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DCNS Trying to Recover Profit Lost to Mistral Cancellation

DCNS is in talks with the French authorities to recover the “three figures” of profit that sank when France canceled the sale of two Mistral helicopter carriers to Russia, Chairman Hervé Guillou said Tuesday.

The naval shipbuilder forewent some €100 million (US $110 million) of gain when Paris and Moscow agreed to annul the deal in August, with France repaying €949.7 million of cash advances.

That cancellation led to DCNS, prime contractor on the Mistral, forgoing a profit of “three figures,” Guillou told the defense journalists association. “I am sure it will be resolved,” he said, declining to give the amount.

In his Sept. 15 remarks to the National Assembly foreign affairs committee, Guillou said the cancellation of the Mistral led to foregoing profit that is the equivalent of a year’s research and development budget.

DCNS invests €100 million in R&D, he told journalists Tuesday.

Coface, the export credit agency, repaid €893 million of production costs but that repayment excluded the expected profit. The government repaid Russia €56.9 million for adapting the ships to fit Russian combat systems.

The first of the two Mistrals will sail to Egypt next summer, the second three months later, Guillou said. The company is in talks about creating an Egyptian joint venture for maintenance of warships.

The company last year sold four Gowind corvettes and is in talks for an option on two more. Egypt also bought a multimission frigate, part of a €5.2 billion arms deal centered on the sale of 24 Rafale fighters and missiles from Sagem and MBDA.

DCNS is in discussion for a local partner in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for maintenance of ships delivered under the two Sawari arms programs.

Maintenance is also a factor in the company’s bid in an Australian competition for eight to 12 attack submarines, which is now under a competitive evaluation process.

There were no problems in cooperating with Thales, a systems company, on the Australian offer, with the systems company “unequalled” in sonar technology, Guillou said. There is cooperation with Thales at the group level with the Thales Underwater Systems division in a highly structured way.

Thales Underwater Systems could also be a subcontractor for the two US companies, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, competing for the separate combat systems contract in Australia, he said.

DCNS competes with ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, and Japan teamed with Mistubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Shipbuilding.

Australia, Egypt and Saudi Arabia are seen as potential markets for expansion in addition to Brazil, India and Malaysia, where DCNS is building submarines and surface warships with local partners.

DCNS has seen interest from Canada, Chile, Colombia, Qatar and Saudi Arabia on the planned intermediate frigate, which the company will build for the French Navy. The frigate will have a modular design, able to be adapted to regional and defense needs of the export client.

DCNS expects to break even this year after posting a 2014 net loss of €336 million, with annual sales more than €3 billion. The company reported €3.1 billion in sales in 2014.

“We are on our financial trajectory and the operational signals for 2015 show the company is on the right track,” Guillou said.

The company is state-owned, with Thales holding 35 percent.

Of the sales, two-thirds stem from shipbuilding, one-third from maintenance.

DCNS is in talks with labor unions on the loss of 1,000 jobs, with the company looking to consolidate around specialization on sites around the country.

US Navy: More Can Be Done If Risks Are Accepted

The effort to put more weapons on more ships and find more ways to attack an enemy — and get it done in a timely manner — is key to “distributed lethality,” a concept being championed by Vice Adm. Tom Rowden, the US Navy’s commander of surface forces.

A Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile was fired from a US Navy littoral combat ship in September 2014. The Norweigan-built missile, along with the US-made Harpoon, is being fitted to LCSs without first going through a rigorous testing program.

But an ancient obstacle remains: bureaucracy. And it’s no secret that Navy officials have chafed under competing requirements to identify and field new capabilities faster while complying with layers of evaluation and testing authorities that often slow things up.

“How do we deliver the capabilities going forward, what does it take to do that?” John Burrow, the Navy’s top civilian official for research, test and evaluation, asked a professional audience in Washington on Tuesday. “It takes investment, a willingness to take on risk, a willingness to fail.”

Efforts that fail in their immediate goals can still provide information, Burrow noted.

“I’ve never seen a project that we pushed forward that even if we didn’t deliver a capability, that we learned a lot from,” he said to an audience at an American Society of Naval Engineers symposium. “From an engineering point of view — a science point of view — if we don’t push the envelope, take it to the outer edge, we’re not going to achieve the capabilities we need.”

Without pointing to specific entities, Burrow decried critics who focus on defects.

“We need to be willing to go off road, to change direction,” he said, noting that it’s not always apparent at the beginning of a program what eventually will be needed.

