is, of course, point two: taxes and security. Not a single citizen of the ship will pay any income tax (and after all, they will work there, so they will have income), or real estate tax, sales tax, animal tax, or duty fees - in general, no taxes.
Now about agoraphobia (fear of open space), claustrophobia (fear of enclosed spaces) and crime. From the point of view of the passenger-residents who think that they have “broken to Freedom”, the name of the ship will sound somewhat ironic and ominous. There will be one security guard for every fifteen passengers, each apartment will be under 24-hour surveillance, there will be a prison on board, and the captain will have virtually unlimited powers, the police will be armed with firearms, and so on.
In addition, something like an intelligence unit will operate on board, and against the backdrop of the fight against terrorism, it is possible that security measures will be tightened.
Mike Bluestone, a London-based security consultant, is overseeing the creation of the security structure. According to him, everything here will be the same as in an ordinary, “ground” city - petty hooligans, thieves, divorces, quarrels and litigation between neighbors. People are people. But - in any case - the consequences of small riots in the ocean can be more unpleasant than on land.
On the other hand, completely depriving people of the opportunity to live a normal life means calling into question the very idea of Freedom. Another problem is the possibility of an attack on a ship during a cruise around the world. As we wrote above, there will be a small army on the floating island that will be able to “resist terrorists” and repel the attack of pirates.
Another point of view belongs to the more skeptical Ivan Horrocks (a security specialist from the University of Leicester - Scarman Center at the University of Leicester). He believes that the cosmopolitanism of the island’s citizens can play a cruel joke on the organizers of the eighth wonder of the world: “When you create an artificial environment in which you place people with different ethnic, cultural, political ideas and attitudes, the likelihood of creating a tense situation increases sharply. Especially if it is impossible “jump ship.” Horrocks continues to instill “horror”, saying that this will no longer be a utopia, but a dystopia.
The darkest question, which is not clearly explained anywhere, is the citizenship of the ship’s inhabitants. Nixon himself says that at first he had the idea of creating an independent water state - with its own symbols, anthem flag, currency, and so on, but he “came to the conclusion that this was not only difficult, but also unprofitable - there were too many formalities.” . This idea became even more meaningless given the fact that most of the “settlers” are Europeans, and many European countries want to be associated with the “Freedom Ship” - there are both political and economic implications here.
In general, it is not yet clear which country will patronize the ship. Nixon made a Solomonic decision: the ship would sail under at least two European flags and in no case would be subordinate to the United States. Moreover, these countries must certainly be members of the European Union. This despite the fact that Nixon's company is located in Florida. What's it like?
And now about “anti-Americanism”. Parts are made in Saudi Arabia, construction is carried out in Honduras, and the crew is entirely European. From this we can draw one far-reaching political conclusion: MacDonald will not be on board.
Nixon decided that the highest authority on the floating city was the captain, who could make his own laws. But the laws must not contradict the laws of the countries exercising control over the ship and taking the ship under their jurisdiction.
The fact that all of the above is not the madness of a single engineer is evidenced by the fact that now in Japan, in the waters of Tokyo Bay, the construction of a floating mega-airport is beginning, which, similarly, will be a kilometer long and 70 meters wide.
The designers of Freedom Ship, in turn, are so confident in the success of the project that they are seriously planning to build - having already “get their hands on it” - three more of the same “floating cities”. According to Roger Gooch, Freedom Ship's marketing director, floating ships are not just exotic housing for extreme sports enthusiasts - they are housing of the future, and very soon - in ten to twenty years, hundreds of such floating inhabited islands will roam the oceans.
Sea Structures Corporation is betting on artificial islands.
Nixon also has a competitor - Richard Morris from the Free Nation Foundation, founder of the Sea Structures corporation, which also plans to build something similar. But, you understand, in such matters there is the first and everyone else. Gagarin and everyone after him.
Paying tribute to the engineer’s ingenuity, his lack of patriotism, and also realizing that the idea was hanging in the air, we are still inclined to consider the idea with this particular “Gorno-Altaisk” an adventure. And here are the reasons. Firstly, the most obvious sign that you are being scammed is that you do not see the person who is doing it in person. Honesty is the best policy, and photographs of Nixon are, alas, impossible to find.
