The ships will receive hypersonic missiles and previously unavailable capabilities
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu urged his subordinates and industry representatives not to lose the pace of re-equipping the army and navy, and to strengthen the potential of high-precision weapons at the last conference call. The past week has shown that Russia has fully started implementing a new weapons program. Within its framework, the country will receive completely new types of weapons that will make serious changes in the strategy and tactics of armed struggle. This is particularly evident in the re-equipment of the Navy.
The main event in this regard can be considered the statement of representatives of the Severodvinsk Machine-building Enterprise " Sevmash "about the beginning of tests of the heavy nuclear cruiser of the project 1144"Admiral Nakhimov". This is the third in a series of four similar ships that have been in the fleet since the 80s of the last century. And the second-remaining in the combat team. Even though it has been in operation since 1988, this ship remains a unique offshore platform. With one single amendment – with all the declared characteristics, only the last ship of the Peter the Great series, when transferred to the Navy, had a full set of weapons and equipment.
Now the most modern and powerful ship of our fleet will be the Admiral Nakhimov.
It has been under renovation since 1999. Real work on it has been carried out since 2013. The main result of the modernization is a noticeable increase in striking power. The cruiser will be equipped with 10 universal ship firing systems for 8 long-range Kalibr-NK cruise missiles. They will be able to launch anti-ship cruise missiles "Onyx". In the future, they can be replaced by hypersonic missiles"Zircon".
Deputy Defense Minister Alexey Krivoruchko, who is responsible for the state defense order, says that such missiles will be received by the ships of the project 1155 "Marshal Shaposhnikov" and the multi-purpose submarine of the project 949A "Irkutsk". Three test launches of vehicles this year from the frigates of the project 22350 actually put an end to the issue of the country's technological superiority in the field of creating advanced strike weapons. At the same time, it is important to mention that this year Russia replaced the Ukrainian gas turbine units and delivered the first such domestic unit M55R. It will be put on the third ship of the project 22350 "Admiral Isakov". Thanks to this, we will be completely free to create a surface ocean fleet.
"Zircon "is one of the main means of ensuring our superiority. In an interview with the magazine "Plant", the general director of "Sevmash" Mikhail Budnichenko said that the slipway of the company is building a new generation of submarines of the project "Ash-M" - "Voronezh"and " Vladivostok". These are ships with hypersonic weapons, followed by the further development of the submarine fleet. To date, the plant is building 8 nuclear-powered submarines of this project."
However, before their appearance, a very serious decision was made to return to service the extremely successful 971 submarines of the Pike type project. They are part of the 24th-"animal" – division of the submarine forces of the Northern Fleet. This title was given to the unit by the names of the ships in its composition: "Panther", "Boar" and "Cheetah". The next ship of the series - " Tiger "got up for repair with modernization at the plant" Nerpa " near Murmansk.
After its completion, the boat will be able to use not only torpedo weapons, but also long-range cruise missiles "Caliber". This will make the most secretive domestic submarines not just "killers" of surface and underwater ships, but also a means of delivering massive missile strikes on enemy targets deep in its territory. Earlier it was reported that the nuclear submarine "Leopard" will return to service in 2021, "Tiger" - in 2022, "Wolf" - in 2023. Thus, in 2023, the "beasts" will gather almost in full force.
As previously noted by the commander-in-chief of the Navy Nikolai Evmenov, the modernization of ships of this series goes in parallel with the program for the construction of boats of the project 885 type "Ash". This means that the "old" submarines are equipped with the same equipment and systems as the most advanced submarines in the fleet. If we consider the "Ash", then we can talk about a new sonar station, a combat control system, electronic suppression equipment, weapons and propellers of a new design.
An equally serious update is waiting for the fleet of strategic submarine cruisers. Mikhail Budnichenko talks about the beginning of the implementation of a new contract for the construction of two more nuclear-powered ships 955 of the updated Borey-A series. The ships will be named "Dmitry Donskoy" and "Prince Potemkin". Currently, the "Sevmash" in various degrees of readiness are submarines of the updated project 955A "Borey-A": "Prince Oleg", "Generalissimo Suvorov", "Emperor Alexander III". They are expected to be built and delivered to the fleet by 2024.
In the composition of the Navy today is the 10 strategic missile submarines. The missiles mounted on them are capable of carrying up to 656 nuclear warheads. As part of the Northern Fleet, five ships of the project 667BDRM (Delta IV) are equipped with 80 launchers of R-29RM Sineva/Liner missiles and one project 955 missile carrier with 16 Bulava missiles. The Pacific Fleet is based on one 667BDR (Delta III) missile carrier with 16 R-29R missiles on board and two Project 955 missile carriers with Bulava missiles.
Another interesting news – the construction of the third carrier ship of strategic nuclear torpedo drones "Poseidon" of the special – purpose submarine "Ulyanovsk"has begun. As expected, the submarine will be transferred to the Navy along with the means of destruction under the state armament program until 2027. According to Sevmash representatives, the construction of the ship's hull is now being completed, and its hydraulic testing will begin in the near future.
The news agenda also included the largest warship listed in the Guinness Book of Records for its cyclopean size - the heavy nuclear submarine 941 of the Dmitry Donskoy project. In recent years, it has been used for testing naval weapons systems. H
Dmitry Litovkin
