Russian Navy plans further expansion
January 11, 2013
Viktor Litovkin
The Russian submarine, Yuri Dolgorukiy, was passed into service during its inauguration at the Sevmash shipbuilding company in Severodvinsk, Archangelsk Region on Jan. 10. This indicates that Russia is finally aware of the need for a powerful and effective navy.
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The Russian submarine, Yuri Dolgorukiy, has been passed into service by the Russian Navy. The inauguration took place at the Sevmash shipbuilding company in Severodvinsk, Archangelsk Region on Jan. 10. Source: RIA Novosti / Pavel Kononov
Two landmark events took place during the final days of 2012 and in the begining of 2013 at the Sevmash shipbuilding company in Severodvinsk of Archangelsk Region.
To begin with, the navy was presented with the first Project 955, nuclear-powered, Borei-class, ballistic missile submarine, which was put into operational service on Jan. 10. The submarine is equipped with 16 Bulava-30 strategic missiles (NATO reporting name SS-NM-30), which each carry 6-10 nuclear warheads – multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRVs). The submarine is named after Yuri Dolgorukiy, the founder of Moscow.
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Then, on the same day, a second ballistic missile submarine, Vladimir Monomakh, was set afloat. A third, slightly longer Borei-class submarine, Svyatitel Nikolai, will be set forth soon.
There is an important reason why the new submarine will have a longer hull: Svyatitel Nikolai and other ballistic missile submarines to follow will carry 20 Bulava-30 MIRV missiles, instead of 16. The new project is codenamed 955A, as an upgrade from the original 955. The rest of the submarine will remain the same. Russia hopes to have at least four ballistic missile submarines operational in the next three or four years.
These submarines will carry 68 missiles in total. The Vladimir Monomakh has already begun mooring and sea trials, and another 955 Borei-class ballistic missile submarine, Alexander Nevsky, is also expected to be commissioned. By 2020, Russia plans to have eight ballistic missile submarines carrying a total of 148 Bulava missiles. They will be added to the Project 667BDR Kalmar (Delta III) and Project 667BDRM Delfin (Delta IV) submarines.
According to Cmdr. Viktor Chirkov of the Russian navy, the eight Borei-class submarines, the 885 Yasen-class nuclear-powered submarines (the first of which is called the Severodvinsk and is expected to be put into service in 2013), modernized Project 949 Granit submarines (which included the sunk Kursk submarine) and heavy nuclear-powered missile ships from the Project 1144 Orlan (including the flagship of the northern fleet, Pyotr Veliky) will form the base of Russian strategic deterrent forces.
The commander-in-chief said in a recent interview that aircraft carriers should make up the core of the deterrent forces. “A new generation aircraft carrier must form the basis of these forces, together with the foreign-built amphibious assault ship and helicopter carrier (the French Mistral),” Chirkov said.
He explained that, unlike the heavy aircraft carriers of previous generations (such as the Admiral Kuznetsov), this must be an all-new versatile combat ship with an increased deadweight. It will be armed with manned weapons and drones that will operate in the air, on the sea surface, underwater and possibly in space.
The effectiveness of these ships will depend on the availability of aerial picket and guidance aircraft in their air groups, along with the armed reconnaissance drones.
The navy commander stressed that plans to create aircraft carriers involve not only the design and construction of the ships.
“We are planning to create a full-scale sea aircraft-carrying complex, which will include ships, stationing sites with the requisite infrastructure (including social facilities, aircraft, and training center for ship and aircraft crews), as well as other components. We must provide the basis for the creation of the sea aircraft-carrying complex by 2020,” said Chirkov.
The core of the surface naval forces of Russia, at both far and short ranges, will be formed by Project 22350 and Project 20380 frigates and corvettes and their modifications. Some of these are being developed at St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad shipbuilding companies.
“They will be replaced by modular design ships equipped with a broad range of robotic tools,” said Chirkov. In his words, a new class destroyer with an increased combat and defensive potential – including anti-ballistic missile potential – will become the main ship in the ocean zone in the medium term.
Chirkov also revealed that the first ship of this kind will be the advanced harbor defense corvette.
“The ship is already under development. It will perform a wide range of functions normally required in coastal regions and currently fulfilled by ships and other forces and facilities. It will have anti-submarine, anti-mine, anti-ship and air defense capacity and be capable of laying mines and providing fire support for assault forces and land troops in coastal areas,” the commander said.
Chirkov explained that the corvette is a phase in the process of the navy transferring to modular ships of increased deadweight. The approach toward module construction and robotic automation of combat systems that were originally developed for the harbor defense corvette will later be applied to other ships, creating the future image of the Russian fleet.
The admiral commented on the outlook for the Russian navy. “According to our forecasts, after 2020, the navy will change to an extensive construction of autonomous unmanned submarines and sea robotized systems, as well as special sea-bottom equipment deployed mostly from undersea carriers of various types and purposes.”
