There are many obscure points in this story. The American side does not want to disclose details. The command of the Russian naval aviation is also modestly silent after a brief information message transmitted on Cosmonautics Day 2014. However, the scarce data was enough for the American destroyer Donald Cook to become famous all over the world. This ship is quite new, equipped with everything necessary, and despite the fact that its dimensions are not record-breaking, it could symbolize the naval power of the United States, for which it was sent to the Black Sea. As workers in the circus say in such cases, the number failed.
Exciting plot
In April, a drama began to unfold near the Russian borders, dubbed the anti-terrorist operation, but in fact it became a real civil war. After a successful coup against the rebellious eastern regions, the new Ukrainian authorities sent regular troops with artillery, tanks, tactical ballistic missiles and all other weapons originally made to fight a strong and dangerous external aggressor. Crimea managed to avoid the sad fate of the victim, the population of the peninsula voted for independence and accession to Russia.
In the midst of this boiling turmoil, accompanied by bloodshed, the US destroyer Donald Cook entered the Black Sea. It remains only to guess the true purpose of this visit, but you can come to certain conclusions by understanding the combat capabilities of this ship.
Series "Arly Burke" and its 25th instance
The Americans have their own national heroes, and they name a particular cruiser, frigate, or destroyer in their honor. Donald Cook, captain of the United States Marine Corps, fought in Vietnam and died of illness (malaria) while in captivity. Even in the homeland of this hero there is no consensus on how fair this war was. Feats are also unknown, if any, committed by Cook before his capture. However, is it really that important? The captain fought for his country where he was sent, and died in 1967. In his honor, the 25th unit of the most massive post-war series of American warships was named. In total, it is assumed that the number of twins of this destroyer will exceed 60.
The project "Arly Burke" seemed to the Pentagon leadership so successful that it had high hopes. In 1983, when the lead ship of the series was laid, he impressed with his contours, technologies used in construction, and even appearance.
Surface-to-shore destroyer
Any naval series consists of ships that are similar in appearance, differing from each other the stronger, the later the unit departed from the slipway. The destroyer Donald Cook was launched in 1997, and was accepted into the combat strength of the fleet after 15 months. This ship can not be called obsolete, it has powerful missile weapons, is equipped with the most advanced electronic means, is protected from various possible damaging factors and is almost invisible on radars. However, the destroyer has some features due to the nature of specific fire capabilities. The fact is that its airborne anti-ship systems are presented very modestly. Four Harpoon-type cruise missiles (subsonic and small) are clearly not enough to conduct a serious naval battle against a powerful enemy. In other words, the US Navy destroyer Donald Cook is designed to strike coastal targets in conditions of complete domination and lack of resistance from the enemy fleet. To do this, he has “Tomahawks” (according to the number of cells under the deck of the Kyrgyz Republic there can be up to 90 pieces).
About the Aegis System
But not only for firing at cities and coastal positions this ship was created, costing a billion military budget (at prices of the second half of the 90s). The main share of this astronomical amount is accounted for by the latest electronics integrated into the design of the hull and add-ons. The multifaceted angular cabin not only serves as a covering of rooms, on its inclined planes the antennas of radiators and receivers of radar signals are mounted. They sensitively monitor hundreds of possible targets, and, transmitting information to the computer control complex, ensure the safe execution of the combat mission. The Aegis system is subject to fifty anti-aircraft missiles capable of hitting ICBMs in near space. The American destroyer Donald Cook, by design, is a mobile element of the global missile defense system, conducting reconnaissance and in automatic mode, like a robot that develops strategic-level decisions.
In addition to the antennas that are stationary relative to the hull, the ship also has another AN / SPY-1 radar that performs many functions, from detecting low-flying objects to observing spy satellites.
Destroyer as a ship
It makes sense to dwell on the question of what the naval destroyer “Donald Cook” is in the shipping sense. The characteristics of the ship are not unique, but they are good. With a total displacement of 8.9 thousand tons, it has a length of 153 meters, a width of 20 m and a draft of 9.4 m. Non-magnetic high-strength magnesium-aluminum alloys are used to make the underwater part of the hull, which increases the anti-torpedo resistance and reduces visibility for enemy systems detection. The power part, loaded with two screws, consists of two gas turbines LM2500-30 General Electric company with a total capacity of 108 thousand liters. from. Maximum speed - 32 knots, autonomy 4,400 miles (cruising 20 knots). The crew consists of 337 team members, of which there are 23 officers. Kubrick and combat posts are protected by strong and light Kevlar panels, which also became a revolutionary solution.
Screws deserve special admiration. These propulsors, as a rule, give out the ship with their noise generated as a result of cavitation processes, and the acoustic stations of submarines can easily determine the type of moving object, its speed and distance to it. Each of the Cook's propeller blades is equipped with a special tubular system forcing air to the ends of the edges. The result is a bubble cloud that distorts the sound “portrait” of the ship and absorbs noise. How justified are the funds spent on the development and manufacture of this complex system is not known, because the destroyer can be detected by many other means of warning.