The second sign is excessive detail in small details, including the route map, while concealing technical data: what is the ship made of, and for what reason is it called unsinkable? The data that a 100-foot wave can move a floating city by just one inch is certainly impressive, but it also sounds like idle chatter. Or take at least thoughts about the psychological compatibility of the inhabitants. The question, of course, is not an idle one. But now conducting surveys of psychologists and sociologists on this topic is somehow, at least, frivolous.
Thirdly, we haven’t heard “news from the fields” for a long time. The announcement about 2003 was made several years ago, and now there is silence. Weren't there any sponsors? Or, God forbid, what happened to Nixon himself? In general, keep quiet. And so - a good idea.
Indeed, why don’t people start exploring the ocean? Maybe this really is an opportunity to solve the problem of overpopulation? And if it’s not Nixon, then there will be another “Prometheus”, and then another and another... The idea, in fact, is great! And promising.
Construction of the floating city began in 2002.The Freedom Ship has everything you need for life and recreation. After the grandiose project saw the light of day, some began to seriously argue that with the construction of a floating ship-city, a gradual resettlement from land to water could begin.
The idea of a floating ship came to the mind of engineer Norman Nixon, who himself obtained a license to build a “steel structure intended for civilian use.” Nixon's Florida-based company, Engineering Solutions, is managing the calculations. The same company owns the plant that makes all the parts of the “Freedom Ship”. Previously, the company was located in one of the cities of Japan, but now it has been relocated to Saudi Arabia.
At first, Nixon planned to build just a floating recreation center, but the project later grew into a metropolis.
According to the company's estimates, the entire construction should take 40 months, and the interior finishing will take another 12 months. Thus, the floating city should enter the ocean as early as 2006.
A ship is being built in Honduras. More than 15,000 workers are involved in the construction, working in shifts, so work goes on around the clock.
According to the plan, the Freedom Ship should be very large: more than a kilometer long, approximately 300 meters wide. It is planned to place at least 25 decks here. The weight of the floating city is 3 million tons. The record displacement of the future giant is 2.7 million tons.
According to the calculations of the creators, at least 100,000 people will “live” in the city on the water, of which 20,000 are service personnel and a small army, which will have to maintain order on the ship.
It is planned that 80% of the residents will have their own “apartments”, and the remaining 20% will rent rooms in hotels on the ship. The entire ship will represent a city, similar to a settlement on land.
Despite the fact that the ship has not yet completed a single route, the advertising campaign is in full swing - the creators accurately describe the upcoming journey and sell apartments. The owners promise that all living spaces will be completely different - each buyer can choose an apartment to suit their taste.
Although the ship is positioned as a city in which anyone can live, the pleasure is not cheap. The simplest apartment on Freedom Ship costs approximately $800,000. Although the construction of a giant floating city is an expensive undertaking. More than $9 billion was allocated for the project, of which $22 million was spent on the construction of the construction site alone. But investors who have invested so much money in the project are confident that all these costs will pay off in full. There is no doubt about it: the city ship has not yet been launched, but 20,000 residential premises on the “Liberty Ship” have already been sold (most of the buyers are residents of the British Isles).
There is an opinion that interest in living space will increase 10 times after the ship sails. The owners think that the demand for apartments on the ship will even exceed supply. They are even going to hold auctions, so that buyers will still bargain for a place on the ship.
If you wish, you can live on the Freedom Ship without returning to land. There will be libraries, shops, cinemas, computer rooms with Internet access, colleges, universities and hospitals where qualified specialists will work. The decks will house banks, restaurants, casinos, swimming pools and stadiums. The company promises that the most famous people in the world will be invited to give concerts. In general, you won't be bored.
The floating city will not only have its own army, but even factories and workshops. 200 acres of “land” are given over to parks, gardens and woodlands. Dog breeders will walk with their pets, which they can take with them to the new “city,” in specially designated areas.
If suddenly, for some reason, someone urgently needs to go ashore, there is no need to wait for the nearest stop: a small airport will be equipped on the ship.
Small trams will travel along the decks. In addition, the ship's residents will have boats and submarines at their disposal.
In addition to the “locals”, there will also be tourists on the ship. They will be accommodated in hotels, and special excursions on the decks will be held for them.
The ship must make at least two cruises throughout the year. Throughout the journey, the ship will stop many times near cities on land, where residents of the floating city can reach by boat. Each stay will last up to 4 days.
