According to Interfax, the naval command has decided to reinforce the Pacific Fleet with the Project 1164 Atlant missile cruiser Marshal Ustinov from the Northern Fleet. Apparently, this decision is associated with a set of measures aimed at strengthening our Armed Forces in the Far East.
More recently, there was a lot of hype about the Kuril problem. Only because of the disaster in Japan and the war in Libya, this topic has faded into the background. According to a source from the main headquarters of the Navy, the cruiser Marshal Ustinov "is more needed in such a large-scale and complex theater of operations as the Pacific."
In 2011, the cruiser will undergo an average repair, and in 2012 it will go to a new home base.
Reference: Project 1164 cruisers Atlant code (NATO code - Eng. Slava class) - a type of Soviet missile cruisers, occupying an intermediate position between ships of the Ushakov class (project 1144 Orlan, formerly Kirov) and destroyers of the Sovremenny type (project 956). Slava-class missile cruisers with powerful ship-to-surface missiles became an important part of the Russian Navy after the division of the USSR fleet. The main tasks of the ship, formulated in the technical project of 1972, were: giving combat stability to the forces of the fleet in remote areas of the seas and oceans; destruction of enemy surface ships, including aircraft carriers; solving problems of collective air defense, formations and convoys in remote areas of the seas and oceans, fighting submarines, supporting landings and shelling the coast occupied by the enemy. Currently, three cruisers of this project are in the Russian Navy. Moscow (formerly Slava) is the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, Marshal Ustinov is part of the Northern Fleet, Varyag is the flagship of the Pacific Fleet. The displacement of the cruisers is 11.3 thousand tons, the length is 187 meters, and the width is 20 meters. Ships of project 1164 are capable of speeds up to 32 knots, and their cruising range is 7.5 thousand miles. The cruisers are armed with Basalt-type cruise missiles, Fort anti-aircraft missile system, AK-130 artillery mounts and have 533 mm torpedo tubes. The air group of ships of the Atlant project includes the Ka-27 anti-submarine helicopters.
Recently, information has appeared that another cruiser of this project - "Admiral Lobov" ("Ukraine") - will be bought out, or simply transferred to Russia by Kiev. The construction of this giant was started at the Nikolaev shipyard in 1984; at present, its readiness is estimated at 50-95%.
