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| Steregushchy class Corvette (File Photo) |
By Franz-Stefan Gady
Will Russia’s ambitious naval plans in the Pacific bear fruit this year?
In the last two years, Russia’s second-biggest fleet, the Pacific Fleet, has been receiving new ships for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union. In 2013 the fleet obtained a new Borei-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBN), and is expecting five more over the next decade. The fleet has furthermore received one Dyugon-class landing craft in 2014. This modernization campaign is part of an ambitious naval re-armament program over the next 20 years.
Another Borei-class SSBN, the Vladimir Monomakh, is expected to enter the service of the Pacific Fleet this year. Its sister ship, the Borei-class SSBN Alexander Nevsky, recently conducted a successful single test-launch of the Bulava inter-continental ballistic missile in the Kamchatka Peninsula. The Pacific Fleet is also expecting two Steregushchy-class corvettes, multipurpose ships for littoral zone operations, in 2015.
The first of six Yasen-class multi-purpose attack nuclear submarines (SSGN) projected to enter service in the Far East over the next ten years will join the Pacific Fleet in 2017 at the earliest. Also, the Russian Navy just initiated a modernization program of its Oscar-class SSGNs, five of which are part of the Far Eastern Fleet. Details on the Oscar-class upgrades, which are supposed to expand the subs’ lifespan for another 15-20 years, are murky and it is unclear when the subs stationed in the Pacific are scheduled for the overhaul. After a ten year construction period, the first Ivan Gren amphibious ship will also enter service in 2015 and, in all likelihood, be assigned to the Pacific Fleet.
Strategic deterrence remains the chief task of the navy. Consequently, Moscow’s major emphasis in the short term is the modernization of its aging submarine fleet in the Pacific. Coastal defense is the navy’s second most important mission set and Russia has embarked on the construction of a number of smaller but surface combat ships (e.g., the Steregushchy-class corvette) capable of executing access denial strategies.
Read the full story at The Diplomat