“I don’t think we can get a group of people to deliver a requirements package that’s perfect,” he said, “and then at the end we have trouble with cost and schedule. I submit that with that linear process, we shouldn’t be surprised that we have problems at the end.”

A recent demonstration by the Russians in launching cruise missiles from small warships in the Caspian Sea to strike targets about 1,000 miles away in Syria is widely seen as an example of distributed lethality.

Rear Adm. Pete Fanta, the director of surface warfare at the Pentagon, was blunt in responding to a question about why the US can’t seem to field similar capabilities in a timely manner.

“We can get there, but get the hell out of my way,” Fanta declared, speaking to the bureaucratic obstacles. “I can get there fast, I can get with the same capability, I can get it on the ships, but I can’t do it in a risk-averse, fear-centric organization.

“That’s not you folks,” he said to the civilians in the room, “that’s us wearing the uniform. I’m willing to go be the chew toy for Congress if I fail. You let me go try it, I’ll go do it. You let me bolt it on, I’ll take the risk. I’ll find a [commanding officer] out there that’s willing to point it in a direction and fire it” and understand the risks.

“I can’t do it in an organization that spends three times as much on proving it might or might not work perfectly every single time, as I can if I just go do it. Every success we’ve had we just went and did. Every major failure we’ve had has been an opinion on the level of failure by someone else.

That may be a little too blunt, but it’s the truth,” Fanta said. “We need to get out of this risk-averse culture.”

Fanta was asked if the Navy is developing a new long-range anti-ship missile.

“We still have a requirement for a Tomahawk cruise missile to attack surface ships sitting on the books. In fact it’s been reiterated for the past 15 years,” Fanta noted.

The Navy in the 1980s developed an active radar-homing anti-ship version of the Tomahawk land-attack weapon, but dropped it in the 1990s.

“We know what Tomahawk is capable of,” Fanta said. “The reason we got rid of it was because our sensors were not long-range enough to keep up with the range of Tomahawk.

Now, he noted, “our sensors have evolved to where we can track and target things out to the range of Tomahawk. So now we have a need for something Tomahawk-esque to reach out that far.”

“We’re talking about evolving the capabilities that we have,” he said. “I got a great truck” — the Tomahawk. “It’s a big missile, it’s sitting inside my [vertical launch system] cells right now. What other things can we put on it or make it do, whether with a seeker, without a seeker, dumb seekers, smart sensors? We’re looking at all of that.

“This missile is going to be around until the mid-2040s,” Fanta noted. “I think I better figure out more things to do with it than just hit a spot on the beach.”

Submarines: Underwater Game Changers

The United States builds, arguably, the world’s most capable submarines. But at about $2 billion apiece, there are only so many subs the US Navy will acquire, and it’s widely recognized the supply will never meet the demand.

Meanwhile, building and acquiring modern submarines is a worldwide growth industry. Russia, China and even India are designing and building multiple new classes of subs, armed and fit with a growing variety of weapons and sensors — and a number of nations are building or purchasing foreign-designed undersea craft.

Retired Vice Adm. Michael Connor, a former commander of the US Navy’s submarine forces, explained this activity in a recent hearing on Capitol Hill.

“The undersea arena is the most opaque of all warfighting domains,” Connor said during an Oct. 27 hearingat the House Seapower subcommittee. “It is easier to track a small object in space than it is to track a large submarine, with tremendous fire power under the water. That is why countries with the technical wherewithal to operate in this domain are pursuing advanced capability. The two countries that present the biggest challenge in the undersea are Russia and China, with Russia being the more capable of the two.”

Rather than simply building more submarines, Connor and others are urging more sustained development of weapons and sensors to increase the power of US undersea forces. Among Connor’s top recommendations is the desire to extend the striking range of submarine-launched weapons.

“This multiplies the impact of each submarine and multiplies the search challenge that each submarine presents to a potential foe,” he said.

Connor specifically wants torpedoes with ranges of more than 100 miles.

“This is definitely doable with chemical-based propulsion systems and will likely soon be achievable with battery systems,” he said. Such a range also will need better command-and-control systems, including the ability to communicate with the torpedo, perhaps via manned or unmanned aircraft or by satellite, he said.

“The torpedo will come to be considered along the line of a slow-moving missile,” he said, “with the advantage that it is more difficult to detect, carries a much larger explosive charge and strikes the enemy beneath the waterline, where the impact is most severe.”

Connor also wants the US “to get back into the business of submarine-launched anti-ship missiles” with the ability to “confidently attack a specific target at sea at a range of about 1,000 miles. We should be pursuing this more aggressively than we are.”

