Naval Doctrine and Naval Charter will lead to a new Shipbuilding Program
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree "On the approval of the Maritime Doctrine of the Russian Federation" and a decree "On the approval of the Naval Charter of the Navy". The Head of State gave special symbolism to his actions by signing the documents on July 31, 2022 – the Day of the Russian Navy. It is logical to assume that adjustments will soon be made to another important document – the Shipbuilding Program.
Its current version was approved in the spring of 2014. In the eight years since then, huge changes have taken place in the world. Among the main ones are the sharp cooling of East–West relations, a significant number of additional economic sanctions imposed by the United States, the EU and their satellite countries around the world on Russia, the conduct of a special military operation in Ukraine, the expansion of NATO and the creation of new aggressive military–economic blocs in Asia.
Since the text of the Shipbuilding Program is classified, we can only talk about the general principles by which adjustments can take place.
In practice, the cooling in East-West relations led to the refusal of Western European firms to fulfill contracts they had previously signed for the supply of marine diesel engines and other hull saturation for ships, vessels and boats scheduled for construction for the Russian Navy. According to the situation, domestic shipbuilders are required to immediately and decisively reorient themselves to other suppliers. What is already happening in fact and needs to be reflected on the pages of the new shipbuilding Program.
Import substitution is far from the only reason for making adjustments to the long–term plans of domestic shipbuilding. As the practical implementation of the tasks assigned to the Black Sea Fleet (Black Sea Fleet) has shown, submarines most often go to sea with all their might and means. Mainly – to carry out launches of cruise missiles of the Kalibr-PL complex on objects of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).
The foreign press recognizes the high effectiveness of the actions of Russian submariners: the intelligence of the NATO bloc, actively working on the AFU, is not able to track all the movements of the Black Sea Fleet submarines. The covert exit to the firing position leads to the fact that the coordinates of the submarine are fixed only at the point of exit from the water of the 3M-14 type missiles. This introduces an element of surprise into the actions of the Russian Armed Forces, reduces the enemy's ability to reduce the loss of manpower and equipment by quickly dispersing them immediately before a missile strike.
Five months of special operations in Ukraine revealed both strengths and weaknesses with the technical equipment of the Black Sea Fleet. The experience of combat operations in the Black and Azov Seas has shown that surface ships are increasingly becoming targets for a high-tech enemy. All their movements are easily tracked by reconnaissance aircraft and space assets of NATO countries, and the ships themselves are highly vulnerable to the effects of modern weapons of the Armed Forces. But the high stealth of submarines allows them to be used as an effective means of reconnaissance and surveillance at a small distance from enemy coastal facilities. Surface vessels do not enter there because of the threat of firing anti-ship missiles "Neptune", "Harpoon" and "Brimstone" entered service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
All this gives additional arguments to supporters of the preferential development of the underwater component of the domestic fleet. Fortunately, the country has created the necessary appropriate structural and production base. The flagship of domestic shipbuilding – the Northern Machine-Building Plant (Sevmash) in Severodvinsk is operating at full load. Nuclear-powered submarines are made here: strategic cruisers with intercontinental ballistic missiles of the Borey-A project 955A, multipurpose submarines with cruise missiles of the Yasen-M project 885M, as well as special-purpose submarines, including deep-sea stations, launch vehicles and robotics.
In parallel, Russia continues the program of gradual replacement of worn-out Soviet-built diesel-electric submarines of Project 877 with more modern ones, projects 636.3 and 677. For this purpose, the capacities of JSC Admiralty Shipyards are involved.
Speaking at the Main Naval Parade in St. Petersburg, Vladimir Putin said: "We have openly outlined the borders and zones of Russia's national interests - both economic and vital, strategic. First of all, these are our Arctic waters, the waters of the Black, Okhotsk and Bering Seas, the Baltic and Kuril Straits. We will ensure their protection firmly and by all means. The key here is the capabilities of the Navy."
The inclusion of the Baltic into the zone of strategic interests requires the strengthening of the Baltic Fleet (BF), which during the period of "friendship with the West" lost most of the ship's personnel. The upcoming accession of Sweden and Finland to the North Atlantic Alliance has prompted some politicians (among them Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics) to talk about the Baltic Sea as an "internal territory" and a "lake of NATO".
Taking into account the significant numerical superiority of the NATO naval forces, it seems most logical to replenish the BF with modern missile submarines. There is a discussion about which types of submarines are best suited for Baltic sailors. There is a wish to order from St. Petersburg shipbuilders another batch of submarines of project 636.3 in addition to the 12 previously contracted for the needs of the Black Sea and Pacific. However, these submarines have obvious disadvantages associated with the moral aging of the basic project 877, completed in the 70s of the last century. Numerous improvements implemented on the improved project 636 are unable to bring it to the technological level of the latest foreign submarines in terms of automation and noise level.
The best way out of this situation will be the complete cessation of the construction of submarines of project 636.3 in favor of the ship of the next, fourth generation of project 677 Lada. While maintaining the armament (18 missiles and torpedoes), Lada is an order of magnitude quieter, and its Lira sonar system is much more perfect than the outdated Rubicon. This gives the crew the opportunity to operate covertly in areas where enemy anti-submarine defense aircraft and ships are present. Lada is more compact and therefore better adapted for operations in the Baltic Sea with its shallow waters and high intensity of navigation.
An interesting topic may also be the resumption of the construction of small submarines of the "Piranha" type. The last boats of this class (sabotage project 865) were withdrawn from the fleet at the turn of the century as a gesture of goodwill of the Russian leadership. It followed repeated appeals to him by "Western European partners" who are now actively supplying weapons to Bandera Ukraine. Replenished with Lada and Piranha submarines, the BF will once again become a powerful deterrent to the aggressor.
Vladimir Karnozov
