Get weapons: The Northern Fleet will replenish the nuclear missile delivery ship

The Northern Fleet will soon receive a new vessel for the supply of missiles, including nuclear ones — the naval weapons transport of the 20181 Akademik Makeev project, sources told Izvestia. The ship has been under construction for more than a decade, as it had to replace a number of critically important imported systems with domestic developments. The vessel is currently undergoing final tests and is preparing to be commissioned into the Navy.

What is the ship "Akademik Makeev"?

The naval armament transport of the reinforced ice class of the 20181 Akademik Makeev project will become part of the Navy this year after completing the complex of tests. The vessel is intended for service in the Northern Fleet and became the second ship of this project.

The lead vessel of the series, the Akademik Kovalev— was built in 2011-2015. After joining the Navy, it began service in the Pacific Fleet. In the same year, 2015, the Akademik Makeev was laid, the construction of which was noticeably delayed. The deadlines had to be revised due to the need for import substitution of critical systems. In particular, specialists have created new propulsion and steering columns of domestic production. Last year, the Zvezdochka Ship repair center reported that during the construction of the vessel, the designers significantly upgraded the basic design using Russian mechanisms and equipment. At the same time, the ship was taken out of the boathouse.

The second vessel of the project was named in honor of Hero of Socialist Labor Viktor Petrovich Makeev, a Soviet scientist and engineer, head of the Design Bureau of Mechanical Engineering (now the Academician V.P. Makeev State Missile Center JSC), general designer of submarine—launched ballistic missiles.

The issue of import substitution of equipment has been resolved on the ship Akademik Makeev, it is all of domestic production, military expert Dmitry Boltenkov told Izvestia.

"If Kovalev had a lot of imported stuff, then Makeev is completely import—substituted," he noted. — The crane, the control system, and the stabilization system are all ours, Russian. The Akademik Makeev will deliver cargo and reload missiles to submarines. If the task of dispersing forces is received, the boat will go to some bay, and the Makeev will come in it to load the missiles. This is a very important vessel for the naval strategic nuclear forces.

The vessels of the 20181 project are designed for the transportation, loading and unloading of weapons for surface ships and submarines. Each of them has four holds, which hold two Bulava ballistic missiles, a representative of the manufacturer said. Due to their driving characteristics, the vessels can provide combat units of the Russian fleet anywhere in the World Ocean.

Marine with power: how the Russian Navy was replenished in 2025

The Russian navy has received three submarines and 19 surface ships and vessels.

The vessel is 107.6 m long, 17.8 m wide, has a displacement of 6,300 tons, and a crew of 60 people. The ship can take on board Ka-29 helicopters. It is also equipped with a crane with a lifting capacity of 90 tons.

"This is a rocket carrier designed to carry intercontinental ballistic missiles," Andrei Kachan, former head of the Baltic Fleet Auxiliary Fleet, told Izvestia. — It can load ammunition into a submarine at the dock. The issue of the possibility of overloading directly at sea is being considered, but in general there is no such need — the boats go to sea with full ammunition on board.

According to the expert, the vessels of this project have confirmed their good sailing qualities. Due to the special features of the hull, they can operate in Arctic latitudes unaccompanied by icebreakers and pass through the Northern Sea Route.

Separately, Kachan noted the mixed crew of the ship: it includes both military personnel and civilian specialists.

What auxiliary vessels are being built for the Russian Navy

In recent years, a whole range of auxiliary vessels of various classes has been built in Russia. In 2016, two naval armament transports of the 20360M project were ordered for the Navy. The lead ship "Gennady Dmitriev" was launched in 2021. It is intended for the Black Sea Fleet. The second representative of the Vladimir Pyalov series, who is due to join the Baltic Fleet, was removed from the boathouse in 2024. The fate of both representatives of the project was not reported. The length of such a vessel is 77 m, the width is 15.8 m. It is equipped with two cargo holds, a platform for transporting goods in containers, a crane with a lifting capacity of 20 tons and a helipad.

Russia is also building a series of medium-sized marine tankers of Project 23130 for the Northern Fleet. In January 2020, its first representative, Akademik Pashin, joined the Navy. Last year, it was reported that the construction of the second and third vessels, the Vasily Nikitin and the Engineer Admiral Kotov, was continuing. In total, it is planned to transfer six such ships to the fleet. They must refuel ships and provide resources to the coastal infrastructure in the Arctic. The average marine tanker of project 23130 has a displacement of 9 thousand tons, its length is 130 m, and its width is 21 m. The maximum speed is 16 knots. The vessel can be in autonomous navigation for up to two months. The maximum cruising range is 8,000 nautical miles.

In addition, a series of Dolphin rescue vessels of the 21300C project is under construction. The lead ship Igor Belousov joined the Navy in 2015 and is currently serving in the Pacific Fleet. The ship can not only evacuate the crew from an emergency submarine, but also supply air, electricity and necessary rescue equipment to its board. A key element of the rescue equipment is the GVK—450 deep-sea diving complex, which allows operations at depths up to 450 m. It can be used to lift sailors from a submarine in distress to the surface, as well as to provide simultaneous decompression of up to 60 submariners in special pressure chambers. In total, four ships were ordered for the Navy, one for each fleet. The progress of the construction of the second, third and fourth has not been reported in recent years.