Vladimir Putin raised St. Andrew's flags on three warships for the Russian Navy
Three new ships joined the Russian Navy on December 25 — the Admiral Golovko missile frigate, which will serve in the Northern Fleet, the Naro-Fominsk small missile ship and the Lev Chernavin mine defense ship for the Baltic Fleet. The ceremony was held with the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, Kronstadt and Baltiysk. Izvestia learned what weapons the new missile frigate will receive in the near future and how the balance of forces in the naval theaters will change.
The third carrier of "Zircons"
In St. Petersburg, on board the frigate Admiral Golovko, Vladimir Putin was accompanied by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. The commander-in-chief of the Navy Nikolai Evmenov was absent from the event, according to media reports, he is in Kamchatka, where he checks the combat readiness of the Pacific Fleet.
— Today, here at the Northern Shipyards, as two weeks ago in Severodvinsk, naval flags are being raised on our newest warships. The Navy includes the frigate Admiral Golovko, the small missile ship Naro-Fominsk and the minesweeper Lev Chernavin. In accordance with the naval doctrine, we continue to work on serial production and planned deliveries of modern ships to the Navy," Vladimir Putin said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin at the ceremony of raising the naval flag on the frigate Admiral Golovko
Image source: Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Volkov
The readiness to raise flags on the Naro-Fominsk MRC and the Leo Chernavin PMO ship was reported to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief via video link that both ships are already in the bases of the Baltic Fleet, on which they will serve. On the Naro-Fominsk, the St. Andrew's flag was raised at the Leningrad Naval Base in Kronstadt, and on the Lev Chernavin - at the main fleet base — Baltiysk.
But the main of the three new ships for the Russian Navy, of course, is the frigate Admiral Golovko, named after the outstanding Soviet naval commander who commanded the Northern Fleet during the Great Patriotic War.
The third frigate in the series was built according to an updated design and has greater capabilities than its predecessors. In addition to the strike missile system, it is equipped with a powerful anti-aircraft missile system "Poliment-Redut". The system is based on the land-based S-350 Vityaz, which can simultaneously fire at air and sea targets. The arsenal includes 9M96E missiles with a range of up to 50 km, 9M96E2-1 missiles with a range of up to 150 km and a 9M100 short-range missile capable of intercepting targets at a distance of up to 10 km.
— Such ships are the basis of the fleet's strike groups in the far sea and ocean zone. It was created using the most advanced technologies and equipped with Kalibr cruise missiles, which have proven their high effectiveness in combat conditions," the president said at the flag—raising ceremony.
According to Izvestia sources in the Russian Defense Ministry, Kalibr missiles will not remain the ship's main weapon. In the near future, Admiral Golovko will have an ice trip to Severodvinsk, where it will be equipped with hypersonic Zircon missiles, as well as the first ships of the series — Admiral Gorshkov and Admiral Kasatonov. The same was reported to the president two weeks ago on board the Admiral Kasatonov by the Commander-in-chief of the Navy Nikolai Evmenov, saying that all 10 missile frigates of this project will be equipped with Zircon missiles in the future.
According to Izvestia's interlocutors in the industry, the Ministry of Defense has contracted all the planned 10 frigates, five are already under construction. All of them will bear the names of Soviet and Russian naval commanders.
— Admiral Golovko will be part of the 43rd Division of missile ships of the Northern Fleet based at Severomorsk. The main task of the Zircon carrier ships is to cover the Northern Sea Route and counter NATO forces in the North Atlantic," a source in the Northern Fleet told Izvestia.
Frigate Admiral Golovko
Image source: Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Volkov
The officer recalled that the probable enemy of the Russian Navy, the NATO naval forces, still does not have the ability to intercept Zircon missiles with shipboard means, they are completely vulnerable to the new Russian hypersonic weapons.
According to Izvestia's interlocutor, this is a sufficient deterrent to NATO forces in the Arctic today.
—Admiral Golovko is a multi—purpose ship capable of striking with Onyx, Caliber, and in the future with Zircons," military expert Dmitry Boltenkov told Izvestia. — If necessary, he will be able to shoot across the northern regions of Finland from the Barents Sea. But first of all, it will have to ensure the deployment of strategic missile submarines of the Borey project. In addition, it can strengthen the attack groups of surface ships. This will become especially important after the repair of the heavy aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov of the Fleet of the Soviet Union and the nuclear missile cruiser Admiral Nakhimov is completed.
They will strengthen the Baltic Fleet
The Naro-Fominsk MRC and the Leo Chernavin PMO ship will strengthen the Baltic Fleet, which will have to confront the multinational NATO grouping in the Baltic Sea, deployed this year after Finland and Sweden joined the alliance.
Naro-Fominsk is a carrier of Kalibr cruise missiles, and Lev Chernavin is capable not only of combating mine danger, but also of detecting NATO submarines, including unmanned vehicles.
The new ship of the PMO "Lev Chernavin"
Image source: Photo: Baltic Fleet Press Service
The ships that joined the Baltic Fleet are a timely reinforcement, Dmitry Boltenkov told Izvestia.
— NATO countries now want to turn the Baltic Sea into their own internal one, — he noted. — They began to conduct exercises more often. Finland has already joined the North Atlantic Alliance, and Sweden is on the way. The Naro-Fominsk MRK is eight Onyx and Caliber missiles in a salvo at once, which will not be superfluous for our fleet.
Large-scale plans
In his speech, the President of Russia spoke about large-scale plans to replenish the fleet in 2024.
"Currently, five frigates, eight corvettes, 13 small missile ships and more than 50 other ships of various classes are in various stages of readiness on the stocks near the embankments of Russian shipyards — now they are standing and working on them," Vladimir Putin said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin at the ceremony of raising the naval flag on the frigate Admiral Golovko
Image source: Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Volkov
According to the President, all Russian shipbuilding enterprises from Kaliningrad to the Far East have been loaded with orders for the Russian Navy. Three Borey-A nuclear-powered submarines and five Yasen-M multipurpose nuclear submarines are being built at Sevmash in Severodvinsk. Six diesel submarines are being built at the Admiralty Shipyards in St. Petersburg. The shipyard in Kerch has two universal amphibious assault ships of a new project and small missile ships for the Black Sea Fleet. There are two large amphibious assault ships at the Yantar shipyard in Kaliningrad. In the period up to 2035, it is planned to increase this series and release seven more ships.
Three small rocket ships for the Baltic Fleet are being completed on the stocks of the Pella plant in the Leningrad Region. And at the Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard there are naval minesweepers. In the Khabarovsk Territory, the Amur Shipyard has already placed orders for the production of six corvettes, as well as four small rocket ships.
Andrey Krasnobaev