At first, the project aroused distrust among environmentalists. However, the creators promise that the floating city will be environmentally friendly: natural fibers are used in construction. On the ship itself, waste-free production will be practiced: paper, glass, metal and plastic will be recycled, and materials that cannot be recycled will be burned. The combustion energy will be used to operate the generators, and the water will circulate in a circle. Electrostatic filters will be located throughout, destroying dust, bacteria and viruses.
It goes without saying that the giant ship project also has opponents. In particular, many believe that the “Freedom Ship” can repeat the fate of the “Titanic,” which at one time was also advertised as an unsinkable city on the water. The fact is that the Freedom Ship is based on the technology used on floating oil rigs. It is considered reliable, but these towers do not float at high speed, but are located in one place. True, the ship's designers say that everything was precisely calculated. Even if the supporting elements fail, the vessel will not sink deeper than one foot into the water. The repair work will be carried out immediately, so there is nothing to worry about. The owners even note that the “Freedom Ship” will be almost the most reliable place on our land. After all, he is not at all afraid of fires - powerful sprayers are placed throughout the entire area, and his staff includes its own firefighters. In addition, the ship is equipped with a stabilization system, which allows you to not worry at all about strong ocean waves and hurricanes.
Some opponents of the “Freedom Ship” project say that once this floating city is torn off from land, absolute anarchy could be established here. The company has the opposite opinion on this: there will be one guard for every fifteen passengers, all apartments will be monitored around the clock, and there will be a private prison on board. Mike Bluestone, a security consultant from London, argues that it will be even harder for criminals on a ship than on land, since in a floating city there is no chance of hiding - everything is in plain sight.
The floating city project has many defenders. Firstly, theoretically this is beneficial, since the ship will sail almost all over the globe, here anyone can easily engage in commerce. Living in a city-ship, you do not need to pay any taxes (but people on the ship can work, that is, have income), which becomes very attractive for many businessmen. Secondly, the best conditions are created on the ship. The owners even say that perhaps some people will live on the ship for more than one year. Consequently, the “Freedom Ship” can be considered an attempt to test the surface of the water as a new habitat.
Nixon has repeated more than once that if the city-ship is popular, then it can subsequently be transformed into a floating state, with its own symbols, flag, anthem, currency, where it will be possible to elect its own president and create its own constitution.
There are still disputes over which country the “Freedom Ship” will be subordinate to. The owners of the company note that it will definitely not be the United States; most likely, the ship will sail under the flags of two European countries, which ones are still being decided.
The owners of Freedom Ship themselves have no doubt about success. Despite the fact that the first city ship has not yet been launched, there is already talk that by 2010 5 more similar floating cities will be built.
P.S. December 4, 2013.
Freedom Ship International has announced the resumption of its project to build a “floating city”. We are talking about the largest ship in the world, on which up to 50 thousand people can live. Work will begin after the authors of the idea manage to find at least $1 billion.
A Florida firm is hoping to find investors for its unique $10 billion project, a 1.4-kilometre-long floating city. The ship, named “Freedom Ship”, should become the largest ever built by mankind and has no analogues. It is designed to be a completely self-contained place to live, heal, work, study, relax and have fun.
The project involves equipping on board the Freedom Ship apartments, clubs, art galleries, a park, a circus, ponds with waterfalls, large marine aquariums and many other various places for entertainment and relaxation. This will be the largest duty free shopping area with a giant shopping mall. The ship's superstructure, consisting of 25 decks, will provide space for libraries and schools, sports sections and fitness centers, hospitals and medical centers, shops and banks, offices and light industrial enterprises.
While remaining a cruise ship, Freedom Ship will continuously follow the same route around the globe, visiting most coastal areas around the world. Equipped with a runway and airport on its upper deck for meeting and servicing helicopters and small private aircraft, as well as its own fleet of yachts, boats and submarines, it would help passengers easily transfer from shore to shore.
According to the plan, the city will have a length of 1,370 meters, a maximum width of 229 meters, a height of 107 meters and a displacement of about 2.5 million tons. It will accommodate 100,000 people, including 80,000 passengers and guests, as well as 20,000 crew and service personnel. The hotels will provide permanent accommodation for 10,000 people.
