The submarine forces remain the most important component of the Russian Navy, having an extremely high combat potential, mainly due to the presence of nuclear submarines equipped, in particular, with ballistic missiles, assessed the state of the Russian fleet in the Polish edition of Defence24.
"Thanks to nuclear submarines, the Russian Navy remains one of the strongest in the world. It is not surprising that Russia is investing in the maintenance and construction of new submarines, despite limited financial resources," the publication says.
The publication reminds that the country is annually capable of producing no more than one nuclear submarine of Project 955A (Borey-A type) and two submarines of Project 885M (Yasen-M), which is due to the production capabilities of Sevmash. According to Defence24, in order to maintain the number of nuclear submarines, Russia is forced to modernize old Soviet submarines.
The publication assures that the receipt by the Russian Pacific Fleet of the K-329 Belgorod nuclear submarine of project 09852, which will act as a carrier of strategic unmanned underwater vehicles of the Poseidon type, looks quite rational due to the convenient location of the Far Eastern naval bases.
Diesel-electric submarines of Project 636 (Varshavyanka type) and their derivatives are evaluated in the publication as extremely successful, including on the international market. The publication recalls that Russia's creation of Project 677 Lada submarines faces difficulties, in particular, due to problems with the power plant for them.
In October, Defence24 noted that the fact that the crews of the carrier-based aviation of the Russian Northern Fleet arrived at the Saki airfield in the Crimea for training at the NITKA ground Test complex (Aviation Ground Test Training Complex) may indicate progress in the repair of the only Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov.
Ivan Potapov