VET and air defense system
A ship at sea faces many troubles. In the event of war, the adversary shows an insistent desire to sink him to the bottom, and does everything he can to do this. He puts mines, sometimes equipped with devices of multiplicity (if you know which score the most important enemy ship will follow), they are equipped with fuses of various types. In addition, torpedoes, missiles, and, of course, aircraft are used. At the shipyards, “Bath Iron Works” took care to protect the US Navy destroyer “Donald Cook” from all these misfortunes. Its armament includes ASROC-VL anti-submarine missile torpedoes, “Standerd-2” anti-aircraft missiles for intercepting targets at long distances, ESSM anti-aircraft missiles, firing at a sneaking enemy and even SM-3 airborne interceptors.
Bridging the gap in the anti-ship class, the designers plan to equip the ship with the promising LRASM complex. In general, there are many weapons. But it turned out to be useless even during the training raid of the not-so-modern Su-24 bomber. The destroyer Donald Cook has gone blind.
Combat path and experience
From the moment of launching, the ship was idle. At first it was based in Norfolk, since 2012 it was assigned to the Spanish port of Rota, where the US Navy base is deployed. In 2000, during the events in Aden, the destroyer Donald Cook assisted another ship, the Cole, rammed by a boat with suicide bombers. The first Tomahawk salvo in Iraq in 2003 produced the same Cook. He has been on many long hikes, plowed the seas around the world, participated in exercises, including international ones. The crew of the ship demonstrated good training and coherence, high qualifications and a certain courage shown during the execution of tasks.
Chronicle of events
Mean facts describe the chronology of the entire period the destroyer was in the Black Sea in 2014. The ship passed the Bosphorus on April 10, on the day of the liberation of Odessa from German-Romanian invaders. For about two days, the compound, which in addition to the Cook included the naval reconnaissance Dupuis de Lom, the rescue Alize, and the Duplex destroyer of the French Navy, made various maneuvers at a relatively short distance from Sevastopol. On April 12, an approaching aircraft appeared on the radar screens, heading straight for the Donald Cook. The destroyer "Su" noticed (even determined the type of aircraft, and the fact that it is not armed), and a combat training alert was announced on the ship. Further events for some time remained a mystery.
Escape
Pentagon officials have expressed extreme indignation at the actions of Russian pilots. They characterized them as unprofessional and hostile. The statement was emotional and harsh, but confusion was read between its lines. Suddenly the famous destroyer Donald Cook, whose photo was published with mocking comments by many media around the world, docked at the Romanian port of Constanta, and 27 demoralized members of his team expressed a desire to resign. The blame is the Russian plane, allegedly violating all conceivable norms of international law.
Montreux Convention
One of the international maritime treaties referred to by the American side is called the Montreux Convention. According to it, in the Black Sea, warships of countries that do not have their own water area can be located no more than 21 days, and their total tonnage cannot exceed 30 thousand tons per country. The destroyer "Donald Cook" did not really violate this convention, however, shortly before the events described, another US Navy ship, the Taylor, was somewhat delayed, allegedly repairing the screws. The purpose of the Cook’s last visit was clearly a “flag demonstration,” but besides this, the crew most likely had another secret task.
What if the war?
The connection between the presence of the international squadron near the Russian coast and the Ukrainian events, in general, was not disputed or denied by anyone. As the conflict developed, the danger of its transition to the military stage increased. Without creating any illusions about the capabilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the American side could consider the likelihood of helping them in the form of intelligence without involving their army in a possible full-scale war. Probably, the US Navy destroyer Donald Cook was also planning to collect such information. The parameters of defensive systems, the deployment of air defense systems, communications centers and other important elements of the military structure of the Black Sea Fleet could be of interest to the General Staff of the Armed Forces, to which this information would be immediately transferred in case of war.
So what happened?
In fact, nothing terrible happened to the American destroyer. He safely left the inhospitable region of the Black Sea. The planned visit to Odessa did not take place due to a deep moral trauma experienced by the crew. The reason for this annoyance is the Khibiny’s compact electronic warfare system, mounted on the console of the Su-24 bomber, which was no longer armed, which passed a dozen times above the ship at extremely low altitude. Apparently, so much of his belly with oil drips was so upset with the Cook team as being aware of his vulnerability and even helplessness. It would seem that here he is - a likely adversary, and he acts in a training mode. So learn, practice the techniques of using your air defense! But the system failed. Temporarily. The Russians didn’t even ruin anything, although they could. The plane flew off and the Aegis started up again.
Summary and Conclusions
The essence of the Pentagon's claims to Russian aviation, by and large, was that our pilots showed some kind of disrespect. Well, perhaps a certain intolerance did take place. Equally impolite in 1988, Soviet sailors rammed the US Navy destroyer Caron, which tried to enter the territorial waters of the USSR. Crimea, indeed, has long been attracted to foreign squadrons, striving to visit the peninsula not always with friendly intentions.
As for the destroyer "Donald Cook", it is still not worth underestimating its combat capabilities. This is a modern and seriously armed ship that underwent modernization in 2012. It is possible he now has yet another.