The developers believe that the whole idea of an autonomous floating city project should be based on four main components. First of all, it is a commercial area with the necessary number of jobs, capable of satisfying the needs and interests of the entire population on board the ship. The second is adequate transport infrastructure to ensure the daily movement of goods and people. Third, a powerful all-level educational sector with highly qualified professionals. Finally, there must be a healthcare system on board the floating city with a sufficient number of medical centers and clinics. If the Freedom Ship territory receives these four "keys", the city will live and prosper, and the value of business and housing in it will increase exponentially.
Speaking about the safety of a vessel of such unprecedented dimensions, the developers assure that, thanks to a flat hull of 1,370 meters long and 229 meters wide, Freedom Ship will have unrivaled stability, ensuring a smooth ride in the roughest seas. As additional measures, it is planned to install about 600 isolated and individually controlled sections with water and air inside the building.
Having completed a multi-year design phase, the Freedom Ship team is currently trying to find investors for this extraordinary project. “This will be a very difficult project to capitalize, and the world economy has not been very interested in unproven progressive projects like ours for the last few years,” said Freedom Ship project manager Roger M. Gooch. “[But] over the last six months we have seen a lot of interest in the project, and we hope to raise US$1 billion to begin construction.” The total cost of the project is estimated at US$10 billion.
© Text: Egor Lanin, ruYachts Magazine, 2014
© Photo source: press materials
With the beginning of the 21st century, the world's major powers began a secret competition to build the most advanced warship in the world. Of course, American shipbuilders are setting a special pace.
Not long ago it was developed in the USA and has already passed sea trials. coastal ship new generation " Independence" - the lead ship of the second type, created under the program of littoral combat ships (Littoral Combat Ship or LCS). However, tests revealed a number of shortcomings. But first things first.
The program for building littoral combat ships is one of the main ones being implemented by the US Navy today. Its goal is the serial construction and commissioning of more than fifty high-speed and highly maneuverable warships equipped with the most modern strike, defensive and radio-technical weapons systems. The main task of coastal zone ships is to fight enemy forces and means in coastal waters that are unconventional for the American nuclear missile fleet in coastal waters, and not their own, but the enemy’s.
The program was brought to life at the suggestion of the Chief of Naval Operations of the US Navy, Admiral Verne Clark. In his opinion, ships in the coastal zone should occupy the zone of naval operations where the use of ships in the ocean zone is either too risky or too expensive.
We are talking about the so-called littoral zone. However, the use of the term “littoral zone combat ship” or “littoral combat ship” in Russian naval literature is not entirely consistent with Russian practice and represents a forced step - the so-called tracing translation. The fact is that in Russian science, the term “littoral” is understood as a zone of the seabed that is flooded at high tide and drained at low tide, and is thus located between the water levels at the lowest ebb and highest tide.” As we can see, this zone is not of such great importance, from the point of view of naval strategy, that a very large series of surface ships of the main class should be built for operations in it. If we take into account the foreign interpretation of the term “littoral zone,” then we get a zone of interaction between sea and land, consisting of the seashore, coastline and coastal underwater slope and capable of reaching a width from several meters to several kilometers. If we take this description into account, then in domestic naval terminology one can find a corresponding term - “coastal sea zone - (by the way, one of the meanings of the word “littoral” is precisely “coastal”). So the American ships of the LCS family (classes " Freedom" And " Independence") should be called "ships of the near sea zone". Although - this is all a matter of taste, by and large.
littoral ship concept
According to the Americans, littoral warships should become an organic complement to powerful strike forces, and their main enemies are low-noise non-nuclear submarines, surface ships of medium and small displacement, mines and mine complexes exposed in mined positions, as well as objects of the enemy’s coastal defense system. The task of the developers of this project was to create a small, fast, maneuverable and fairly inexpensive ship in the DD(X) family of warships, which would have the ability to quickly reconfigure - depending on the specific combat mission, up to supporting the launches of cruise missiles and the actions of special forces operations.
The main feature of the new warships is their modular construction principle: depending on the assigned mission and theater of operations, various combat systems and auxiliary systems can be installed on board littoral warships. In addition, the design was carried out using the “open architecture principle”, which will allow in the future to quickly and easily introduce new technical means and use the most modern ones. As a result, a fleet of littoral ships will be able to become a powerful and universal force, characterized by high combat potential, maneuverability and stealth actions.
Initially, six companies showed interest in the tender announced by the US Navy command for the coastal zone ship program, and in 2002 they received contracts of $500 thousand each to carry out preliminary design design. After evaluating the results of their work, the US Navy in July 2003 identified three consortia to participate in the tender for littoral ships, consisting of: “ General Dynamics», « Lockheed Martin», « Raytheon».