Connor also wants better and more-capable undersea vehicles.

“We need to improve the endurance of the vehicles, expand the payload set, and get to the point where any submarine can recover the mission data, if not the vehicle. We need to do this while keeping the cost of the vehicle down. The cost should be low enough such that, while we would always like to get the vehicles back, it is not a crisis if we don’t. The value is in the data, not the vehicle.”

Bryan Clark, a naval analyst with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, appeared alongside Connor and urged greater development in undersea sensors — onboard submarines, unmanned vehicles and weapons, as well as deployed in the water and fixed on the seabed.

To coordinate the development and fielding of underwater systems, Clark said the Navy should “make its undersea warfare resource sponsor and acquisition organizations responsible for all undersea vehicles and systems once they transition out of research and development.”

Clark urged continued development in a wide range of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV), including looking at ways to arm some. He pointed to the compact, very lightweight torpedo — now under development — as having potential not only as a defensive, anti-torpedo weapon but also as a weapon that could be carried and launched by larger UUVs.

Connor and Clark said Congress could aid these efforts by providing funding not tied to specific programs of record. “Programs should be defined broadly so that they can incorporate innovation without recreating the program,” Connor said.

The failure of some efforts, he said, should not necessarily be taken as a negative thing. He said Silicon Valley failure rates sometimes approach 90 percent.

“If we are innovating aggressively enough, perhaps half of our initiatives will fail,” he said.

Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., chairman of the subcommittee, agreed with many of the recommendations.

“There’s a recognition that if we’re going to keep up with undersea dominance, it’s not just about creating more platforms, but we have to create relatively sophisticated systems of systems with the ability to multiply capability but not just adding a platform,” he said in a post-hearing interview.

“We can create a platform to last 20, 30, 40 years,” he said, noting that many systems will be developed over that time. “So it’s important to find the process or architecture to create innovation and put it out in three to four year cycles.

“What I’m excited about,” he said, “is we’ve got people in the Pentagon, the private sector and in policy sectors who understand this and can create partnerships to actually get them done.”

Bulava Intercontinental SLBM Tested

Russian Nuclear Submarine Test Fires two Bulava intercontinental ballistic missiles from underwater in white sea. The Missiles have a range of upto 11,000 KMs.

Russian Navy's Cruise Missiles Hits ISIS Targets in Syria

Russian Navy launches cruise missile attacks on takfiri ISIS targets across Syria. From four Russian warships in Caspian Sea navy launched 26 cruise missiles which hits targets after traveling 1,000 miles through Iran & Iraqi territories. 11 high value targets of ISIS positions were targeted, claimed by both Russian & Syrian authorities.

This fresh attacks from Russian Navy marked a new level for Putin's anti-terrorism in Middle East. This attacks came after while western world voicing loudly against this types of campaign of Russian authority. US, EU & other western allies wants Russia to stop this campaign and started shouting that Russia doesn't hits ISIS but attacking all anti-Syrian groups like FSA, Jabhat Al-Nusra & some so-called moderate democratic groups those wants Bashar to go.

Although western hypocrisy it seems that Putin won't stop until Syria got safe from terrorism.

Russia Official Says: We won’t be taking Mistral warships from France

Russia won’t try and get its ill-fated Mistral helicopter carriers from France, a Russian official has announced. Moscow and Paris are set to discuss damages to be paid by France for welching on the deal. 

BPC Mistral of French Navy.

“Russia won’t be taking them [the Mistral vessels]. That’s a fact. There’s just a single discussion underway at the moment – on the amount of money that should be returned to Russia,” Oleg Bochkarev, a deputy chairman of the Russian governmental Military-Industrial Commission, is cited as saying by RBC.

The negotiations have been “transferred into the commercial field” and “major efforts are being made today” for Russia to receive damages, Bochkarev told RIA Novosti.

France reportedly offered €748 million as compensation, but Russia turned down the proposal, calling it "laughable."

The official also said that Russia would build its own helicopter carriers, in place of the Mistral warships, which Paris refused to supply Moscow.

“We have such vessels planned, they’re on the drawing board,” Bochkarev stressed, adding that they will be of a different class to the French-built ships as “there’s no point copying the Mistrals.”

Russia and France signed a €1.12 billion contract to build two Mistral class amphibious ships in 2011.

Under the deal, Russia was supposed to receive the first of the two Mistral-class helicopter carriers, the Vladivostok, in October 2014 and the second, the Sevastopol, in 2015. But the mood in Paris went through a sea change.

