Russia's fading maritime power: The troubled revival of Admiral Nakhimov

Project 1144 missile cruisers are large vessels. They have a displacement of 26,000 tonnes, hulls 252 meters long, two nuclear reactors below deck providing unlimited range, and 20 launchers for anti-ship P-700 Granit missiles, each 10 meters long and weighing nearly 7 tonnes. There are also 12 launchers for S-300F Fort air defence missiles, short-range launchers, and powerful artillery.

The Soviet Union built four such units in the 1970s and 80s — one of Project 1144 and three improved versions representing Project 11442. The construction of large ships was part of an ambitious plan aimed at transforming the Soviet navy into an ocean-going fleet capable of challenging the US Navy.

Forty years ago, the specification of Project 1144 missile cruisers might have been impressive, but today the pride of the Russian fleet is akin to a "blind boxer" — theoretically strong in offensive armament, yet dramatically outdated in sensors, helpless against modern electronic warfare, and incapable of self-defence. The fate of the cruiser "Moskva" (a unit half the size, representing Project 1164), which Ukrainians destroyed, shows what happens when a ship from a past era is sent into battle.

The Russians themselves are aware of the weaknesses of the last big ships of their fleet. That’s why they decommissioned two of the four Project 1144 units at the beginning of the 21st century, and the flagship of the Northern Fleet, "Pyotr Veliky," is soon to head to the repair yard. Soon, meaning with the completion of the modernisation of the twin unit "Admiral Nakhimov". The current plan is for "Nakhimov" to return to service in 2026, and for "Pyotr Veliky" to be removed from the fleet roster in 2030.

The problem is the Russian cruiser has been under repair since 1997. It's worth noting that — the extremely long renovation or construction time does not mean that work was continuously underway for years. They were started, interrupted, and then resumed multiple times — depending on current political decisions.

Despite this, the service history of the Russian cruiser appears extraordinary. Launched in 1986 and incorporated into the fleet in 1988, the ship entered the repair yard in 1997 and has not left it since. Only in the past decade the Kremlin has announced the large ship would return to service in 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024, and now claims it will be in 2026. Ukrainians estimate — though it's hard to verify the accuracy of these estimates — that the modernisation has already cost up to £4 billion.

A glimmer of hope for finally completing the exceptionally long renovation comes from the information that one of the two KN-3 nuclear reactors, each with an output of 149,897 kilowatts, powering the "Admiral Nakhimov," has been started. According to Ukrainian sources, this happened back on 20 December 2024, although Russian media reported it with considerable delay.

The reconstruction of "Admiral Nakhimov," although it will not turn it into a modern warship, aims to increase its capabilities significantly. This involves installing an 80-container vertical launcher system, UKSK 3S14. This is the Russian equivalent of the Western Mk 41 VLS launchers, allowing warships to carry varied armaments — depending on tasks being conducted — housed in hidden vertical launchers under the deck.

This solution will enable the old ship to launch modern Russian missiles for attacking ships and land targets, such as Zircon, Oniks, or Kalibr. 80 launch containers are — for the Russian fleet — a very large number. It’s worth noting that American Ticonderoga-class cruisers are armed with 122 Mk 41 VLS launchers with three times smaller displacement.

Russian propaganda will surely portray the potential return to service of "Admiral Nakhimov" as a significant success and a substantial reinforcement of the navy. Several years ago, the TASS agency, announcing "Nakhimov's" return to service, called it the most powerful warship in the world.

This is evidently false, and the facts are entirely different. The Russian navy, even in the 1980s aspiring to be an ocean-going fleet, is gradually eroding and losing its capabilities.

The largest Russian warship — the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov — has been undergoing problematic repairs for so long that the Russian naval aviation has practically ceased to exist, similar to the trained crew of the ship, part of which was sent as infantry to the war in Ukraine.

The two nuclear missile cruisers are "Admiral Nakhimov," remaining in endless repairs, and "Pyotr Veliky," which is still awaiting repairs. Two smaller conventionally-powered cruisers, "Varyag" and "Marshal Ustinov," are contemporaries of "Moskva" with similar capabilities.

Russia can still organise propaganda voyages to Cuba or joint patrols with China near Japan or Alaska, but in terms of potential, its navy is a shadow of the maritime power that the Soviet Union tried to establish years ago.

Russian shipyards are still building frigates, corvettes, submarines, and new landing ships, but the number of new units is insufficient to replace older, retired ships and rejuvenate the fleet generationally.

Propaganda reports about plans to build large, new-generation warships, such as a nuclear aircraft carrier based on a design developed back in the 1980s, Project 1143.7, can be considered entirely unreliable. The pinnacle of Russia's current capabilities seems to be the delayed completion of the large amphibious assault ships of Project 23900 Priboi.

However, this does not mean that the threat from Russian warships should be underestimated. This is especially true in the Baltic, where — although the capabilities of Russian surface units are limited — submarines still pose a significant threat.

Although Russia's Project 677 (Lada type) proved unsuccessful, old, proven units of Project 636 (currently 636.3) are still in production. Some of them are armed not only with torpedoes but can also launch Kalibr cruise missiles from underwater, posing a threat to shipping and land targets.