Earlier this month, it was reported that the Russian nuclear powered Kirov class battlecruiser Admiral Nakhimov is back at sea after 30 years in mothballs. The 28,000 ton vessel will be potentially the largest and most powerful surface warship in the world when she completes trials and is accepted back into the Russian Navy.
The old Soviet-era Kirovs were armed with the monster seven-tonne Granit missile, aptly known to Nato as “Shipwreck”. Each one was the length of a London bus and typically carried a half-megaton nuclear warhead. Back then the Admiral Nakhimov would carry 20 Granits in angled launchers as her primary armament, perhaps able to sink enemy ships as far as 300 miles away – provided that her crew had some idea where to aim them.
Missile fashions have moved on, however, and the old battlewagon has had her angled launchers replaced by a (much) larger number of vertical launch tubes. All up, according to reports, the Admiral Nakhimov nowadays musters no less than 176 vertical silos. Some of these can be loaded with offensive missiles such as the vaunted mostly-subsonic Kalibr, the supersonic ramjet-powered Oniks (aka “Yakhont” in the export version) and the still more hyped, supposedly hypersonic scramjet-powered Zircon – one of Vladimir Putin’s six supposedly unstoppable super weapons. The rest of the tubes can be filled with supposedly formidable S-300 and/or S-400 anti-air defensive missiles, and there are lighter launchers for backup Pantsir short-ranging AA missiles too.
Earlier this month, it was reported that the Russian nuclear powered Kirov class battlecruiser Admiral Nakhimov is back at sea after 30 years in mothballs. The 28,000 ton vessel will be potentially the largest and most powerful surface warship in the world when she completes trials and is accepted back into the Russian Navy.
The old Soviet-era Kirovs were armed with the monster seven-tonne Granit missile, aptly known to Nato as “Shipwreck”. Each one was the length of a London bus and typically carried a half-megaton nuclear warhead. Back then the Admiral Nakhimov would carry 20 Granits in angled launchers as her primary armament, perhaps able to sink enemy ships as far as 300 miles away – provided that her crew had some idea where to aim them.
Missile fashions have moved on, however, and the old battlewagon has had her angled launchers replaced by a (much) larger number of vertical launch tubes. All up, according to reports, the Admiral Nakhimov nowadays musters no less than 176 vertical silos. Some of these can be loaded with offensive missiles such as the vaunted mostly-subsonic Kalibr, the supersonic ramjet-powered Oniks (aka “Yakhont” in the export version) and the still more hyped, supposedly hypersonic scramjet-powered Zircon – one of Vladimir Putin’s six supposedly unstoppable super weapons. The rest of the tubes can be filled with supposedly formidable S-300 and/or S-400 anti-air defensive missiles, and there are lighter launchers for backup Pantsir short-ranging AA missiles too.