During the second development phase (from 2021 to 2030), the navy hopes to complete the creation of and put into active service weapons based on new physical principles, as well as to create a new generation of advanced weapons for the general purpose naval forces. Also, there are plans to commission ship-based early-warning aircraft, unmanned ship-based aircraft, and an advanced complex of ship-based aviation.
“This period will see a transition to optionally-manned aviation (including on the basis of modern manned aviation complexes), whereas the aircraft of the old fleet will be replaced by advanced multi-purpose aviation materiel and weapons, including unmanned aircraft,” Chirkov said.
It is hard to make plans for the period after 2020. Will the Russian shipbuilding industry manage to perform these tasks?
It is important that Russia is finally aware of the need for a powerful and effective navy, so there is hope that Cmdr. Chirkov’s plans concerning the future of the Russian navy will pan out.
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Russian Navy receives carbon fiber stealth ship
October 9, 2012
Alexei Mikhailov, Izvestia
The Russian-built Admiral Gorshkov class stealth frigate is the first large naval vessel to be made out of carbon fiber. While there are questions regarding the performance and durability of the composite material, the frigate is set to undergo trials in the Barents Sea this November.
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Opinion on the Admiral Gorshkov ship have been mixed. Navy officers say carbon fiber is useless, since it is weaker than vessel-grade steel; they worry that its superstructures could disintegrate in extreme northern conditions. Source: ITAR-TASS.
The first large naval ship to be built with carbon fiber will start trials in the Barents Sea no later than the end of November. The
Admiral Gorshkov frigate is the lead ship of Project 22350. Following the trials, the frigate will join the 14th ASW Brigade of Russia’s Northern Fleet, a source at Navy Command told
Izvestia. The frigate has been built using stealth technology, with superstructures made entirely of composite materials that absorb or semi-conduct radio waves to ensure invisibility on radars.
“This is the first large ship to be fully designed and built in Russia since 1987 – and this includes St. Petersburg’s Severnaya Verf shipyard. Project 22350 stealth frigates will replace large ASW ships code-named Udaloy by NATO,” an officer at Navy Command said.
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Opinions on the ship have been mixed. Navy officers say carbon fiber is useless, since it is weaker than vessel-grade steel; they worry that its superstructures could disintegrate in extreme northern conditions with strong winds, low temperatures, and frequent storms. In addition, the superstructure is subject to extreme thermal pressure during anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile launches.
Severnaya Verf, on the other hand, believes carbon fiber surpasses steel in terms of physical parameters. The shipyard’s representatives told
Izvestia that tests of the superstructure and its components have demonstrated high rigidity and resilience to thermal impact.
The
Admiral Gorshkov was the first ship to receive not only a stealth superstructure but also the latest combined turbine propulsion system. As a result, the vessel is more efficient and delivers superior acceleration capabilities. The frigate is additionally equipped with a host of modern electronics not found in existing ships; this, however, is a strength and a weakness, since there is a lack of trained personnel. A Navy Command representative and several Northern Fleet officers have stated that it would be impossible to form a crew without extended training on the ground.
Vladimir Komoedov , the chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee and former commander of the Black Sea Fleet, maintains that there is nothing to fear from composite materials.
“Recently, I visited a factory that makes carbon fiber nozzles for space rockets. It is wonderfully resilient to high temperatures and dynamic loads. If carbon fiber provides stealth, then the ship needs it. In any case, the introduction of a new unit to the Navy is good news,” Komoedov told
Izvestia.
Vladimir Scherbakov, the editor-in-chief of
Vzlyot magazine, believes that it remains to be seen how carbon fiber will perform real-life conditions – particularly in combat situations.
“Composite materials are used everywhere these days. Individual ship parts have been tested on the ground, and the calculations look excellent on paper. But this already happened with aluminum in the1980s – the Falklands war demonstrated that aluminum ships are highly combustible. So many fleets have abandoned aluminum superstructures as a result,” Scherbakov said.
Military historian Dmitry Boltenkov criticized the carbon fiber frigate from another angle.
“Should a frigate with a displacement of just 4,500 tons be named after Admiral Sergei Gorshkov, who did a lot for the Navy? A 45,000-ton aircraft carrier used to bear his name (it is now India’s
Vikramaditya). The name
Admiral Gorshkov would be more fitting for a Borei-class submarine,” said Boltenkov.
The
Admiral Gorshkov stealth frigate was laid down in Severnaya Verf in February 2006 and floated out of the launch dock in October 2010. It is equipped with a 130-mm gun mount, 16 anti-ship Onyx missiles, and 16 anti-submarine Kalibr-NKE missiles. There is also a surface-to-air Polimer-Redut defense system and a Ka-27 helicopter for ASW missions.
First published in Russian in Izvestia.
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