After the end of World War II, France built a new air defense cruiser, the Corbet. Like the T-47 destroyer, the Kolbe was an all-artillery ship, on the level of the Atlanta-class light cruisers of World War II.
At the same time, the United States was vigorously developing ship-to-air missiles, and the "3T" missile entered the practical stage of loading ships after the 50s. The effectiveness of ship-to-air missiles, which represent the status and direction of the country, greatly exceeds that of pure artillery air defense cruisers, and France, a world-class power, has also decided to launch missile cruisers.
One. In the early days, ship-to-air missiles were characterized by a huge system, a long reaction time, and a single target; cruisers were generally used as carriers, and their displacement was often more than 10,000 tons.
In order to equip small ships with a suitable ship-to-air missile as a supplement to the midpoint defense of the anti-aircraft fire network, the US Navy directly removed the Beagle's booster and developed the Tatar short-range ship-to-air missile by using the aerodynamic layout and engine of its main projectile body.
The biggest difference between the Tatars and the Beagle is the difference in guidance, in order to deal with low-altitude targets more effectively, the Tatars do not use the command guidance of the Beagle, but use semi-active radar guidance. The later version of the missile has a range of 32 kilometers to the air and 18 kilometers to the sea.
On this basis, in the early 60s of the 20th century, the United States successively built two types of missile air defense destroyers, the Farragut-class and the Adams-class. Tatar missiles were simultaneously exported to Italy and Japan, which could cope with the Tu-16 bombers of the Soviet Aerospace Forces carrying anti-ship missiles.
During the same period, two domestic aircraft carriers of France have been put into service, and the air defense of the aircraft carrier battle group is not only the aircraft but also the artillery, and the gap in the middle is too large. A T-56 test destroyer commissioned in 1962 still does not see the shadow of ship-to-air missiles, because France did not begin to study the high-tech ** missile until 1948 after the war, and the complex ship-to-air missile is even more a later story.
Two. Independence is inseparable from a great determination to be resolute. In 1958, the French Navy's ** Development Agency (ECAN) successfully developed a new anti-aircraft missile Masurica (Masurca).
German technicians participated in the missile research and development, which was also the development path of missiles after the war between the United States and the Soviet Union. Mashuka missile length 87 meters, bullet diameter 041 meters, total weight 2098 kg, maximum range 55 km, maximum shot height 22860 meters. The warhead charge is 100 kg, and a proximity fuse is used.
In terms of guidance, radio command guidance, which was commonly used in early anti-aircraft missiles, was adopted. Radio command guidance is a typical remote-controlled guide, and all the wave-emitting equipment and processing equipment are carried on the ship, which has the advantage of reducing the weight of the missile, but the disadvantage is that the anti-jamming ability is poor, and the cumulative error is large with the increase of range. Compared with the Beagle missile, which uses semi-active guidance, it is already a backward guidance method.
In general, Mashuka has reached the initial level of the first generation of ship-to-air missiles, mainly aimed at high-altitude penetrating bombers, and jet fighters also need to break through to the artillery defense circle. In terms of aerodynamic layout, launch system and guidance system, it is very similar to the Beagle missile. Compared with the British Sea Cucumber ship-to-air missile, the comprehensive performance is similar.
Mashuka, like other first-generation ship-to-air missiles, is "big", its imitation of the American MK-10 double cantilever missile launcher weighs 40 tons, the total weight of the system is 450 tons, the T-47 type 3000 tons of hull can not afford, need to build a new platform.
As a result, the French Navy began to brew the construction of a type of missile destroyer equipped with both Mashuka and Malafon to provide air defense and anti-submarine protection for the aircraft carrier group, which is the C60-class missile destroyer that opened the prelude to the second generation of French destroyers.
Three. Missile destroyers are centered on missiles and have a decisive impact on the overall performance and layout of the carriers.
The C60-class lead ship, USS Suflen (D602), was launched in 1962, launched in 1965, and entered service on July 20, 1967. The second ship, the Duquesne (D603), began construction in 1964, was launched in 1966 and entered service on April 1, 1970. The ship's name is taken from famous admirals in history.
The length of the ship is 158 meters, and the width is 155 meters, draft 725 meters, standard displacement 5335 tons, full load displacement 6870 tons. It is powered by 4 boilers, 2 steam turbines, and twin shaft propulsion, with a total power of 72,500 shaft horsepower. The maximum speed is 34 knots, and the maximum cruising range is 5100 nautical miles 18 knots. The staffing is 345 people, including 27 officers, 220 non-commissioned officers, 98 sailors, and 10 can accommodate others.
In order to arrange a huge ship-to-air missile system, the first broadboard long deck ship type is adopted. The superstructure is divided into two sections, the front section is the bridge and the chimney. The chimney mast invented in Italy is adopted, and the structure is slender. The rear superstructure mainly houses electronic equipment, with a miniaturized rear mast at the top. Between the front and rear superstructures is the Maravon anti-submarine missile platform.