In mid-2014, the French side postponed delivery indefinitely due to pressure from the US and the EU, which have imposed a set of sanctions against Moscow over the accession of Crimea and Russia’s alleged involvement in the Ukrainian crisis.

In late April, French President Francois Hollande acknowledged that Russia should get a refund if it doesn’t receive the Mistral ships.

Earlier this month, an article in the Le Point weekly magazine said the French government could end up having to pay “between €2 billion and €5 billion,” if it doesn’t fulfill its contractual obligations with Russia.

The French Navy repeatedly stated that it doesn’t need the Mistrals as they are built according to Russian standards.

Reports have emerged that the cheapest solution for France would be to scuttle the two newly-built ships as maintaining them costs an estimated €2 to €5 million every month.

Russia Plans It Big: The 'Super' Aircraft Carrier

Russia has revealed key details of a new supercarrier it plans to build.

In a new interview with IHS Jane’s, Valery Polyakov, the deputy director of Russia's government-owned Krylov State Research Center, the company designing the new carrier, outlined some new details about the ship, which is being billed as Project 23000E or Shtorm (Storm).

According to Polyakov,, the vessel will displace between 90,000 and 100,000 tons, roughly double the size of any carrier Russia has built to date. It will also be 330 meters in length, 40 meters wide, and have a draft of 11 meters. The carrier will have a cruising speed of 20 knots (kt), with a top speed of 30 kt. The vessel will also have an endurance of 120 days and require a crew of between 4,000-5,000 sailors.

The carrier will be able to carry between 80-90 combat aircraft of various kinds. Jane’s revealed that “the model features a split air wing comprising navalised T-50 PAKFAs and MiG-29Ks, as well as jet-powered naval early warning aircraft, and Ka-27 naval helicopters.”

A mockup of the carrier built by KRSC will be unveiled at the International Maritime Defense Show 2015, Polyakov said. That show will be held July 1-5 in St. Petersburg.

In addition, the carrier mockup KRSC built has four launching positions. Two of the launching positions are of the ski-ramp variant, while the other two are electromagnetic aircraft launch systems (EMALS), which the U.S. Navy itself just tested last week. As the U.S. Navy explained in a press release announcing the test, EMALS offer a number of advantages over the traditional steam-based launch systems.

“Using electromagnetic technology, the system delivers substantial improvements in system maintenance, increased reliability and efficiency, higher-launch energy capacity, and more accurate end-speed control, with a smooth acceleration at both high and low speeds. By allowing linear acceleration over time, electromagnetic catapults also place less stress on the aircraft.”

One of the major shortcomings of the vessel, as currently designed, is that it will be powered by a conventional power plant, rather than a nuclear one. This could be later changed, per the customer’s wishes, Polyakov said.

In the Jane’s interview, Polyakov also detailed some of envisioned missions of the proposed heavy aircraft carrier: "The Project 23000E multipurpose aircraft carrier is designed to conduct operations in remote and oceanic areas, engage land-based and sea-borne enemy targets, ensure the operational stability of naval forces, protect landing troops, and provide the anti-aircraft defense."

Reports that Russia was planning a new aircraft carrier first emerged in local media back in February. Those reports were confirmed by Russia’s naval chief the following month. "The Navy will have an aircraft carrier. The research companies are working on it, and strictly in compliance with the requirements from the Chief Commander," Viktor Chirkov, Russia’s top naval officer, said at the time.

Russia currently operates one carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, which was launched by the Soviet Union back in 1985. This should make it easier for Russia to construct a new aircraft carrier than a country like China, which has less experience with naval aviation than Moscow.

That being said, the proposed new carrier will be exponentially more complicated to build than Russian and Soviet carriers of the past. As such, it is extremely likely that the proposed Shtorm carrier will never come to fruition, especially given Russia’s mounting fiscal difficulties. As Jim Holmes wisely counseled, “Let’s not make too much of this.”

Russian "Storm": An Carrier Capable Of Transporting 90 Different Aircraft

"Storm" can carry 90 deck-based aircraft for various combat missions. The carrier has two ramps and two electromagnetic catapults to launch aircraft from its deck.

 

Russia only aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov underway in the Mediterranean.

Krylovsky State Research Center (KRSC) came up with a scale model of a new aircraft carrier known as 23000 "Storm," daily newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported.

In addition to aircraft carriers built for the Russian Navy, the developers created an import version of the ship, which might be extremely interesting to many foreign customers.

The ship's power plant will be either a conventional power plant or a nuclear one, depending on potential customers' requirements, Rossiyskaya Gazeta said.

