Russian Navy May Modernize Only One of its Giant "Battlecruisers"
The Russian Navy's nuclear-powered cruiser Pyotr Velikiy may be headed into retirement soon, according to Russian state outlet TASS. The aging ship is in need of refurbishment, but the unexpectedly high cost for refitting sister ship Admiral Nakhimov - and the constraints of wartime budgeting - appear likely to sideline the Velikiy, one of the last nuclear-powered warships without a flattop flight deck.
Velikiy is one of several Russian warships that were designed at the end of the Soviet era and finished years after, their delivery delayed by the upheaval of 1990s Russia. The warship was laid down in 1986, launched in 1989 and commissioned in early 1998 after 12 years of effort. A Kirov-class battlecruiser, she is nuclear-powered and displaces about 26,000 tonnes.
The heavy Kirov-class warships were built around 20 launch tubes for the P-700 Granit antiship cruise missile, a 15,000-pound, 30-foot-long giant capable of supersonic flight and nuclear payload delivery. The Kirov-class also carries an overabundance of surface-to-air missiles, with space for more than 200 in total. The ships are also fitted with torpedo tubes and depth charge launchers for antisubmarine warfare.
Though intimidating at the height of the Cold War, the four Kirov-class battlecruisers have all been afloat since the 1980s and are showing their age. Two are out of commission and are slated for scrapping.
The exception is Admiral Nakhimov, which underwent a multiyear deep overhaul and modernization. Nakhimov spent 28 years in varying states of layup or repair, redelivering only this year after an expenditure of an estimated $2.5 billion. The cost and duration of Nakhimov's overhaul - combined with the material condition of the Velikiy - prompted a Russian Navy advisory committee to recommend against an attempt to repeat the process.
"The commission has already made a preliminary decision; the final decision has not yet been announced: the cruiser [Pyotr Velikiy] cannot be restored. The ship has a certain degree of wear and tear," said Vladimir Maltsev, head of the All-Russian Movement for the Support of the Fleet (DPF), speaking to TASS at a conference.
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In a second, conflicting set of comments made later to RIA Novosti, Maltsev said that a pair of Kirov-class battlecruisers would be a formidable force, and emphasized that the committee's conclusion has not been finalized.
At present, Pyotr Velikiy is primarily used as extra berthing for personnel at the Russian Navy base in Severomorsk, according to www1.ru. Her material condition is reported to be worse than that of Admiral Nakhimov before the start of Nakhimov's overhaul in the 2010s, raising questions about the cost - and tradeoffs - of pursuing a refit that might take years to achieve.