The consortiums were awarded contracts to carry out preliminary design - the first received a contract for $8.9 million, and the remaining two for $10 million. The following year they presented their preliminary designs to the American Navy.
The first group developed a middle-class surface ship according to the design that was chosen - “ General Dynamics"After analyzing the results of a study conducted by specialists from a shipbuilding company" Bath Iron Works", and based on the trial operation of trimarans previously built by the company " Austral" Among other things, the trimaran’s ability to reach a full speed of more than 50 knots and the ability to effectively operate the ship with a crew of only 25-30 people were proven. One of the significant advantages is their high performance, especially stability, buoyancy, propulsion and controllability. On the other hand, this should be especially emphasized; unlike its competitors, it was initially planned with a lesser degree of versatility than its competitors, and, according to the developers, it should solve the following problems:
- counteraction to terrorists (today, many foreign experts and anti-piracy specialists see littoral warships of the “Independence” type as the main potential means of combating sea robbers);
- combating high-speed boats, especially if they use the method of attack in a “dismembered” formation;
- search and destruction of non-nuclear submarines;
- implementation of mine action operations;
- transfer of personnel and cargo, including disembarkation and reception of special forces on board.
A group of companies led by the concern " Lockheed Martin» first unveiled its littoral ship design in April 2004, during a naval exhibition in Washington, DC. A distinctive feature of the ship was the use of a semi-planing hull shape during the design process - Western experts call it a “sea blade”. A similar hull shape was first used on high-speed seagoing vessels that won speed records on transatlantic lines, and today it is used in an adapted form on larger high-speed military and civilian transport vessels.
In order to increase their chances of winning, the developers from this consortium took into account all the requirements of the US Navy to the greatest extent possible - especially in matters of versatility, modularity and interchangeability of individual blocks and modules of weapons and various equipment.
And finally, the last group, the leader of which was the company “ Raytheon", proposed a project developed on the basis of the Norwegian small. The main contractor was responsible for the development of individual systems and the integration of all components on board the ship, while the John Mullen Association acted as an expert group on the design of the ship. It should be especially noted that this modification was designed as a “skeg-type hovercraft” (in Western terminology - “surface-effect-ship”), according to which Project 1239 was designed. Bora" However, this project was ultimately rejected by the US Navy in May 2004.
ship with a small waterline area "Sea Fighter"
While the Pentagon, Congress and shipbuilders settled preliminary issues, gradually approaching the official start of the program, admirals tested the concept of high-speed and maneuverable warships designed using unconventional designs and a modular construction principle.
The design of ships in the coastal zone was based on the design of a ship with a small waterline area " Sea Fighter", providing high seaworthiness - in near and far sea zones, in simple and stormy conditions. At the same time, one of the main conditions that the developers had to provide was the modular principle of building the ship - depending on the assigned combat missions and the theater of military operations, the ship had to ensure the integration of certain specialized replaceable combat modules. Besides " Sea Fighter“- it was mandatory to ensure the reception/release of aircraft, as well as small boats, including uninhabited ones.
The ship was designed by a British company. BMT Nidel Gee Ltd", and its construction was carried out at the shipyard of the company " Nichols Bros. Boat Builders» (Freeland, Washington). The order for it was placed on February 15, 2003, the keel was laid on June 5, 2003, the ship was launched on February 5, 2005, and was accepted into service with the US Navy on May 31 of the same year.
Technical characteristics of the ship "Sea Fighter":
Displacement - 950 tons;
Length - 79.9 m;
Width - 21.9 m;
Draft - 3.5 m;
Cruising range - 4400 miles;
Crew - 26 people;
The power plant is a combined diesel-gas turbine power plant consisting of two diesel MTU 595 and two gas turbine LM2500 units: diesel engines are used at cruising speed, and turbines are used for high speeds.
Two rotary ones are used as propulsors, placed one at a time in two catamaran hulls. The successful combination of the power plant and propulsion allows the ship to reach speeds of up to 50 knots.
There are two helicopter flight decks on board the ship, providing for the reception and release of helicopters at speeds up to full speed, and the crew has at their disposal a stern device that allows them to launch and receive on board boats or underwater sabotage or mine-anti-mine vehicles up to 11 m long.