The new aircraft carrier has a displacement of 100,000 tons, is 330 meters in length, 40 meters in width and has a draft of 11 meters. The ship has a top speed of 30 kt and a sea-keeping performance of up to grade 7.

 
To defend itself from aerial attacks, the aircraft carrier has air-defense missile and anti-torpedo defense systems.

Paris Hopes For Settlement In Mistral Deal With Russia

Paris hopes to reach a settlement with Russia regarding the failed deal for the delivery of two Mistral-class helicopter carriers to the Russian Navy, Le Journal du Dimanche reported. 

 

"For France the Mistral contract is significant for both diplomatic and financial reasons. French authorities do not want to be perceived as swindlers unable to fulfil their obligations," the newspaper quoted a member of the French government familiar with the situation as saying.

 

Mistral-class helicopter carrier.

If France succeeds in reaching a settlement with Russia, Paris would be able to pay compensation and not a fine, the source added. The compensation could reach 50 percent of what Moscow paid. 

 

According to the source, France is ready to repay Moscow $875 million, as well as cover the expanses of sending Russian seamen to Saint-Nazaire, where the Mistrals were built. France is also allegedly willing to pay for the shipment of Russian equipment and platform installation in Russian ports.

Russian sailors stand in formation in front of the Mistral-class helicopter carrier Vladivostok at the STX Les Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard site in Saint-Nazaire.

The two Mistral ships, known as the Vladivostok and the Sevastopol, could be sold to a third party, the newspaper said, adding that NATO members are among potential buyers.

"However, … measures would be taken so that the helicopter carriers would not be sold to the countries in strained relations with Russia," a source told the newspaper, naming Georgia as one such nation that is unable to buy the Mistrals built for Russia. "Evidently the Kremlin would see this as a provocation," the newspaper said.

Earlier in May, rumors appeared that France was trying to sell the Mistral-class amphibious assault ship to China while two French warships were on a seven-day visit to Shanghai. Russia insists the ships cannot be sold without Moscow's permission. 

 

The Mistral-Class Helicopter Carrier.

Under a $1.3-billion deal Russia and France signed in 2011, Paris was supposed to deliver the Vladivostok in November 2014 and the Sevastopol in early 2015. None of the ships arrived to Russia, since the deliveries were put on hold over Moscow's alleged involvement in the Ukrainian civil war. Kremlin has repeatedly denied these groundless claims and pushed for peace in the war-torn nation.

 

Source: Sputnik

Russia Prepares to Launch Third Varshavyanka-Class Submarine

MOSCOW, August 25 – Another Varshavyanka-class diesel-electric submarine, built for the Crimea-based Black Sea Fleet, will be launched on Thursday, the Russian Defense Ministry reported Monday. 

 

Varshavyanka-class diesel-electric submarine, built for the Crimea-based Black Sea Fleet, will be launched in Russia

"The third in the series of six Varshavyanka-class diesel-electric submarines will be launched at Admiralty Shipyards in St. Petersburg on August 28," according to the official statement. Six submarines from the project are to be constructed prior to 2016, according Russian Navy General Staff plans and become part of the submarine forces of the Black Sea Fleet.

The much-anticipated delivery of these submarines, dubbed by the US Navy "black holes in the ocean" because they are nearly undetectable when submerged, is a key part of Russia’s naval strategy in the Mediterranean, where Moscow has recently deployed a permanent task force consisting of 10 surface ships.

The Varshavyanka-class (Project 636.3) is an improved version of Kilo-class submarines and features advanced stealth technology, extended combat range and the ability to strike land, surface and underwater targets.

The submarines are mainly intended for anti-ship and anti-submarine missions in relatively shallow waters. The vessels, carrying crews of 52, have a top underwater speed of 20 knots and a cruising range of 400 miles (electric propulsion), with the ability to patrol for 45 days. The submarines are armed with 18 torpedoes and eight surface-to-air missiles.

 

Source: RIA Novosti

Russian Navy Fleets Around Globe

The Russian Navy comprises the Northern Fleet, the Russian Pacific Fleet, the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the Russian Baltic Fleet and the Russian Caspian Flotilla.

 

Russian Navy to Deploy Conventional Deterrence Force

MOSCOW, March 19 – The naval component of Russia’s future strategic non-nuclear deterrence force will consist of warships and submarines armed with high-precision weapons, navy commander Adm. Viktor Chirkov said Wednesday.

According to Chirkov, the core of the force will comprise new Project 885M Yasen-class and overhauled Project 949A Oscar-II-class nuclear-powered attack submarines, as well as Project 677 Lada-class diesel-electric boats.

