The nuclear-powered cruiser class Kirov (Project 11442M) Admiral Nakhimov which has been under construction since 2013 will have to wait at least another two years to be able to return to sea. Official sources attribute the causes of the further delays to non-delivery of materials and logistical problems with manufacturers.
The ship is undergoing major improvements which see the installation of new weapon systems including the anti-aircraft system Fort M (with 48N6DMK missiles replacing the 48N6E2) in 94 VLS, CIWS Pantsyr-M, replacing the system Chestnut, equipped with two GSh-6-30K / AO18KD rotating barrel guns and 57E6 missiles and / or Hermes-K. For submarine warfare, however, torpedoes will be installed on board Paket-NK and 81PU rockets Otvet. Finally, as regards the long-range attack against naval and / or land targets, the 3M45 missiles (SS-N-19 Shipwreck), will be replaced by 3M55 (SS-N-26 Strobile), 3M54 Kalibr (SS-N-27 Sizzler) and according to HI Sutton, Admiral Nakhimov will also be equipped with 3M22 missiles Tsirkon (SS-N-33).
The unit born with the name of Kalinin was set up at the Baltysky Zavod shipyard in Leningrad on May 17, 1983, becoming the third unit of the class Kirov, launched on April 25, 1986, entered service on December 30, 1988 in the Northern Fleet.
With the fall of the Soviet Union on April 22, 1992, the ship was renamed Admiral Pavel Stepanovich Nakhimov, destroyer of the Ottoman fleet in the battle of Sinope and defender of the city of Sevastopol in the Crimean War. Since 1997 the ship has been in Severodvinsk at the Sevmash shipyard starting a long, costly and troubled upgrade process which, at best, will end in 2023.
Photo: JSC PO Sevmash