According to the US Navy command, the ship " Sea Fighter"was supposed to allow the fleet to solve two main problems: to study the potential capabilities of ships of this design, and also to work out the modular principle of forming the ship’s onboard weapons. In the latter case, it was possible to install various container-shaped modules into the ship's hull, allowing, depending on the module, to solve the problems of anti-submarine defense, mine defense, combat against enemy surface ships, participation in amphibious operations, as well as solve problems of transporting troops and military cargo by sea and launch sea-based cruise missiles. A distinctive feature of the ship " Sea Fighter"is the presence of a through cargo deck - similar to the type of Ro-Ro class vessels.
The first tests of the ship " Sea Fighter» brought positive results. The data obtained was actively used by developers within the LCS program of both types. It is worth especially noting, however, that recently the command of the US Navy and Coast Guard has been increasingly exploring the possibility of preferential use of ships of the " Sea Fighter"as warships of the fleet, and to ensure security and law and order in their internal waters, as well as to protect national interests in the exclusive economic zone of the United States. If it is necessary to build up the forces and means of the fleet far from their own coast, ships of this type due to their high speed and cruising ranges can be quickly transferred to the designated area.
In February 2004, the Joint Military Design Compliance Review Board gave final approval to the US Navy's document justifying the purchase of littoral combat ships, and on May 27, the US Department of the Navy announced that two groups of companies led by " General Dynamics" And " Lockheed Martin", received contracts worth 78.8 million and 46.5 million dollars, respectively, to complete design work, after which they will begin building prototype ships of the zero series Flight 0: " Lockheed Martin"will build LCS 1 and LCS 3 ships, and " General Dynamics"- LCS 2 and LCS 4. Moreover, it was announced that, together with the costs of building coastal ships, the cost of contracts could increase to 536 million and 423 million dollars, respectively. This is precisely the amount that the Navy command proposed to include in the budgets of the 2005-2007 fiscal years (about $4 billion was planned for the construction of nine littoral ships for the period up to 2009 inclusive).
littoral combat ship "Freedom" LCS 1
Finally, on June 2, 2005, the head coastal ship first type LCS 1 " Freedom" - was laid down at the shipyard " Marinette Marine", in Marinette, Wisconsin, and on September 23, 2006, it was launched with pomp. The ship was handed over to the fleet on November 8, 2008.
littoral combat ship "Independence" LCS 2
The consortium led by " General Dynamics» On January 19, 2006, he began building his trimaran « Independence" - the shipyard was chosen for this " Austral USA Shipyards» in Mobile, Alabama. On April 30, 2008, the ship was launched and accepted into service in the fleet on January 16, 2010.
However, the Americans' complacent mood soon came to an end. The reason, as is the case with many other Pentagon programs, was an uncontrolled rise in prices. As a result, all work on the construction of the second class " Freedom» LCS 3 and class « Independence» LCS 4 have been suspended. But the result was the cancellation of the contract for their construction.
It should also be noted that during the sea trials of both built lead ships, a lot of shortcomings and serious technical omissions were identified.
The US Navy has just begun to test and evaluate the new Freedom-class LCS (Littoral Combat Ship), but the marketing campaign has actually already begun. 15 warships from nine countries took part in the 9th international naval exhibition IMDEX ASIA - International Maritime Defense Exhibition and Conference, which was held in Singapore from May 14 to 16.
The ships on display, based at Changi Naval Base, included patrol ships, frigates, corvettes and destroyers from Australia, France, India, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the United States. For the first time at an international salon, the leading American BKPZ Freedom, created by Lockheed Martin based on the LCS-1 concept, was demonstrated.
Construction program
Considering that in November 2012, at the Euronaval 2012 naval show, the Lockheed Martin company for the first time demonstrated a model of the multi-purpose LCS type BKPZ for foreign customers, then the first demonstration of its new ship Freedom at the show in Singapore can be considered the beginning marketing campaign to promote the concept
The LCS is a new generation of US Navy surface combatants that can operate on the high seas, but is adapted to perform a wide range of littoral combat missions. Among the main functions of the LCS are patrolling, protecting the fleet from attacks by small surface vessels, combating low-noise submarines, mine warfare, reconnaissance, and supporting the actions of special operations forces.