Russian Navy to Deploy Conventional Deterrence Force

“The enhanced combat capability of multipurpose nuclear-powered and conventional submarines will be achieved through arming these boats with advanced fully-automated weapons systems,” the admiral said.

The Russian attack submarines are currently armed with a variety of cruise missiles with the range of up to 500 kilometers (over 300 miles), self-guided torpedoes and sea mines. Chirkov said that the Russian submarines will increase the scope and frequency of their missions around the globe “to guarantee the country’s security.”

(RIA Novosti)

France Should Return Money if Warship Deal Cancelled – Rogozin

MOSCOW, March 20 – France should either fulfill its contract obligations under a June 2011 contract to deliver two Mistral-class warships to the Russian navy or return the money, a Russian deputy premier said on Wednesday. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Monday that Paris will consider canceling the 1.2-billion-euro deal if Moscow provokes further escalation in Ukraine.

The remarks came after the US and EU imposed sanctions on senior Russian officials following a referendum in Ukraine's Crimea in which voters overwhelmingly supported secession and reunification with Russia.

“Either stick to your contract obligations and deliver the warships in time, or return the money and parts of these warships’ hulls, assembled at our Baltiysky Zavod [shipyard],” said Dmitry Rogozin, a deputy premier in charge of the defense industry.

A source in Russia’s United Shipbuilding Corporation told RIA Novosti on the condition of anonymity that France will also have to pay huge penalties if it chooses to unilaterally terminate the contract. Under a June 2011 contract signed between Russia and France, the first French Mistral-class amphibious assault ship, named Vladivostok, will be delivered to Russia by the year-end, while the second warship, the Sevastopol, is due to arrive in 2015. The ships are capable of carrying 16 helicopters, four landing craft, 70 armored vehicles, and 450 soldiers and are expected to be deployed with Russia’s Pacific Fleet.

(RIA Novosti)

Russian Navy to standardize its warships and submarines

October 29, 2010 saw the launch of the Admiral Sergei Gorshkov class frigate, the lead ship of the Navy's Project 22350 class. This is the first large Russian surface warship designed and launched since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Russia's naval ship-building program is gradually gaining momentum. The keels of numerous warships and submarines have already been laid, and many other ships are in the design phase. Taken together, this gives us a peek into the future of the Russian Navy for the next 10, 15 and even 20 years. 

Launch of the Admiral Sergei Gorshkov class frigate

So, what will it look like?

Before I get to specific warships and submarines, I should note the current trend of naval development is completely different than the trend 30-35 years ago.

What we are seeing is maximum standardization in warship and submarine designs. They all begin with a few base platforms, and from there standard equipment is added depending on the function of the warship.

This same goes for the submarine fleet. The pressure hulls of new strategic ballistic-missile submarines and attack submarines are assembled using standardized sections.

The submarines have standard propulsion units, as well as similar sonars and radio-electronic equipment. Essentially, they differ only in terms of their main armament.

Strategic ballistic-missile submarines are equipped with silos which will house RSM-56 SS-NX-32 submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), while attack submarines will feature multi-purpose launchers for various types of cruise missiles.

The warships currently being developed also use standardized propulsion units, launchers, radio-electronic equipment, etc.

The Soviet Union had realized the need for standardization by the early 1980s. At the time, its vast navy was a motley assortment of warships and submarines with limited production runs and drastically different armament and equipment.

This made it extremely difficult to service, repair and resupply warships and submarines and to train their crews. Standardized warships, which began to be developed in the 1980s, were expected to help overhaul the navy by the mid 1990s and early 2000s. However, these plans were not realized for obvious reasons.

Russia had inherited a scaled-down version of the Soviet navy, which was hard to service and even harder to adapt to meet new challenges. The government worked to upgrade the navy throughout the 2000s.

The submarine fleet is the backbone of the navy

Analysts and high-ranking Defense Ministry officials believe that the submarine fleet is still the backbone of the Russian Navy, and that it will continue to play this role in the future.

Most important are the strategic nuclear forces accounting for 700-750 out of the 1,500 strategic nuclear warheads, which Russia plans to keep until the late 2010s.

Barring experimental submarines and special-purpose submarines, which are traditionally veiled in secrecy, the Russian Navy will continue to receive two types of nuclear-powered submarines and two types of diesel-electric submarines in the next few years. The latter are more frequently called non-nuclear submarines featuring next-generation propulsion units.

Eight Project 955 Borei class ballistic-missile submarines will form the foundation of the navy's strategic nuclear forces. The first submarine is currently being tested, three more are under construction, and the keels of four other submarines are to be laid in the next five to six years.

