In the former Soviet era, the Soviet Navy was also known as the "Red Behemoth". On the eve of its disintegration from 1980 to 1991, the size of the Soviet Navy reached its peak. The Soviet Navy's Northern Fleet, Pacific Fleet , Black Sea Fleet and The Baltic Fleet has a total of 7 aircraft carriers , 30 cruisers , 45 destroyers, 59 cruise missile nuclear submarines, 60 attack submarines, 61 ballistic missile nuclear submarines, 60 conventional submarines, and 113 large The frigates , 124 small frigates, 35 amphibious landing ships and 425 patrol boats are opponents that make the United States feel "fearful".
"After the disintegration of the Soviet Union", the terrifyingly powerful "Red Navy" also became torn apart. Neither Russia nor Ukraine are able to maintain large-scale naval ships, so many main ships that have been in service for less than 10 years and are still in their "prime" are quickly retired. Nowadays, although the Russian Navy relies on underwater nuclear power and can still barely maintain the title of the world's second strongest navy in major rankings around the world, everyone with a discerning eye already knows that the Russian Navy is "dwindling."
Recently, Ilya Kramnik, an expert from the Russian International Affairs Council, said in an interview with Sputnik News during an event held at the Russian "Valdai" International Debate Club that despite the rapid pace of building its own fleet, Russia still needs to purchase from China. Large ocean-going warship.
At present, the Russian Navy has nearly 200 surface ships . The large main ships include 1 "Kuznetsov" aircraft carrier, 2 "Kirov" class nuclear-powered cruisers, and 2 "Glorious" ships. -class guided missile cruisers, 3 destroyers, large anti-submarine ships, and 6 frigates. Among these ships, the Kurdish ship is still under repair and will not return to service in the Russian Navy until at least 2024. Among the two "Kirov"-class power cruisers, the Admiral Nakhimov is being refitted and upgraded and will rejoin the Russian Navy in the near future. The other "Peter the Great" is scheduled to be upgraded in 2023, so it is also Rarely leaving the port.
Originally, the Russian Navy had three "Glorious" class guided missile cruisers, but during the Ukrainian special operations, the "Glorious" class lead ship "Moscow" was destroyed by a "Neptune" anti-ship missile launched by Ukraine. Sinking to the bottom of the sea has made the Russian Navy's difficult situation even worse. This also exposed that in modern warfare, the performance of these large main ships built in the former Soviet era can no longer meet the needs of modern warfare.
In order to restore their past glory, Russia plans to formulate a "National Weapons and Equipment Development Program from 2024 to 2033". Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Nikolay Yevmenov said that the Russian Navy will receive 46 ships in 2022, including 20 Warships, 5 speedboats, and 21 support ships. Embarrassingly, these ships are all small ships and auxiliary ships, and there is no large main warship over 5,000 tons.
Kramnik pointedly pointed out that Russian shipbuilding. The overall construction speed of the industry is okay, but it has not built large ships for 30 years. Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the Soviet shipbuilding industry system that once dominated the world has also collapsed. Kramnik believes that although Russia is building a large number of warships, They are not large ships. There are certain problems in the Russian shipbuilding industry. Building similar ships in Russia takes a long time and costs a lot.
Russia has discussed with Ukraine that the construction progress of "Varyan" will be 68%. The construction of the "G" was completed. While officials from the two countries were arguing, the director of the Black Sea Shipyard couldn't help but said next to him: "We need the Soviet Union, the State Planning Commission, the Military Industrial Commission and nine ministries of defense industry, 600 related Only professional and 800 supporting manufacturers can complete the 'Varyag'. Now this great country no longer exists."
Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1992, the only large surface ship completed was the "Dreadnought II" class destroyer "Admiral Chabanenko". It was launched from 1992 to 1999 and was in the port for nearly 7 years. time. The 2350 frigate , which was built at the beginning of the 21st century, even faced the dilemma of being unable to deliver the first ship, which took 10 years to build. The reasons are, on the one hand, the decline of the Russian shipbuilding industry, lack of skilled workers, and aging equipment; on the other hand, Russia cannot guarantee the development of both above-water and underwater forces at the same time. After weighing the pros and cons, Russia vigorously builds its nuclear submarine force to maintain deterrence.
