Get in line: how the Russian Navy will be strengthened in 2024
The Russian Navy continued active renewal in 2024. It includes 38 ships, combat boats and support vessels, including a multipurpose nuclear submarine and small missile ships - carriers of long-range precision weapons. This was announced by Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Defense Ministry, Army General Valery Gerasimov on December 18. What events occurred in the military shipbuilding of Russia this year - in the material "Izvestia".
Submarines
Failure in military shipbuilding in the 1990s disrupted the natural renewal of the fleet. That is why now Russia has to make breakthrough projects that correspond to the current state of the world's military shipbuilding and put a lot of technical innovations in them.
Thus, on January 31, the 161st submarine brigade of the Northern Fleet included the first serial non-nuclear submarine of Project 677 "Kronshtadt". It is designed to fight against enemy submarines and ships, defense of naval bases, coastal and sea communications and reconnaissance activities on enemy communications. The submarines of this project are armed with Kalibr missile systems.
Project 677 Kronstadt submarine
Project 677 is perhaps the most "heavy" in the field of submarine shipbuilding. In particular, its lead submarine "St. Petersburg" was in experimental operation for about 10 years. Now the issue of its modernization or decommissioning is being decided. The "Kronstadt" boat was also tested for five years and after being accepted into the Navy never moved to the place of its permanent basing. The second serial boat of Project 677 "Velikie Luki" is now just undergoing its set of tests. It is planned to be transferred to the Navy in 2025.
In addition, on October 11, another boat of Project 636 Yakutsk was launched from the workshops of Admiralty Shipyards. This is the sixth submarine for the 19th submarine brigade of the Pacific Fleet. It is scheduled to join the Navy in 2025.
With the Baltic Sea becoming a "NATO lake", Russia needs to create a group of submarines in the Baltic. And also to substantially renew the already outdated group of non-nuclear submarines of the Northern Fleet.
In the field of nuclear-powered submarine shipbuilding, the Arkhangelsk Project 885M multipurpose submarine, the fifth in the series, joined the Northern Fleet on December 27, 2024. Its main strike weapons are Onyx and Kalibr-PL cruise missiles.
On February 3, 2024, the eighth strategic submarine of Project 955A "Knyaz Pozharsky" was launched from the boathouse of Sevmash. It is still undergoing tests and after firing its main missile system "Bulava" will be accepted into the Navy, as expected, in June this year. Two more similar cruisers will join the Navy by 2028.
Nuclear-powered missile submarine cruiser Knyaz Pozharsky
On April 27, 2024, a bathyscaphe capable of diving to a depth of up to 12 km, the Sergei Bavilin, was also laid down at Admiralty Shipyards. It is designed to perform research and survey and rescue operations. The bathyscaphe will also serve for ecological monitoring of the world ocean.
Large surface ships
On September 27, 2024, the fourth frigate of Project 22350 "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Isakov" was launched at OAO "Severnaya Verf" in St. Petersburg. It is capable of carrying 16 Kalibr, Onyx, Zirkon and Answer missiles and other various weapons, including air defense missiles.
Frigate "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Isakov"
This series of frigates was the first post-Soviet project of a large long-range sea and ocean combat ship. It will join the Pacific Fleet in 2027. However, it is possible that by that time similar frigates will also be built at the slipways of the Amur Shipyard in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. The enterprise is currently actively modernizing its production - in particular, a new dock for ship transportation along the Amur River and a dock pontoon for ship launching are under construction.
On June 18, 2024, Severnaya Verf launched the second Project 20385 corvette Provorny. It carries the Kalibr family of missiles on board and can carry Zircon missiles.
In December 2021, a fire occurred aboard the corvette, as a result of which the ship's superstructure had to be built anew. After the Provorny is incorporated into the Navy, it will join the 114th brigade of ships in Kamchatka. Now the construction of a number of other corvettes and frigates is underway.