The success of this project depends on the prompt completion of Bulava missile tests and the missile's subsequent adoption. This is a priority of the government. Hopefully, the various design problems will be solved soon.

In the next few decades, the navy will operate Project 885 Yasen (Graney class) attack submarines. The lead submarine, the Severodvinsk, was launched in the summer of 2010.

These heavily armed and extremely costly submarines are expected to replace 15 Project 671 Victor class, Project 945 Sierra I class and Project 949-A Oscar II submarines dating back to the Soviet period in the course of the next 15 years.

They are to replace the 12 aging Project 971 Akula class submarines after 2025.

One Project 885 submarine is currently being built. The keels of another six submarines are to be laid in the next six to seven years. In all, 10 to 12 Yasen submarines are to be constructed by 2025.

The expensive Project 885 submarines are frequently derided as a luxury in the media, and Moscow is encouraged to follow the example of the United States.

In effect, Washington has scrapped the ambitious SSN-21 Sea Wolf attack submarine program, designed as a response to the Soviet Akula class submarines, because of its prohibitive costs. Instead, the U.S. Navy has started building the much smaller Virginia class submarines.

Moscow clearly thinks that it would be too risky and expensive to design a new submarine now. Consequently, new Yasen submarines will be built, and operational ones upgraded.

The Russian Navy had problems developing the new Project 677 Lada diesel-electric submarines, whereas Project 877 Paltus (Kilo class) submarines continued to age rapidly. As a result, the Navy had to order upgraded Project 636-M (Kilo class) submarines once again. In August 2010, the keel of a lead Project 636-M submarine was laid for the Black Sea Fleet.

Over the next decade, the Navy will replace obsolete Paltus submarines with improved models, while continuing to upgrade the Lada submarine. The Navy is to operate four to five Ladas, as well as 9-12 upgraded and 5-6 obsolete Paltus submarines.

Renovating the warship fleet

The Russian Navy is in critical condition. Nowhere is this truer than in its warship fleet.

The Russian warship fleet has become obsolete and needs to be completely replaced because it did not receive even the meager replacements and allocations given to the submarine fleet in the past 20 years.

The Defense Ministry has shown a preference for the cautious but probably correct strategy of renovating the warship fleet from the bottom up. This involves the construction of small and relatively cheap warships, which will eventually be followed by larger, more sophisticated and expensive ships.

A Project 20380 Steregushchy class corvette is the first production warship to enter service with an overhauled Navy. The lead ship has already been commissioned. One more has been launched, and three more are under construction.

Moreover, construction has begun on ocean-going warships, namely, Project 22350 Admiral Sergei Gorshkov frigates.

These are the first post-Soviet capital warships. Once this ship-building program got underway, it became obvious that these sophisticated and expensive ships would delay the fleet's renovation.

Consequently, it was decided to expedite the process and to begin construction on the Project 11356 Talwar class frigates, which are on a par with the new warships. Russia has already built several such ships for the Indian Navy.

These frigates should have the same interchangeable components - including equipment and main weapons systems - as next-generation warships. Eight next-generation frigates, as well as the same number of Project 11356 warships, are to be commissioned in the next ten years.

The Russian Navy is to receive 30 frigates and 30 corvettes in the next 20 years.

Frigates will be followed by even larger warships. It is no secret that Russia has almost finished designing a next-generation destroyer, with a displacement of 10,000 metric tons. The new warship is to be equipped with standard launchers, a standard information-and-control system and other interchangeable equipment.

Corvettes, frigates and next-generation destroyers will form the backbone of the Navy's warship fleet in the next 20-30 years.

Without these new ships, it would be pointless to buy French-made Mistral class amphibious assault ships, to build them in Russia, to overhaul and refit the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier and to build other aircraft carriers.

The views expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.

Russia Floats Out New Frigate for Black Sea Fleet

ST.PETERSBURG, March 14 - The Yantar shipyard in Russia’s Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad on Friday floated out the first in a series of six Project 11356 frigates being built for the Black Sea Fleet, the company said.

The Admiral Grigorovich was laid down in December 2010. Four more ships of the same class are in various stages of construction at the shipyard. All six frigates will be delivered to the Black Sea Fleet between 2014 and 2017 under two contracts with the Defense Ministry. 

Russia Floats Out New Frigate for Black Sea Fleet

The Project 11356 frigates, displacing 3,850 tons, are designed for anti-ship and anti-submarine warfare as well as for air defense missions, operating both independently or as part of convoys and naval task forces.

