| Rosoboronexport is on the warpath against pirates In their free hours, members of the Russian delegation at the LIMA-2005 arms exhibition in Malaysia go for a swim in sea water, or more precisely, in the Strait of Malacca. Most, of course, do not think about the fact that in recent years it has been the most pirated strait in the world. Only the coastal waters of the African continent near Somalia can compete with it. Perhaps the proximity to the formidable strait, the waters of which wash the exhibition island of Langkawi, prompted the Russians for the first time to come up with large-scale proposals to suppress piracy, which today ranks alongside terrorism, drug trafficking and illegal migration.
And representatives of the federal state unitary enterprise Rosoboronexport - head of the regional department Mikhail Sukhachev and head of the department of analysis and long-term planning, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor Oleg Krivosheev - announced their proposals addressed to the states of Southeast Asia.
In the Strait of Malacca, like in the mysterious Sargasso Sea in the Caribbean Triangle, entire ships disappear. A year or two later they “surface”, but under the flag of another country - like a stolen car with altered license plates. This is the work of pirates. Sometimes they simply transfer the cargo onto their ship and disappear. And most often they break into a boarding ship, gut the cash register for a quarter of an hour, turn out the pockets and wallets of passengers and crew, and then disappear again. This method is also practiced: a person is introduced into the crew of a merchant ship, who gives the pirates information, and at the right moment drops a rope ladder. Oil tankers have also become targets for pirates - two-thirds of this energy source for Southeast Asian countries is transported by tankers, most of which travel through the Strait of Malacca. Losses from pirates in the world are estimated from 20 to 100 billion dollars a year. The world-famous insurance company Lloyd's has recently doubled its insurance rate. The United States and China have offered to introduce their warships into the region for constant patrols, but the countries in the region have not yet accepted this proposal. They (Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand) so far only finance regular patrol flights of the C-130 aircraft over pirate waters.
Based on all this, the Russians proposed an integrated coastal zone control system, including ship traffic control facilities, command posts of the navy, coast guard, customs and rescue services, similar to the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations. The system can act as a network for pirates who have become literally elusive on their small and ultra-high-speed ships. It is impossible to control them, like the light planes of drug traffickers, using old traditional means.
And although representatives of Rosoboronexport do not name the possible cost of the monitoring system they propose, they readily talk about savings: total costs can be reduced by 20-50%. And it is still clear that this thing is very expensive. Therefore, the Russians propose to complete the system in parts, step by step. First of all, introduce a “friend or foe” identification system (AIS). This system is installed on all Russian aircraft. Then install underwater distress sensors and new surveillance equipment using digital electronic maps.
What is most significant from an economic point of view is that instead of numerous and constantly cruising patrol boats and aircraft for monitoring the coastal zone, it is proposed to install over-the-horizon radar stations (OGRLS). Today only Russia and the USA produce such stations. The peculiarity of over-the-horizon location is that the long-wave range is used - tens of meters. “The electromagnetic wave emitted by the radar seems to stick to the surface of the ocean,” says Oleg Krivosheev, “detecting everything on its surface.” We would like to add that only in the long-wavelength range can an invisible aircraft built using stealth technology be detected.
Russia has such a ZGRLS called “Sunflower”. It operates around the clock, practically without shutting down throughout the year, regardless of weather and visibility. It detects targets at a distance of up to 300 km. Costs are immediately reduced by three to five times. To bring the entire Strait of Malacca under control, two “Sunflowers” are enough; however, the entire rather large coastal zone of Malaysia can be covered by a dozen such stations. The only problem is that the over-the-horizon station can only work effectively in conjunction with the “friend or foe” system. And under normal conditions it “sees” only 10-20 km. But the Russians have already found a way out: they just need to either raise the AIS equipment to a higher elevation, into the mountains, or put it on a balloon or airship. The detection range increases to 160 km.
Under the conditions stated above, pirate ships will be detected no closer than 50-70 km. This is several times more than conventional coastal locators. But even such a detection range does not guarantee the detention of sea robbers. Simple calculations based on statistics already acquired by the Malays show: the speed of interception means must be at least 200-250 km per hour, otherwise the filibusters will disappear on their favorite Indonesian coast. The Russians offered the Mi-171Sh helicopter as an interceptor. Or, even better, the ekranoplan, which Russia also has, just needs to be slightly modified. Its speed can reach 400-500 km per hour.
In general, the range of proposed means from which it would be possible to create a counter-piracy kit convenient for any country is very wide, starting with satellites and ending with distress sensors - electromagnetic and acoustic. The Nayada coastal station, the Baltika millimeter-wave radar, the Monolit station that detects any radiation from pirate transmitters, and the Kasta radar are ready to go to Southeast Asia. Let's add the Il-114 adapted for air patrol, the Yastreb and Mirage patrol boats, and the Val-E and Bereg coastal fire systems. Just take it - it will pay off with interest.
However, high-ranking Malaysian people did not come to the presentation. Apparently, they estimate the scale of destruction from pirates more modestly than the cost of a network for sea bandits. Nikolay POROSKOV, Langkawi |
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