Russia has failed to repair and modernise the nuclear-powered missile cruiser Admiral Nakhimov for 25 years, spending billions of dollars

By: Maksim Panasovskiy | 25.08.2023, 12:27

"Admiral Nakhimov" is a Project 1144.2 nuclear-powered missile cruiser, which is part of the Russian Federation Navy. At the end of the last millennium, it was sent for repair and modernisation, where it is still located.

Here's What We Know

The nuclear-powered missile cruiser was commissioned at the end of December 1988. Nine years later, it went for repair and modernisation. Officially, it is considered that the work began in 1999. However, in reality, the work has been underway since 2013.

Russia has failed to repair and modernise the nuclear-powered missile cruiser Admiral Nakhimov for 25 years, spending billions of dollars

The deadline for the completion of the repair and modernisation programme has been postponed several times. Now Russian media report that sea trials of the nuclear cruiser will begin in December this year or in May next year.

It is important to note that the cost of repair and modernisation already exceeds 200 billion rubles. It is almost unrealistic to calculate the amount in dollars due to the instability of the exchange rate. At the current exchange rate, 200 billion rubles is converted into $2.1 billion, but 10 years ago it was about $6-7 billion.

Russia has failed to repair and modernise the nuclear-powered missile cruiser Admiral Nakhimov for 25 years, spending billions of dollars-2

To understand, the most modern American destroyer USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) of the same name class costs about $4.5bn. Now it is undergoing modernisation, which will result in obtaining non-nuclear hypersonic weapons.

In the early summer of 2023, work on the cruiser Admiral Nakhimov reached the final stage. Specialists were adjusting the ship's systems and equipment. The key result of the modernisation will be the strengthening of the ship's striking power.

Source: TASS