RUSSIAN NAVAL PROGRAMMES
Russia seeks fleet renewal A
CCORDING to the Russian Navy’s commander-in-chief, Admiral Vladimir
Masorin, in the next 20 years almost all of the existing Russian fleet will be replaced. What he did not elaborate on when he made these remarks recently was what it will be replaced with. The Russian Fleet currently has a nominal
59 submarines, 69 major surface combatants (carriers to frigates), 96 minor surface combatants (corvettes to minesweepers), 31 major amphibious warfare ships, and 20 replenishment ships. To replace this force on a one-for-one basis even over 20 years is ambitious, but a puzzling factor is what will be the shape of the Russian Navy by 2027? Admiral Masorin has made it clear that
the new ships will be designed with longer operational lives than their predecessors, 35-40 years compared with 15-20, and that they will be manned only by professional servicemen, leaving conscripts to shore duties. At the same time Defence Minister Mr Sergei
Ivanov has stressed the need for a new naval strategy to 2020 which is to be developed by the Naval Collegium during the current 2007-2015 state plan for the navy and the naval industry. He also emphasised the need to re-establish Russia as a major naval power - as in the days of the Cold War - but has stated that Moscow will acquire only 31 ships by 2015. However, the current construction activity
and announced plans present a more complex scenario. While the remnants of the Soviet Fleet still provides a basis for power projection, there are no signs of any replacements for the largest surface combatants such as anti-air warfare cruisers and destroyers of the Slava and Sovremenny classes. Work does continue on the 1900-tonne
Steregushchiy (Project 20380) class light frigates, which are essentially anti-submarine platforms, and are often referred to by the Russians as corvettes. The fourth ship, Stoiky, was laid down on
10 November 2006 at the Severnaya yard in St Petersburg, and the lead ship began her trials earlier this year. These ships have 3M24 Uran (SS-N-25 'Switchblade') surface-to-surface and the Medevka (SS-N-29) anti-submarine missiles, while self-protection is provided by the Kashtan combined missile-gun system. Steregushchiy will be commissioned next
year with her sister-ships following at annual intervals, and they are designed to replace the Grisha (Project 1124) class ships of which there are currently 25, but even the original plan envisaged only 10 of the new frigates. Also underway are the Scorpion (Project 12300)
class corvettes which are anti-surface warfare platforms armed with the supersonic 3M55 Oniks (SS-N-26) anti-ship missiles, cousins of the Brahmos which has been selected for the new families of India's surface combatants. They are also armed with the Kashtan point-defence system but at 470tonnes are very much coastal, rather than ‘blue water’ ships. The Russian Defence Ministry is planning to
spend the equivalent of some US$45 billion on new naval equipment by 2015, but in the absence
WARSHIP TECHNOLOGY MAY 2007 The Udaloy class destroyer Admiral Levchenko steams with a US Navy cruiser in the background.
The Russian destroyer RFS Natoychiviy (DD 610).
of any evidence it seems a substantial amount of this money will be used to keep many of the existing ships in service. A year ago it was reported the Severnaya yard
would lay down the first of the 4500tonnes Project 22350 general purpose ships, but there are currently no signs that this has been done. It was reported that the Russian Navy was seeking up to 10 of these vessels, which may have been based upon the Talwar (Improved Krivak III) anti-air warfare frigates being built for India and featuring surface-to-surface, surface-to-air, and anti-submarine systems, as well as a 130mm gun. Progress on the Project 1244.1 (Grom class)
frigate Novik and the second Project 1154 (Neustrashimy class) frigate Yaroslav Murdryy appears to be continuing at the Yantar yard in Kaliningrad. However, the same yard has been selected
(pressed might be a better word) by Moscow to build three Improved Talwars for India in a $2 billion programme in which the first ship will be commissioned in 2012, and it seems likely that the prospect of a major export contract will lead Yantar to put the Russian Navy programmes on the stocks. Meanwhile, the Zelenodolsk yard in Kazan appears to be completing the second Project
11661 (Gepard class) frigate Dagestan, which will join her sister ship Tartarstan on the Caspian. Russian submarine plans seem firmer, but
still reflect what appears to be an unbalanced approach in creating the fleet of the future. The emphasis is upon upgrading the strategic missile force by 2016 and to base it upon the Borey (Project 955) class submarines with R-30 Bulava (SS-NX-30) missiles. The first-of-class, Yuri Dolgoruky, will be delivered this year, leaving the slipway on 15 April and being commissioned next year, and Mr Ivanov has claimed (apparently optimistically) that three will be completed by 2010. The development of the new class has,
however, been plagued by the lack of a suitable missile system. The Boreys were originally scheduled to receive a system dubbed by the West, SS-NX-28, but after three unsuccessful tests this was cancelled. A new weapon, Bulova (SS-NX-30), was developed based upon the proven Topol (SS-27) land-based missile but this weapon has also been plagued by a humiliating string of test failures from the Typhoon (Project 941) class Dmitry Donsko. Some 12-14 successful launches will be
required before Bulava is operational and the programme has been set back by up to four
17
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68