Despite the fact that there is no single international system for classifying ships, in modern military affairs it is customary to separate ships equipped with a wide variety of missiles into a separate class. A warship with missiles on board is a missile cruiser. There may be weapons designed to attack other ships, and missiles to strike at ground and air targets. Strategic missile systems deserve special mention.
Classification of Russian warships
In the classification system adopted in Russia, a warship with missiles on board is:
- heavy nuclear missile cruiser;
- heavy missile cruiser;
- heavy nuclear missile submarine cruiser;
- nuclear missile submarine cruiser;
- strategic nuclear missile submarine cruiser;
- large nuclear submarine;
- large anti-submarine ship.
Apart from this classification is a whole subclass of small missile ships that appeared in the Soviet Union for the defense of coastal territories. Such ships occupy an intermediate position between missile boats and missile ships of large displacement. This type of missile ships, however, did not receive wide distribution, since low seaworthiness does not allow them to significantly move away from the coast, which significantly limits their use. In the Soviet Union, such ships were built, including hovercraft.
Peter the Great: one of a kind
Each of these ships is a technically complex combat system. For example, on a heavy missile cruiser, in addition to missiles, two helicopters are also present to repel air attacks. Such a ship can hit targets on land, and at sea, and in the air. He also has systems for hitting submarines. Electronic equipment allows you to simultaneously track several targets located in different environments, and effectively hit them. In the Russian fleet there is only one such warship with missiles on board.
What is the name of such a cruiser? "Peter the Great". This is the largest ship based in the Arctic. The largest of all Russian warships and one of the most powerful in the world. Only the largest American cruisers can compare with its armaments.
More than a thousand sailors, including 105 officers, serve on it. Food and water reserves on board allow it to be autonomously in the sea for up to two months. A power plant provides for three years of sailing without refueling.
The invisible power of "Dmitry Donskoy"
An underwater warship with missiles on board is, first of all, an atomic cruiser equipped with long-range strategic missiles.
The longest and heaviest submarine in the world was launched in 1980, but its name "Dmitry Donskoy" received only in 2002, when it was put into operation after a long modernization.
It is assumed that precisely on this ship the Bulava missiles will be installed, the development of which is being carried out by the Moscow Institute of Heat Engineering, which is considered the leading design agency in the field of nuclear deterrence.
Cruiser Moscow
A warship with missiles on board is not only a means of combating other military vessels, but also a way to demonstrate the political and economic power of the state. Indeed, not every country can afford the design, development, production and maintenance of such a colossal structure. All stages of the development of a ship of this class require the highest professionalism and technical equipment.
A ship of this class in the Black Sea Fleet is its flagship - a warship with missiles on board the cruiser "Moscow". Its main purpose is to provide fire support for the landing force and air defense of other ships traveling with it in the same group.