Due to the fact that the ships are designed using a modular concept, each of them can be repurposed to perform any of these missions in a short time. The construction of LCS ships is carried out by two main contractors under two alternative designs. The LCS-1 series is created for the US Navy by Lockheed Martin, the LCS-2 by Ostall USA.
The lead ship of the LCS-1 series, Freedom, was not only demonstrated in Singapore to the countries of the Asia-Pacific region, but will remain there for eight months, operating in the area of responsibility of the US Navy's 7th Fleet. According to the US Navy, the ship is scheduled to participate not only in the IMDEX Asia salon, but also in the CARAT (Cooperation Afloat and Readiness and Training) exercises in Southeast Asia together with regional armed forces, as well as in the SEACAT (Southeast Asia) exercises Cooperation and Training).
On board is currently a reinforced crew of 91 people, including 19 specialists to perform anti-surface combat missions, as well as an aviation unit from the 73rd attack helicopter squadron HSM-73 (Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 73). However, the basic crew consists of 40 people, to which are added the crews of combat modules and the composition of the air wing. In total, only 75 people can be based on the ship, which is due to increased automation of on-board systems and the need to reduce operating costs.
LCS-1 Freedom was developed by Lockheed Martin and belongs to the class of frigates. It is a single-hull semi-planing ship with a steel hull and an aluminum superstructure. Structural protection is local in nature; the superstructure and weapon elements are made using stealth technology. The crew is protected from weapons of mass destruction.
LCS-1 was laid down at the Marinette Marine shipyard in 2004, launched at the end of September 2006, put into trial operation in 2008, and has been in service with the US Navy since 2011. The second ship LCS-3 was laid down in 2009 and delivered in 2012. The third LCS-5 was laid down in 2011, LCS-7 is also being built, contracts have been issued for the construction of LCS-9 and LCS-11.
The cost of the first frigates of the LCS-1 type exceeds 500 million dollars, but by decision of the US Congress the price of subsequent ships is limited to 460 million. It was supposed to build 60 frigates of the selected LCS variant (LCS-1 or LCS-2) by 2030 for $12 billion, but the crisis and rising costs led to a reduction in the program to 52 ships.
Main characteristics
Length - 115.3, width - 17.5, draft -3.9 meters, total displacement of about 3089 tons. The ship is equipped with a combined four-shaft diesel-gas turbine power plant with a total power of 113 thousand hp. with four water-jet propulsion, which allows the LCS-1 to reach speeds of up to 45 knots and make transitions to a range of 3,500 nautical miles at a speed of 18 knots.
The ship can carry two MH-60B/F anti-submarine helicopters or one MH-60B/F helicopter and two or three deck-based helicopter-type unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Included in the LCS-1 armament includes a 57-mm Mk.110 gun, a self-defense system against anti-ship missiles SeaRAM with RIM-116 missiles, created on the basis of a 20-mm six-barreled anti-aircraft artillery system Mk-15 Mod.31 "Phalanx", unmanned vehicles in the anti-submarine version, robotic boats for search and destruction of mines, as well as protection from small high-speed vessels. The ships will be able to receive and transmit tactical information within the network structure to other US Navy ships, aircraft and submarines.
It can be considered as an innovative technology to place in the stern end of promising ships of the LCS type a special lift-slip or a small docking chamber for launching and receiving the ship's watercraft while underway and in sufficiently developed waves. The LCS project implements another very effective technology related to modularity. This technology was developed in the mid-70s by the German company Blohm und Voss AG. She was named MEKO (Mehrzweek Kombinationschiff - multi-purpose combined ship).
This technology involves the design of various versions of the platform ship (1000–4000 tons) and the manufacture of all weapon systems, the main power plant and other systems in the form of standard functional modules (FM); installation of these FMs in prepared cells; ease of replacing modules with obsolete weapons with new FMs. Having developed a certain number of types of FM, it is possible not to manufacture them in advance, but to store only technical documentation, which ensures the rapid design of various ship options in accordance with customer requirements.
Later, this technology was developed during the creation of ships of the LCS program. A significant difference between this technology and the previous one is that FMs for various purposes can be installed at the base point, which allows you to quickly change the functional purpose of the ship. Sets of combat equipment and the corresponding personnel are combined into combat modules (CM). The first combat vehicles were developed to solve the problems of anti-mine, anti-ship, anti-landing and anti-submarine defense.
/Nikolay Novichkov, editor-in-chief of ARMS-TASS Agency, vpk-news.ru/