Recently, the US media "Tactical Report" website reported that Saudi Arabia has launched relevant negotiations with China, hoping to purchase Chinese drones and aircraft carriers, and a close adviser to Saudi Crown Prince Salman has intervened in the supervision and negotiation of this negotiation. Follow up...
Considering that the monthly fee for the "Tactical Report" is as high as 700 US dollars, for such an expensive monthly fee, its content must have a very high degree of credibility. Therefore, Saudi Arabia's plan to introduce Chinese drones aircraft carrier may not be groundless.
"drone carrier" can and can only be called a drone carrier.
aircraft carrier in English is aircraft carrier, amphibious assault ship in English is amphibious assault ship. The Indian media Eurasia Times previously referred to the Type 076 super amphibious assault ship as assault drone aircraft carrier (Drone Carrier Assault Ship), multifunctional amphibious assault ship (landing helicopter dock), and assault carrier (assault carrier). What Saudi Arabia plans to purchase this time is a drone carrier. The difference between
drone carrier and assault carrier, amphibious assault ship, and aircraft carrier is really huge. It is obvious that this type of professional military media cannot make mistakes in the introduction of the article. In other words, what Saudi Arabia plans to purchase is not 075 or 076 but a true UAV aircraft carrier. Therefore, what Saudi Arabia plans to purchase can and can only be a UAV aircraft carrier similar to Bosha No. 1.
The Saudi Navy’s own strength is quite average. Is it possible that the purchase of drone aircraft carrier is to escort the Gulf of Aden?
Saudi Arabia is always willing to spend money to pave the way. It once spent money to buy two Mistral-class amphibious assault ships for Egypt, and also spent money to buy an island-class frigate for Pakistan. But the strength of the Saudi Navy itself is quite average. Even the Saudi Navy cannot beat the Iranian Navy. The Saudi Navy's main ships are only three Riyadh-class missile frigates and several Avant-2200 missile frigates. In addition, there are only a few Avant-garde 2200 and Saudi version of the littoral combat ship that have not yet been delivered.
avant-2200
But for a country, naval construction needs to revolve around the actual needs of the country. Saudi Arabia's main imaginary enemy is Iran. It is obvious that the narrow Persian Gulf is not suitable for large surface ships. In the confrontation between Iran and Saudi Arabia, the navy is certainly indispensable, but its significance is also quite limited. Therefore, both Iran and Saudi Arabia mainly use small and medium-sized surface ships. Therefore, the Saudi Eastern Fleet does not need a UAV aircraft carrier at all.
The Saudi Eastern Fleet certainly does not need a UAV aircraft carrier, but what about the Saudi Western Fleet? Piracy activities in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea are very rampant. Even if many countries send surface ships to perform escort missions, it is not enough. Because there are so many pirates, the escort ship is quite big.
Therefore, for the Saudi Western Fleet, a drone aircraft carrier similar to the Bosha 1 can be said to be quite suitable. The performance of rotary-wing drones is not weak.
The Golden Eagle CR-500 UAV has a flight altitude of 4,000 meters, a maximum speed of 140 kilometers, a weapon load of 150 kilograms, a battery life of 5 hours at full load, and a combat radius of 150 kilometers. It can take off and land autonomously in level 6 windy weather, and can carry up to 8 light air-to-ground missiles. The Golden Eagle UAV that can carry missile , for the Somali island with at most RPG, the Golden Eagle-500A UAV with anti-tank missile can be described as a god of death.
What’s more important is that the UAV aircraft carrier has many take-off points. Bosha 1 has a total of 5 take-off points, This means that Bosha 1 can perform escort missions at 5 or more positions at the same time , which is unthinkable for a destroyer and frigate with only one take-off point.
What's more, the cost of using drones is very low. It is true that the combat radius of manned helicopters is much larger than that of unmanned helicopters, but the cost of using manned helicopters is also much higher than that of unmanned helicopters. Low-cost unmanned helicopters can greatly reduce the cost of escorting the Gulf of Aden, thus increasing the economic activity of the Gulf of Aden.
In addition, the risk cost of the unmanned combat system is very low. The Saudi army is literally the prince's army. As a result, the Saudi army has a low tolerance for sacrifice, and the unmanned combat system will not kill people. This can be said to be quite suitable for the prince's army who cherishes his life.
When pirates board the ship, in conventional operations, special forces need to be dispatched to board the ship to rescue the hostages, but the drone aircraft carrier does not. The drone aircraft carrier can use the drone to airdrop the robot dog, thereby reducing the casualties of Saudi combatants in close firefights.
However, the self-defense firepower of the Bosha No. 1 is only 0, and the number of carrier-based aircraft is limited. Therefore, the Saudi version of the drone aircraft carrier may need to increase the number of carrier-based drones and add a self-defense system based on the Bosha No. 1? Let’s draw one when we have time.