The ice-class lead patrol ship "Ivan Papanin" has passed trials and is expected to be included in the 14th brigade of anti-submarine ships of the Northern Fleet this year. The Project 23550 ships are designed for escorting ships in ice, towing, monitoring Arctic waters, escorting support vessels and convoying detained ships and vessels. The icebreaker's arsenal includes an AK-176MA artillery installation, and it can also carry Kalibr cruise missiles. If necessary, a multi-purpose helicopter can be based on board. The crew has man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems in service.
Patrol icebreaker "Ivan Papanin"
The second combat icebreaker "Nikolai Zubov" was launched on December 25. It will join the same brigade in 2026-2027.
This year the repair and modernization of the frigates "Admiral Chabanenko" for the Northern Fleet and "Admiral Vinogradov" for the Talnakh Concentrator Fleet may be completed.
And the nuclear-powered missile cruiser "Admiral Nakhimov" should start sea trials and then state trials and join the Northern Fleet by the end of the year.
Small warships
On May 7, 2024, the fifth patrol ship of Project 22160 "Viktor Velikiy" was launched in Zelenodolsk. It is being completed in St. Petersburg. It will join the Black Sea Fleet in 2025. The construction of the sixth ship of this series continues.
Semyon Agafonov" and "Viktor Korner" minesweepers were laid down in 2024. These ships use light boats with special underwater robots to search for and destroy mines.
In addition to these two, there are two more minesweepers on the slipway of the Sredne-Nevsky shipyard. And the ninth in the series, Afanasy Ivannikov, is in the stage of completion and factory tests. It is to become the first ship of this series for the Northern Fleet.
The construction of missile ships with Kalibras on board also continued. We are talking about small missile ships of 21631 and 22800 series. On June 11 in Zelenodolsk the 12th and so far the last representative of the 21631 series, Stavropol, was launched. This is a small ship with an impressive arsenal - it carries eight Kalibr cruise missiles. "The Stavropol will be part of the 36th Missile Ship Brigade in Baltiysk.
Small missile ship "Stavropol"
The Project 22800 small missile ships Amur and Typhoon were accepted into the Black Sea Fleet on August 26 and December 21, respectively. Both of these ships were built in Kerch. The ships were transferred to the Caspian Sea for testing and completion. The same 36th brigade will soon include the MRK "Burya".
And the lead small missile-artillery ship of this series for the Talnakh Concentrator "Rzhev" was transferred from Komsomolsk-on-Amur.
On July 29, at the shipyard "Vympel" in Rybinsk the missile boat "Stupinets" of project 12418 was launched and the second such boat is under construction. "Stupinets" will be part of the Caspian Flotilla. It is curious that these two boats were laid down back in 1992.
In addition, landing ships are now being built at shipyards in Kaliningrad and Kerch.
Auxiliary ships
The auxiliary fleet is an important part of the system of ensuring combat readiness and activities of the Russian Navy. Last year new ships were added to its composition and a number of important floating units are under construction.
For example, the oceanographic research vessel Almaz of Project 22010 resumed completion at the Yantar plant in Kaliningrad. It is a modernized version of the Yantar vessel and can carry both manned and unmanned submersibles on board. Using its resources, the vessel can conduct a wide range of underwater research and operations. The ship is to be handed over to the Navy in November 2026.
Tankers are also under construction. Thus, on December 6, the third in the series of 6 vessels of Project 21130 - tanker "Engineer-Admiral Kotov" - was launched at the Nevsky Shipbuilding and Shiprepair Plant. The lead tanker "Akademik Pashin" is actively used escorting ships of the Northern Fleet. On April 18, 2024 the lead tanker of Project 23630 "Argun" was laid down at the Oka shipyard in Navashino. The tanker of project 03182 "Valentin Rykov", built in Nizhny Novgorod, is undergoing trials in the Baltic Sea.
The lead tanker Akademik Pashin
Tug and rescue vessels of various types are being actively built - both for the far sea zone and port and fire-fighting boats. To support the Kamchatka ships and submarines, the icebreaker "Eupatiy Kolovrat" was handed over to the Navy in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on July 1, 2024.
In general, it can be said that the Russian Navy is now being actively renewed and rejuvenated. As a result, we can observe the increased activity of our ships and support vessels on the expanses of the world ocean.
