Russia Moving Toward Missile Frigate–Centric Navy?
Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 60
By: Aleksandr Golts
May 4, 2017 06:02 PM
Highlights:
Since the Russian president is essentially politically infallible domestically, the
Kuznetsov’s failure [it's troubled recent journey to/from Syria] was ultimately declared a victory. Moreover, the Navy was victorious in the battle. Hence, the Navy will most likely obtain maximum funding under the next rearmament program (see
EDM, March 14).
A few months ago, experts assumed that the Navy would be the main victim of the inevitable reductions in the military budget in conditions of economic crisis. But Putin unexpectedly said, at the meeting of the military-industrial Commission, in Rybinsk, in late April, “By the end of 2016, the share of modern weapons and equipment in the Navy was about 47 percent. At the same time, the total share of modern equipment and weapons in the Armed Forces as a whole is 58.3 percent […] we must solve the problem: within the next three years, by 2020, the share of modern weapons and equipment both in the Army and Navy should rise to 70 percent… The Navy must have a balanced ship fleet capable of carrying out the full range of peacetime and wartime tasks in the near and far maritime zones, ensuring Russia’s naval presence in all strategically important regions of the World Ocean” (
Kremlin.ru, April 25).
However, hopes that the Kremlin will invest in hugely ambitious projects such as the construction of a new aircraft carrier will most likely prove mistaken. Just days before Putin’s speech, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu expressed a more modest approach: that frigates similar to the
Admiral Gorshkov will become the mainstay of the Russian Navy. “Such multi-purpose frigates, equipped with long-range precision weapons, should become the Navy’s main combat ships in the near future,” Shoigu told the defense ministry’s board meeting (
Mil.ru, April 21).
With the emphasis now on frigates, the vessel
Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov becomes the navy’s lead warship. ... They are specifically armed with Onyx and Caliber cruise missiles and Poliment-Redut anti-aircraft missile systems (
Vzglyad, April 21, 2017;
Gazeta.ru, July 15, 2016).
However, this project has serious problems. Only the lead ship of the series managed to obtain a gas turbine engine constructed at the Ukrainian Zorya-Mashproekt manufacturing plant. As the result of Russia’s war against Ukraine, starting in early 2014, all sales of Ukrainian-built military components to Russia were stopped. At the end of April 2017, the Russian government announced that it was able to start naval ship engine production at the Saturn plant in Rybinsk. The newspaper
Vedomosti, quoting a source “close to the defense ministry” announced that the first М90FR engine for new frigates can be expected in 2019 (
Vedomosti, April 21).
Another problem afflicting project 22350 frigates is that the defense enterprise Almaz-Antey still has not managed to finalize the sale of its advanced Poliment-Redut air-defense system to the Navy. A source in the Russian Military-Industrial Commission stated that Almaz-Antey broke the state defense order “because of its catastrophic backlog of the Poliment-Redut, mainly associated with the failure of the technical characteristics of the 9M96, 9М96D and 9М100 anti-aircraft guided missiles” (
Gazeta.ru, July 15, 2016). “Because of Almaz-Antey’s failure to meet its development work on the Poliment-Redut and Shtil [naval version of the Buk anti-air missile], meeting the delivery dates of the project 22350
Admiral Gorshkov and project 11356
Admiral Makarov ships are now also under threat,” Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov said in late March (
TASS, March 24).
Thus, it is not particularly likely that Russia will have a “balanced” fleet within the next two years.
Full article here:
http://jamestown.org/program/russia-moving-toward-missile-frigate-centric-navy/