The overall ship shape is triangular, steady, handsome, and mighty, completely getting rid of the design of World War II. Even if there is a large air-to-air search radar fairing with a diameter of 11 meters above the bridge, and inside is a DRBI-23 three-coordinate air-to-air search radar, which still does not lose its beauty. Later, the Dutch Tromp-class frigates adopted the same design.
Two 1953 100 mm 55 times diameter naval guns are arranged in the bow, which are mainly responsible for close-range air defense, and one DRBN31 fire control radar in front of the bridge indicates the target.
The Marafon anti-submarine missile, proven on the T-56, takes on the long-range anti-submarine mission of the C60, and the system is located between the fore and aft decks of the ship, with 13 bombs and a range of 10 kilometers. The short-range anti-submarine is 2 L5 anti-submarine torpedo tubes, with a torpedo range of 7 kilometers and 10 bombs.
A set of Mashuka ship-to-air missile systems is located in the rear. The double cantilever launcher is located in the stern and is 445m with a height of 4m and a pointing range of -6° to +70°. The servo and ammunition feeding system is located behind the launcher, and each cantilever corresponds to 1 set of ammunition machines and magazines, each magazine has 17 ammunition and 2 training ammunition. The warehouse can also hold 10 missiles in a disassembled state.
Two fire control radars of the DRBR-51 type are located in the rear and provide two fire channels, which can simultaneously guide 2 missiles to attack 2 targets.
In addition, there is 1 DRBV15A anti-aircraft search radar. The sonar is equipped with two types, namely the DUBV23 hull sonar and the DUBV43 towed depth sonar, which has strong submarine search capabilities.
France, obsessed with the status of a great power, began to plan to make it a light cruiser. Since the large size of destroyers has become a trend, France finally dismissed this idea and insisted on calling the cruiser Joan of Arc *** an aircraft carrier. The same was true of the county-class destroyers, whose hulls were developed from the cancelled light cruisers. This also reflects the characteristics of missile destroyers: missiles decide on the carrier.
Compared with the air defense destroyers of the same period, the C60 is properly equipped with various types of ** and electronic equipment, and has strong air defense and anti-submarine combat capabilities. The Japanese Tianjin-class destroyers were upgraded to a considerable level.
Four. The C60 type was originally planned to build 3 ships, but in the 60s, the main development direction of the French Navy was on aircraft carriers and ballistic missile nuclear submarines, and in the end only 2 were built, which basically met the needs of the aircraft carrier formation.
The construction period of the two ships was very long, and the first ship, the Suflen (D602), started construction in 1962 and entered service in 1967; The second ship, the Duquesne (D603), began construction in 1964 and entered service in 1970. Affected by the economy and technology, the long construction period has gradually become a characteristic of the French Navy. The later nuclear submarines and the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle were basically like this.
After the C60 was put into service, it accompanied the aircraft carrier for a long time and was deployed in Toulon and Brest respectively.
The ambitious French procured only 3 systems. One of them was intended to upgrade the artillery cruiser Kolbe, and the remaining two were intended for the C60. The complexity and high cost of ship-to-air missiles prompted France to introduce Tatar medium-range ship-to-air missile systems from the United States in 1962 and modify four T-47s.
On the one hand, the line of ship-to-air missiles is the continuous improvement of Mashuka. During the long service period, France continued to improve the Mashuka missile system, and finally realized the semi-active radar guidance of the missile, the model MARK 2 MOD 3, which improved the missile's hit rate.
The Suffron was decommissioned in 2001 and the Duquesne held out until 2007, with both ships having been in service for more than 30 years. In general, the French Navy has maintained the equipping of both domestic and American medium-range ship-to-air missiles, which reflects its intention of independence to the greatest extent.
On the other hand, the high cost and similar status quo have promoted the joint research and development of armaments by major European countries. Thereinto. Britain and France are the most typical, one is weak to rise, and the other is weak. In the 90s of the 20th century, Britain, France and Italy completed the research and development of the Aster ship-to-air missile, and equipped it to the Horizon class in service at the beginning of the 21st century.
During service, the C60 underwent adaptation improvements. After the Exocet missile entered service, the C60 added four MM38 Exocet anti-ship missile launch boxes at the forward end of the aft deck at the end of the 70s, with a missile range of 40 kilometers.
Around the 90s, the electronic system was upgraded to improve early warning detection and electronic warfare capabilities, including Sagai jamming bombs, water spirit acoustic decoys, etc. There is also information that a new type of towed line array sonar has been installed, which can be used in combination with the original deepening sonar.
At the end of its service, the Maravon anti-submarine missile system was dismantled, and it was replaced by the Milas anti-submarine missile jointly developed by Italy and France. In April 1998, France withdrew from the programme for budgetary reasons.
In 2005, the French Navy's Horizon-class air defense destroyer, armed with Aster missiles, entered service. At this point, the C60 destroyer was successfully retired, and France finally maintained the record of purchasing ship-to-air missiles only once.
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