Russian experts believe that Russia is in great need of large Chinese ships, such as the 52D destroyer and the 054/054A frigate equipped with full weapons. Coincidentally, the Russian official media "Reporter" magazine also wrote an article saying that Russia needs to actively seek help from China and purchase a batch of 056/056A light frigates, Type 054A frigates and Type 052D destroyers from China. The
052D destroyer is the main destroyer in the Chinese Navy. It is equipped with " Chinese Aegis " and a 64-unit vertical launcher. It has very balanced and complete air defense, anti-submarine , and anti-ship combat capabilities. For Russia, Chinese weapon systems have the "bloodline" of some Russian weapon systems, so they can be installed very quickly. "Reporter" magazine believes that the Type 052D destroyer is very mature. Relying on China's strong shipbuilding capabilities, the Russian Navy can rebuild its ocean-going fleet in a short time.
It can be seen that the Russia-Ukraine war has led to discussions in Russia about purchasing Chinese warships, extending from the Internet to the Russian domestic elite. Of course, these people are not crazy, but are really worried about the current poor situation of the Russian Navy. Taking the Black Sea Fleet, which has been exposed most frequently this time, after the sinking of the "Moscow", only three 11356M guided missile frigates are left that can still take on important tasks. The remaining ships are either not old ships from the Soviet era, or are 2,000-ton class ships. The ship cannot be put to great use.
However, the work of the Black Sea Fleet is not easy. It not only has to control the Black Sea , but also faces provocative demonstrations by the US aircraft carrier battle group from time to time. Last year, a British Type 45 destroyer broke into Russia's territorial waters in the Black Sea. The Russian fighter-bombers scrambled and dropped bombs near its route, thus scaring away the "uninvited guest." After the lack of the "Moscow", the Black Sea Fleet's alert patrol tasks are even heavier. No matter how good the performance of the 11356M guided missile frigate is, the number of just three ships is far from enough.
In this case, voices in Russia naturally thought of China. China's achievements in naval development in recent years have attracted worldwide attention. In the past 10 years, 8 55 destroyers + 7 052C/D/DL destroyers have been launched and served. Moreover, China's 52C destroyer "Xi'an", type 052D destroyer "Hefei", type 054A frigate "Yuncheng", etc. have all appeared at the Navy Festival held in Russia in recent years, leaving a lasting impression on all walks of life in Russia. deep impression.
Kramnik said that purchasing large ocean-going warships from China is the best choice at this stage, because China has exported 4 054AP type frigates to Pakistan. He believes that China can export high-quality ocean-going destroyers at affordable prices, which is currently urgently needed by the Russian Navy. The price of the 054AP that China exported to Pakistan, including the four ships and the technology transfer, was only US$1.5 billion, while the unit price of the US "Constellation" class frigate was as high as US$1.1 billion. The key is that the Type 054AP frigate adopts many new technologies that are not available in the Type 054A frigates in service in the country. The most obvious feature is the replacement of a single-sided rotating active phased array radar, which greatly enhances the battlefield posture of the Type 054AP frigate. Perceptual abilities.
Kramnik believes that 4 to 5 destroyers and frigates will be needed in the initial stage, mainly for the Russian Black Sea Fleet and Pacific Fleet.The Black Sea Fleet suffered heavy losses due to the Russia-Ukraine war, and the Pacific Fleet needs to face the U.S. Navy and Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force . Now the United States has concentrated 60% of its main ships in the Pacific, and the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force has accelerated its military expansion, which has made Russia More pressure on the Pacific Fleet.
If Kramnik’s vision comes true, then the Russian Navy will re-establish an ocean-going strike group around the "Kuznetsov" aircraft carrier. Previously, "Reporter" magazine believed that there is nothing wrong with outsourcing warships. The key is who to buy from. For Russia at this stage, only by joining forces with China can we build a new world order and curb U.S. hegemony. I believe that as long as Russia purchases warships from China, Chinese shipyards will definitely be able to meet Russia's needs.
China’s second round of shipbuilding boom, 4 ships in the dock 052D