The frigates are armed with an eight-cell launcher for Kalibr and Klub (3M54E) anti-ship and surface-to-surface missiles, a 100-mm main gun, Kashtan gun/missile close-in air defense systems, Shtil vertical-launch air defense missile systems, two torpedo tubes, an anti-submarine rocket system and a Ka-28 or Ka-31 helicopter, according to defense industry sites globalsecurity.org and rusnavy.com.

Russia Floats Out New Frigate for Black Sea Fleet

Deputy commander of the Russian navy, Rear Admiral Viktor Bursuk, said Friday that the vessels of this class are ideal for operations in the Black Sea or in the Mediterranean, where Russia maintains a permanent naval task force.

Bursuk added that these ships could also be used for anti-piracy missions in the Gulf of Aden, between Somalia and Yemen.

RIA Novosti

Russian Navy takes in service world's largest amphibious landing craft

The largest world's amphibious landing craft Yevgeny Kocheshkov arrived at a permanent naval base at the Russian port of Baltiisk after repair at Baltic shipbuilding plant Yantar (Amber) in the Russian westernmost city of Kaliningrad, head of information support department of the press service of the Western Military District for the Baltic Fleet Captain 2nd Rank Vladimir Matveyev said on Tuesday. 

"Kaliningrad shipbuilders have made an overhaul onboard this unique landing ship, giving the second life to her," he noted.

Specialists at the shipbuilding plant Yantar have repaired the engine unit of the warship and refurbished her hull and other equipment. They have also mounted a new flexible sealing system on the landing warship thanks to which an air cushion is created. Design features of the air cushion permit this powerful surface warship to move on the ground and bypass slight obstacles, such as ditches, trenches, mine fields, move on marshes and make landing in the depth of enemy’s defense.

 “Right upon arrival in Baltiisk, the main naval base of the Russian Baltic Fleet, the crew of small amphibious landing craft Yevgeny Kocheshkov has launched drilling her course mission directly at the naval base,” Matveyev said. Then the warship will set out in the high seas to fulfil her mission.

Project 12322 Zubr small amphibious landing craft Yevgeny Kocheshkov is designed for taking onboard marine landing parties with combat military hardware from developed and underdeveloped coast, delivery by sea, landing of the enemy’s coast and fire support to landed troops. This warship can make landings at up to 70% of total length of coastal line of seas and oceans in the world.

 The Baltic Fleet also has the second same-type warship of this project - small amphibious landing craft Mordovia that is also based at the naval base in Baltiisk.

Source: Voice of Russia, TASS

Russia to Build Its First Nuclear Powered Aircraft Carrier by 2023

Russia will complete construction of its first nuclear powered aircraft carrier by 2023, the head of Russia’s United Shipbuilding Corporation said. 

Russian Project 1143.8 class Carrier

“We will start designing the Russian aircraft carrier in 2016, so that by 2018 we can start construction,” company head Roman Trotsenko said. He also said that as the construction period was likely to be five years, the carrier would be put into service in 2023.

The Russian navy has one conventionally powered aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, construction of which began during the Soviet era and finished in the early 1990s. President Dmitry Medvedev said in 2008 that Russia would build new carriers for the navy but did not specify how they would be powered.

by Oleg Lastochkin (RiaNovosti)

First Borey Submarine To Be Launched Soon

The Yury Dolgoruky, a 'fourth generation' (Project 955) Borey class nuclear missile submarine is expected to be launched this week at the Sevmash submarine shipyard in the northern Arkhangelsk Region. The new submarine is the first vessel expected to be equipped with the Bulava ballistic missile (the naval version of the SS-27 Topol M). 

The submarine will undergo sea trials in 2007 and is scheduled to be fully equipped with weaponry in 2008. However, due to the continued problems encountered with the development of the Bulava M missile, the validity of this timetable is now questionable. Despite these setbacks, Russia is determined to pursue with the Bulava program. President Vladimir Putin was quoted that Russia's submarine fleet, particularly the fourth-generation submarines armed with Bulava missiles, would form the core of an entire fleet of modern submarines.

According to the Novosti RIA news agency, the submarine has a length of 170 meters (580 feet), a body diameter around 13 meters (42 feet), and a submerged speed of about 29 knots. It can carry up to 16 ballistic missiles. Two other Borey-class nuclear submarines, the Alexander Nevsky and the Vladimir Monomakh, are currently under construction at the Sevmash plant, with a fourth submarine on the future production schedule list. 

Some Borey Class Snaps: