Many media outlets have already spoken about the fact that in 2022 the Peter the Great TARK will go for modernization and the Russian fleet will have another flagship. TARK "Admiral Nakhimov" will replace a colleague.
The question of how the Admiral Nakhimov will increase the power of our fleet is being discussed. In numbers. But here it is very difficult to judge, because one cruiser comes to replace another. So it will be possible to talk about the real strengthening of the fleet when "Peter the Great" is released after modernization.
Joyful reports should be postponed until now. To begin with, it is necessary that in 2022 "Admiral Nakhimov" was put into operation, then "Peter the Great" went through all the stages of modernization and also got into operation. When we have TWO ships of Project 1144, then it will be possible to calculate something and talk about strengthening the fleet.
Until then - sorry. Although it is already good that now there is something to replace "Peter the Great" during the renovation. We didn’t even dream about it ten years ago.
What can you say about "Admiral Nakhimov"?
A unique ship of its kind.
On December 30, 1988, the Admiral Nakhimov entered service. Until 1997, the ship was not engaged in anything special and in 1997 it went on its last voyage so far. For repairs. And he remained at the docks of Severodvinsk to this day.
That is, in fact, the cruiser was in combat formation for only 9 (NINE) years.
On the one hand, this is not bad. As they say, a ship with a minimum mileage. “Nakhimov” did not go to distant countries across the oceans, so, in theory, the wear of components and mechanisms is minimal.
But 25 years in "repair" is also a lot. Moreover, in fact, they began to engage in the cruiser in 2013, when funds were allocated for modernization. So, seriously, another 9 years for modernization was done well.
The output will be quite a serious naval weapons platform. 80 launch cells UKSK 3S14, from which cruise missiles "Caliber" and "Onyx" and the hypersonic complex "Zircon" can be launched. The cruiser will also receive the Fort-M and Pantsir-ME air defense systems and the Paket-NK and Answer anti-submarine missile systems.
The only weak point is the mid-range air defense. The "Nakhimov" is armed with the "Osa-M" complexes, which were put into service in 1971, and their effectiveness should have long been a big question.
However, to date, there is nothing that could replace this complex at the disposal of our Navy. Therefore, "Osa-M" continues to serve on the large ships of the fleet. There is information that the complex will be replaced with Redoubt, if this is the case, this is a good move.
Overall, the story is not very happy. Yes, there was a time when the "Eagles" frightened all life in the seas and oceans, because in those years there was little that could compare with them in terms of striking power. However, no matter how powerful ships the Eagles were, they also lost in the battle with time.
But the obsolescence of Project 1144 cruisers is only half the battle. The second half is big problems in Russia with the possibility of building large warships of the first rank. Therefore, for service in the distant sea and ocean zones, a rather logical decision was made to modernize the Orlan.
The decision is not easy, since the ships are not young. 40 years is a period. But, alas, there are simply no options for building rank 1 warships.
Therefore, I had to use "Admiral Nakhimov", fortunately, the development of the resource was small. The ship stood more against the wall than was engaged in direct activity.
The idea of maximizing the weaponry of cruisers with the latest weapon models is not bad. With "Nakhimov" it turned out exactly like this: there was no complete project, the repairs were corrected in the course of the process, introducing more and more new products, for which no money was spared.
This is partly due to the series of "shifts to the right" of the date of delivery of the ship.
The work was indeed very significant. Zircons is a really strong argument against any ship. In fact, a crowbar that is bad against with tricks. And even to compare "Zircon" with the enemy's weapons "Harpoon" somehow do not want to, because the difference is too tangible.
With air defense, too, everything is fine. And the point is not even that the S-300F will be replaced by the S-400, not in quality, but in quantity. 96 silos for 40N6 missiles, which can hit targets at a distance of up to 400 km. This clearly makes the "Admiral Nakhimov" one of the most protected ships from air attacks. This applies to both aircraft and cruise missiles.
There are plans to replace Osu-M with Redut, and Kortik with Pantsir-ME. Only positive emotions.
And of course, the replacement of strike weapons. P-700 "Granite" goes down in history, instead of it there are 80 cells in which you can place "Onyx", "Caliber" and "Zircon".
Anti-submarine weapons will be updated. "Nakhimov" will receive the newest complex "Packet-NK", which should counteract submarines at close range. The complex has two types of weapons: thermal torpedoes MTT and rocket-propelled anti-torpedoes M-15.
MTTs are effective at depths of up to 600 meters at a distance of up to 20 kilometers. M-15 intercepts enemy torpedoes at a range of up to 1, 4 kilometers and a depth of up to 800 meters. The speed of both ammunition is 50 knots, which is enough to solve any problem.
Well, and for what, in fact, "Admiral Nakhimov" went for repairs. Replacing all radio electronics with modern ones. New communication systems, navigation, electronic warfare.
Everything is good, everything is beautiful. But there is a nuance.
Although the cruiser is ready to carry out combat (really combat) missions in the DMZ, the days of single raiders have passed, and have passed a long time ago. And we seem to have nothing to provide proper support to the heavy cruiser. Old destroyers and BODs are not so much support as just a means of distracting the enemy's attention.
And new ships are not expected yet.
And here we can already answer the same question: how much will the "Admiral Nakhimov" enhance the combat capabilities of the fleet?
He will not weaken the fleet. This is the main thing. It is not worth talking about gain. An old huge platform, which we do not even stutter about disguising, with very difficult to predict effectiveness in a global conflict, but armed with the most modern weapons that only Russia has.
Today, when it comes to peaceful confrontation, it is possible and necessary to state with relief that there is a replacement for “Peter the Great”. In the future, we will have two heavy cruisers, old, but with new weapons.
Is this enough for a real fleet boost? No. This simply allows you to gain time that will have to be spent on eliminating all the problems in modern Russian shipbuilding and starting to build new ships in the far sea zone.
