Yeas, that's the so called "command module" for Kashtan and houses a Positiv-ME2I got no idea what that radar on the back of the 956EM is. My closest suspect is the Pozitiv-ME like here below or an older variant of such. Its a 3D phase array with a range of up to 80km, works in the X-band range and tracks up to 40 targets according to the factory information.
It would have to be for the support of the two Kashtans, doing what the Type 364 does in conjunction with CIWS.
The ship was designed during the 60s. Its US contemporary would be the Spruance class destroyer. But even by comparison, the design style looks a bit dated even by that time period.They look so... chaotic compared to USN and PLAN ships.
No, the succeeding Neustrashimyy, Admiral Grigorovich and Gepard class frigates all have full size 533mm torpedo tubes.
The reason why the Russians kept full sized tubes is these tubes are not primarily used for firing torpedoes. Instead they are used for firing long range stand off rocket propelled anti-submarine weapons like the RPK-2 Vyuga (SS-N-15). Unlike comparable weapons such as American VL-ASROC and Chinese CY-5 that fires vertical up from standard shipboard launch silos, the Russian weapon is fired horizontally over the side into the water like a conventional torpedo. Once it is in the water it orients itself into a nose up attitude, fire its rocket motor and take off onto its flight towards the target.
the reason why the Russians used this mode of operation is to enable the exact same weapon to be used by by submarines and surface ships. Submarines continue to use both full sized 533mm tubs and even larger 650mm tubes to allow long range high performance torpedo. So i5 behoves a submarine launched long range anti-submarine rocket to take full advantage of the full sized torpedo tube, In submarine operation it is also fired out of torpedo tube of a submerged submarine, float to the surface, orient itself vertically, and launch itself into its rock propellet trajectory. in surface ship operation, the weapons does exactly the same things, except the torpedo tube is above water.
the reason why the chinese gave up on these full size tubes is probably because RPK-2 is not a standard general issue weapon in Chinese service, and its Chinese equivalent does not use torpedo tubes.
I kinda miss that look. "Mountain of steel" like battleships and cruisers of the old days.
The Spruance’s were dedicated ASW ships. Their direct equivalent were the Udaloys, not Sovremenys. The Udaloys looked a lot cleaner than Sovremneys too.The ship was designed during the 60s. Its US contemporary would be the Spruance class destroyer. But even by comparison, the design style looks a bit dated even by that time period.
This is not surprising as the US was always ahead when it comes to naval ship design and introduced the first modern guided missile destroyer, the Arleigh Burke, which is used as the basis for naval destroyer design even to this day by navies around the world.
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The ship was designed during the 60s. Its US contemporary would be the Spruance class destroyer. But even by comparison, the design style looks a bit dated even by that time period.
This is not surprising as the US was always ahead when it comes to naval ship design and introduced the first modern guided missile destroyer, the Arleigh Burke, which is used as the basis for naval destroyer design even to this day by navies around the world.
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They eventually did become "near general purpose" destroyers. They retained a point-defense capability against aerial targets, but upgraded it with time (2xCIWS, 1xRAM, 1x8 Sea Sparrow). 21 out of 24 ships were upgraded with a 61 cell VLS capable of launching Tomahawk and ASROC missiles. Some ships got 8 Harpoon anti-ship missiles as well. Because they lacked area defense SAM capability, they did not get the letter 'G' added to their DD designation. Sovremmeny's lacked cruise missile land attack capability, so the two classes were roughly similar in their degree of general purpose role.The Spruance clsss was originally going to be general purpose destroyers just like the Sovremneys. They were even intended to have a massive single automatic 8 gun in the forward position for shore bombardment. But they were stripped down to almost pure ASW to save cost. When general purpose capabilities were restored to the very same Spruance hull a few years later, the result was the Ticonderoga class cruiser, the Ticos looked a lot less clean and uncluttered.
The Kidd class DDGs were a lot more powerful at air defense than the Sovremmenys. The SPS-48 has a much larger array compared to Top Plate, which makes up for lower update rate by being able to detect targets at longer ranges and use less radar time to track each target. These ships complemented the S-band SPS-48 with an additional air search radar, the L-band SPS-49.To add what Mr. Santos said, Sovremenny isn't the equal match to the Spruance; the Sovremenny's SAM defense way outclasses it. The Sovremenny's equal can be better found in the Kidd class, which has the poetic irony of all being ended up in Taiwan. Once you start having missile target illumination and more competent air search radars with a full 3D capability, the ship becomes more cluttered. Kidd's SPS-48 here, the large square arrays you see, are the direct equivalent to the Sovremenny's 'Top Plate' Fregats, with the same working principle. Main difference is the Fregats are double sided, so their update tick is double.
That's 44 per launcher vs 24 on the Sovremmeny (on the Kidd only the aft one housed 44 missiles I think). The Mk. 26 are dual arm launchers, while those on the Sovremenny are single arm, so all other things equal they would have double the firing rate. Another difference is that Mk-26 could also launch ASROC missiles.The Mk. 26 arm launchers is also another parallel to the Shtil launchers on the Sovremenny. The Mk. 26 stores and launches 44 Sea Sparrows or Standards, while the Sovremenny stores and launches 48 Shtils missiles, which are similar to the early Standards.
The Kidd class DDGs were a lot more powerful at air defense than the Sovremmenys. The SPS-48 has a much larger array compared to Top Plate, which makes up for lower update rate by being able to detect targets at longer ranges and use less radar time to track each target. These ships complemented the S-band SPS-48 with an additional air search radar, the L-band SPS-49.
That's 44 per launcher vs 24 on the Sovremmeny (on the Kidd only the aft one housed 44 missiles I think). The Mk. 26 are dual arm launchers, while those on the Sovremenny are single arm, so all other things equal they would have double the firing rate. Another difference is that Mk-26 could also launch ASROC missiles.