Military expert Dmitry Boltenkov — how the Russian Navy will develop in the coming years
In Severodvinsk, the eighth Prince Pozharsky Project 955A Borey-A nuclear submarine was accepted into the Russian Navy. The submarines of this project carry ballistic missiles on board.
During the tests, such nuclear-powered ships must launch the Bulava rocket. Interestingly, there were no official reports about the launch of such a rocket from the Prince Pozharsky. However, unofficial sources confirm this launch. The boat was commissioned with the participation of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces, President Vladimir Putin, and was a good gift on the eve of Navy Day. Vladimir Putin also held meetings on the prospects of underwater shipbuilding, during which new details of the future appearance of the Russian submarine forces became known.
"This is one of the priorities — building up the grouping of strategic submarine forces. And, of course, the priority here is, first of all, the construction of strategic missile submarines — one of the most important components of our nuclear triad, which, I repeat, allows Russia to maintain the balance of power in the world," the president said.
In the coming years, four more Borei-A submarines will be added to our naval nuclear forces as planned. Two of them are under construction. These latest-generation strategic submarines are armed with Bulava ballistic missiles, as well as other modern weapons.
It is known that the 9th and 10th buildings of project 955A with the names "Dmitry Donskoy" and "Prince Potemkin" were laid down in 2021, and given that the construction period of such a boat is eight years, they will become part of the Navy until 2030.
In addition, it became clear that two more similar submarines will be laid, the completion date of which lies in the range of 2034-2036.
As a result, in the mid-2030s, Russia will have two divisions of strategic missile submarines in the Navy. The boats of the previous generation, Project 667BRDM, will be withdrawn from the fleet by this time.
Thus, our underwater component of the strategic nuclear forces will be qualitatively ahead of similar ones in the US and British Navies, whose new-generation Columbia and Dreadnought missile carriers will begin to enter the Navies of these countries only in the first half of the 2030s.
"The main strike potential of the Navy's general-purpose forces is based on the Yasen-M project multipurpose submarines. Four Yasen-M project multipurpose nuclear-powered cruise missile submarines are under construction at Sevmash. The construction of two more submarines of this project is in the near future," Vladimir Putin also said.
We are talking about the Perm project 885M boat launched on May 27 this year, which became the first full-time carrier of the Zircon hypersonic missile. Taking into account the fact that the completion and testing of such boats afloat is underway throughout the year, the Perm submarine will join the Navy next year.
Three more similar boats named Ulyanovsk, Vladivostok and Voronezh are also being built on Sevmash's slipways. They will all be part of the Navy until 2030. There was also confirmation of the construction of two more submarines of this project. Thus, the Russian Navy will have 11 similar boats in service.
The President also said, "The last thing I would like to discuss is promising developments in the field of underwater marine multifunctional robotic systems." This probably includes the carrier of the Poseidon complex and other promising submarines of the Khabarovsk submarine.
In addition, it became clear how many non-nuclear submarines the Russian Navy will replenish. "Non-nuclear submarines of Project 677 are under construction. The lead submarine Kronshtadt has already been accepted into the Navy in 2024. In total, it is planned to build at least nine such submarines," Vladimir Putin said.
Currently, the second production boat of Project 677 named Velikiye Luki is being completed afloat by Admiralty Shipyards and may become part of the Navy by the end of this year.
Vologda and Yaroslavl are located on the stocks. The nine new submarines are probably a submarine brigade of six for the Northern Fleet and a division of three for the Baltic Fleet.
On June 11, the Yakutsk submarine of Project 636 joined the submarine forces of the Pacific Fleet. Thus, Admiralty Shipyards supplied the Black Sea and Pacific fleets with two brigades of six boats each. The construction of the boats of this project has been completed.
Other news came the day before, for example, Andrei Kostin, chairman of the Board of Directors of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, promised to test the Admiral Nakhimov nuclear missile cruiser by the end of the year. He has been in non-combat condition since 1997. Active repairs with a radical restructuring of the ship — in fact, all the insides were removed and replaced — began in 2013. And now the finish line has already become visible. At the same time, Kostin said that the repair of the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov should be stopped due to the ship's natural old age. And the ship itself must either be sold abroad or disposed of. But it's not just these two ships that are stuck in the docks.
Since 2014, the frigate Admiral Chabanenko has been under repair and modernization.
Now the Navy needs new ships of the frigate or corvette class. The fleet is currently based on frigate-BOD class ships built back in the 1980s, they are outdated both morally and financially. The construction of Project 22350 frigates to replace them is extremely slow.
Only the Admiral Isakov is being completed afloat, and four more ships have not even been launched, which pushes back their completion date to the early 2030s. A number of corvettes of the 20380 family, which have proven themselves well in long-range sea voyages, are also being built. But in the meantime, in the coming years, only two — "Strict" and "Agile" — will join the Navy.
The tests of the Amur River pontoon dock at the Amur Shipbuilding Plant (ASZ) give optimism. It will allow frigates to be launched already, which will make it possible to include new ships of this class in the fleet construction program. ASZ is actively building corvettes for the Pacific Fleet.
And now the ships are actively leaving the stocks. So, on May 30, the Vladimir Andreev BDK was launched in Kaliningrad, and a new Sergey Kabanov BDK was laid in its place on July 8. Minesweepers of the 12700 project are also being actively built. The first minesweeper Alexander Ivannikov for the Northern Fleet has already been commissioned. The Polar minesweeper is preparing for testing. New bookmarks are also expected.
The experience of local conflicts shows the increasing danger from underwater mines and objects. The oceanographic research vessel Vice Admiral Burilichev was launched in Vyborg not so long ago, and another similar vessel, Almaz, will soon be tested. They are carriers of various underwater vehicles and can participate in testing new marine robotic systems. Tankers and tugboats, which are also needed by our fleet, are being built.
Our Armed Forces cannot do without a strong naval component. The country has long maritime borders, and the international situation forces it to display its flag and protect its interests in different parts of the world by the very fact of its presence. The presence of a powerful fleet can cool the ardor of a potential enemy.
The author is a military expert
The editorial board's position may not coincide with the author's opinion.
