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Feature 4 | RUSSIAN NAVAL PROGRAMMES
Russian naval ambitions revived
As the Russian economy prospers from energy exports, President Vladimir
Putin has resorted to the Cold War policy of sabre and cutlass rattling, with
the start of the year seeing a Russian carrier group deploy into the North
Atlantic and then sail into the Mediterranean, exercising with French and
Italian ships and visiting old friends.
T
he Russian Navy commander, likely to be joined this year by the first of the scheduled to replace the 30-year-old Grishas
Admiral Vladimir Masorin, has stated Yasen (Project 885) class ships, Severodvinsk, (Project 1124) class. It is planned to provide
the Russian Navy intends to maintain which is scheduled to have six sister ships to between seven and eight to each of the four
its world presence and has confirmed plans replace the fast-fading Victor IIIs (Project 671 fleets. Work has begun on Admiral Gorshkov,
to build a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to RTMK), now down to four hulls from 26. the first of the Project 22350 class frigates of
replace Admiral Kuznetsov while new ballistic The attack force consists of 26 hulls of five which 20 are planned, with the first-of-class
missile submarines are joining the fleet. different designs, and maintaining them is being commissioned in 2011. A feature of both
The planned new carrier, apparently nuclear increasingly a problem for Moscow. There designs is the attention paid to reducing the
powered, will be 50,000tonnes and is scheduled are eight auxiliary submarines used mostly signature, although the addition of the Kashtan
to join the fleet in the second half of the next for research. They were joined this year by self-defence system with its missile/gun mix
decade. There are grandiose plans for another Sarov (often referred to as Saratov) which is appears to compromise these intentions.
five. Yet the fact remains that the Russian Navy a bizarre concept of a diesel-electric boat with The first steps to replacing the corvette
is something of a painted lady. a nuclear reactor, possibly to help develop force were taken when the first of the Scorpion
Numerically it appears to remain a reactor designs. (Project 12300) class was laid down in 2001
formidable force as it overcomes the ills of the The surface fleet is also in poor shape with but progress has been tantalisingly slow. It
first decade of the post-Cold War era. There the single carrier, Kuznetsov, whose mechanical does not appear that the first ship has been
are some 60 submarines, 21 of them diesel- reliability has long been suspect. There are five commissioned.
electric boats of the famed Kilo (Project 877) cruisers including the venerable Kara (Project The Russians are building half-a-dozen
class augmented by the new Ladas (Project 1134B) class Kerch which is reported to have submarines and about twice that number
677) with the first-of-class Sankt Petersburg been refitted in 2005. These are augmented by of surface combatants but what they are not
joining the fleet last year and two more on the 18 destroyers, some 40 frigates, and a similar doing is building support craft. Only two mine
stocks. number of corvettes, many of them between countermeasures craft have been launched and
The first of the 24,000tonne Borey (Project 20 and 30 years old. these are both improved Natya (Project 266M)
955) class ballistic missile submarines, Yury The Slava (Project 1164) class cruiser class ships or Natya II.
Dolgoruky, was launched on 18 February. She Varyag, flagship of the Pacific Fleet, has The mine countermeasures force is largely
will have the new Bulava (SS-NX-30) missile been recommissioned following a refit in based upon 30-year-old hulls and, for a navy
system, whose technical problems appear to Vladivostok. Steps are being taken to modernise which has traditionally set great store in the
be on the verge of solution. She will join the the frigate and corvette force, and on 27 mine, there appear to be no concessions to the
12 Delta III/IV (Project 667BDR/Project February the first of the Steregushchiy (Project new technology. While the Indian Navy has
667BDRM) class and the three Typhoons 20380) class frigates was commissioned and announced a plan to upgrade half its Natyas
(Project 941). joined the Northern Fleet. and to turn them into minehunters with
The nuclear-powered attack submarines are At least five more are on the stocks and are remotely-operated vehicles and ‘one-shot’
The Russian
destroyer Admiral
Panteleyev and
the US cruiser USS
Lassen steam
alongside one
another.
Warship Technology May 2008 23
WT May 08 - p23+24.indd 23 23/04/2008 16:16:42
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