Russian battlecruiser Admiral Nakhimov

Kalinin c.1991
Career (RUS)
Name:	Kalinin
Namesake:	Mikhail Kalinin Pavel Nakhimov
Builder:	Baltiysky Naval Shipyard, Leningrad
Laid down:	May 17, 1983
Launched:	April 25, 1986
Commissioned:	December 30, 1988
Renamed:	Admiral Nakhimov
Fate:	To be refitted and return to service after 2015[1]
Status:	Undergoing re-fit
General characteristics
Class and type:	Kirov class battlecruiser
Displacement:	24,300 tons Standard, 28,000 (Full Load)
Length:	252 m (827 ft) 230 m (750 ft) (Waterline)
Beam:	28.5 m (94 ft)
Draft:	9.1 m (30 ft)
Propulsion:	2-shaft CONAS, Nuclear propulsion with steam turbine boost 140,000 shp
Speed:	32 knots (59 km/h)
Range:	1,000 nautical miles (2,000 km) at 30 knots (56 km/h) (combined propulsion), Essentially unlimited with nuclear power at 20 knots (37 km/h)
Complement:	727 Aircrew: 18 Flag staff: 15
Sensors and processing systems:	·Voskhod MR-800 (Top Pair) 3D search radar on foremast ·Fregat MR-710 (Top Steer) 3D search radar on main mast ·2 × Palm Frond navigation radar on foremast ·2 × Top Dome for SA-N-6 fire control ·4 × Bass Tilt for AK-360 CIWS System fire control ·2 × Eye Bowl for SA-N-4 fire control ·Horse Jaw LF hull sonar ·Horse Tail VDS (Variable Depth Sonar)
Armament:	20 P-700 Granit (SS-N-19 Shipwreck) AShM 16x8 (128) 3K95 "Kinzhal" (SA-N-9) surface-to-air missiles 12x8 (96) S-300PMU Favorit (SA-N-6 Grumble) surface-to-air missiles 44 OSA-MA (SA-N-4 Gecko) PD SAM 2x RBU-1000 (Smerch-3) 305 mm ASW rocket launchers 2x RBU-12000 (Udav-1) 254 mm ASW rocket launchers 1 twin AK-130 130 mm/L70 dual purpose gun 10 533 mm ASW/ASuW torpedo tubes, Type 53 torpedo or SS-N-15 ASW missile 6x Kashtan (CADS-N-1) point defense gun/missile system
Armour:	76 mm plating around reactor compartment, light splinter protection
Aircraft carried:	3 Kamov Ka-27 "Helix" or Ka-25 "Hormone"
Aviation facilities:	Below-deck hangar

Admiral Nakhimov (Russian: Адмирал Нахимов) is the third battlecruiser of the Kirov class. The ship was known as Kalinin (Калинин) until 1992.

History

Kalinin was laid down on May 17, 1983 at Baltiysky Naval Shipyard, Leningrad, launched on April 25, 1986, commissioned on December 30, 1988^[2] and joined the Northern Fleet on 21 April 1989 though GlobalSecurity noted the cruiser was a Pacific fleet unit.^[2] After the end of the Cold War the cruiser was rarely deployed and by 1999 it was permanently docked in Sevmash awaiting repairs.

Admiral Nakhimov in 1994.

Reactivation

In 2006, a decision was made to modernize this ship instead of completing the construction of SSGN Belgorod.^[3] Later in 2006, she was undergoing refit at Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk, but was reported finished ahead of schedule and was announced to again be in service with the Northern Fleet. However later reports state that the cruiser has been docked at Sevmash since 1999 without any activity.^[4] On October 30, 2008, Russian Navy representatives of the Northern Fleet announced that the first modification on the Nakhimov had been started and that the ship would re-join the Russian fleet by 2012.^[5][6][7] In November 2010 the director of Sevmash, Nikolai Kalistratov, repeated this statement confirming that the Russian government had appropriated money for Admiral Nakhimov to be repaired in 2011 (costing over 50 billion rubles.) However he also said that the funds were insufficient and more were needed to bring the ship back to active service.^[1] After finishing repairs, Admiral Nakhimov is to join the Russian Pacific Fleet. ^[8] In December 2011 the Sevmash shipyard stated that the refit of the ship would not be finished until after 2012. According to Sevmash General-Director Andrei Dyachkov the repairs were stopped because it was senseless to continue without having determined the final variant of modernization.^[9]

Work on modernizing the Admiral Nakhimov was resumed in January 2014 with the vessel being projected to rejoin the Russian Navy in 2018. The Admiral Nakhimov is slated to carry the P-800 Oniks supersonic anti-ship missile and a navalized variant of the S-400 Triumf SAM system, among other weapons.^[10]

Differences from lead ship

Aerial port view of the foredeck of Kalinin illustrating the differences from the lead ship of the class.

  2 CADS-N-1 point defense gun/missile system

  2 pop-up (lowered) SA-N-4 surface-to-air missile (SAM) launchers (one visible)

  20 SS-N-19 cruise missile launchers

  12 SA-N-6 surface-to-air missile (SAM) launchers

  8 SA-N-9 surface-to-air missile (SAM) vertical launchers

Kalinin was constructed differently from the lead ship of the class. On the forward part of the ship, the twin SS-N-14 ASW missile launcher was replaced with eight SA-N-9 surface-to-air missile vertical launchers. The forward 30 mm CIWS cannons were replaced by CADS-N-1. On the aft part, a single twin AK-130 130 mm gun, similar to the guns used on Slava and Sovremennyy, was used instead of two 100 mm guns. Near the flight deck, the 30 mm CIWS cannons were replaced by CADS-N-1 and moved to the aft superstructure and replaced with eight SA-N-9 vertical launchers.

References

External links

• Kirov Class - Project 1144.2 at GlobalSecurity.org