Template:Short description Template:For Template:Use dmy dates
Template:Infobox ship imageTemplate:Infobox ship class overviewTemplate:Infobox ship characteristicsThe Kirov class, Soviet designation Project 1144 Orlan (Template:Langx), is a class of nuclear-powered guided-missile heavy cruisers of the Soviet Navy and Russian Navy, the largest and heaviest surface combatant warships (i.e. not an aircraft carrier or amphibious assault ship) in operation in the world. Among modern warships, they are second in size only to large aircraft carriers; they are similar in size to a World War I-era battleship. Defence commentators in the West often refer to these ships as battlecruisers – due to their size and general appearance.<ref>Armi da guerra, De Agostini, Novara, 1985.</ref> The Soviet classification of the ship-type is "heavy nuclear-powered guided-missile cruiser" (Template:Langx).
The appearance of the Kirov class (first exemplar commissioned in 1979) played a key role in the recommissioning of the Template:Sclasss by the United States Navy in the 1980s.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Bishop, p. 80.</ref><ref>Miller & Miller, p. 114.</ref>
The Kirov class hull-design was also used for the Soviet nuclear-powered command and control ship SSV-33 Ural.
HistoryEdit
Originally built for the Soviet Navy, the class is named after the first of a series of four ships constructed, Template:Ship, named Kirov until 1992. Original plans called for construction of five ships. The fifth vessel was planned to be named Fleet Admiral of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov, also referred as Dzerzhinsky.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> The name was later changed to Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya (October Revolution),<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and then just Kuznetsov;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but on 4 October 1990, plans for construction of a fifth vessel were abandoned.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
The lead ship of the class, Template:Ship, was laid down in March 1974 at Leningrad's Baltiysky Naval Shipyard, launched on 27 December 1977 and commissioned on 30 December 1980. When she appeared for the first time, NATO observers called her BALCOM I (Baltic Combatant I). Kirov suffered a reactor accident in 1990 during her second deployment, which was in the Mediterranean Sea. Repairs were never carried out due to lack of funds and the changing political situation in the Soviet Union, and she was placed in reserve where she was renamed Admiral Ushakov in 1992.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She is presently laid up and was slated to be scrapped in 2021.
Template:Ship, the second vessel in the class, was commissioned in 1984. She was assigned to the Pacific Fleet. In 1992, she was renamed Admiral Lazarev. The ship became inactive in 1994 and was decommissioned four years later. On 21 February 2021, the Russian Armed Forces and the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom, signed a contract to dismantle and scrap the nuclear powered heavy cruiser. Admiral Lazarev set sail 30 April 2021 for 30th Shipyard. Dismantlement should be completed by 30 November 2025.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Ship, now Admiral Nakhimov, was the third ship to enter service, in 1988. She was also assigned to the Northern Fleet. Renamed Admiral Nakhimov in 1992, she was mothballed in 1999 and reactivated in 2005. She is undergoing overhaul and modernization at Severodvinsk Shipyard.
Construction of the fourth ship, Yuriy Andropov, encountered many delays; her construction was started in 1986 but was not commissioned until 1998. She was renamed Template:Ship (after Peter the Great) in 1992.<ref name="ReferenceA">Template:Cite book</ref> She currently serves as the flagship of Russia's Northern Fleet.
In 1983, a command and control ship, SSV-33 Ural, was launched, although the ship would not be officially commissioned until 1989. She utilized the basic hull design of the Kirov-class vessels, but with a modified superstructure, different armament, and was intended for a different role within the Soviet Navy. Ural was decommissioned and laid up in 2001, due to high operating costs, and scrapped starting in 2010.
On 23 March 2004, English language press reported the Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief, Fleet Admiral Vladimir Kuroedov said Pyotr VelikyTemplate:'s reactor was in an extremely bad condition and could explode "at any moment", a statement which may have been the result of internal politics within the Russian Navy.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The ship was sent to port for a month, and the crew lost one-third of their pay.
Russia initially planned to reactivate Admiral Ushakov and Template:Ship by 2020,<ref name=rian20120920 /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but it was later indicated that the condition of the reactor cores of both ships was such that it would prove difficult, expensive and potentially dangerous to remove the spent nuclear fuel and repair the cores. As a consequence, both ships were earmarked for scrapping in 2021.<ref name="NavRec6991">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The scrapping of Admiral Lazarev began in early 2021.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
As of early 2022, only Template:Ship was operational. Modernization of Admiral Nakhimov is ongoing and was reported, in 2021, to continue until "at least" 2023,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> with the modernization of Pyotr Velikiy to immediately follow and last for about three years.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> However, in early 2022, Sevmash CEO Mikhail Budnichenko stated that the ship would be delivered to the Russian Navy in 2022. This deadline would also be missed, and Sevmash later clarified that they expected to return the ship to service in 2024.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The modernization of Admiral Nakhimov and her sister ship is to be extensive, with Admiral Nakhimov expected to receive 174 Vertical-launch (VLS) tubes: 80 for anti-surface and 94 for anti-air warfare, among other upgrades.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In early 2022, the Sevmash CEO noted that weapons systems for Admiral Nakhimov would include: the Fort-M (NATO reporting name: SA-N-6 Grumble) and Pantsyr-M (SA-22 Greyhound) air defense systems and Paket-NK and Otvet antisubmarine warfare weapons. It was also reported that the cruiser would potentially be armed with up to 60 3M22 Zircon hypersonic anti-ship missiles.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
DesignEdit
The class was originally conceived to counter the U.S. Navy's submarines with its large payload of SS-N-14 anti-submarine missiles, and later evolved to carry twenty P-700 Granit anti-ship missiles for countering the U.S. carrier strike groups. Ultimately the class were intended to operate alongside new nuclear-powered aircraft carriers for global power projection, however these carriers never came to fruition.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Weapon systemsEdit
The Kirov class's main weapons are 20 P-700 Granit (SS-N-19 Shipwreck) missiles mounted in deck, designed to engage large surface targets. Air defense is provided by twelve octuple S-300F launchers with 96 missiles and a pair of Osa-MA batteries with 20 missiles each. Pyotr Velikiy carries some S-300FM missiles and is the only ship in the Russian Navy capable of ballistic missile defence.<ref name=rian20120920>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The ships had some differences in sensor and weapons suites: Kirov came with Metel anti-submarine warfare (ASW) missiles, while on subsequent ships these were replaced with 3K95 Kinzhal (Russian: Кинжал – dagger) surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems. The Kinzhal installation is in fact mounted further forward of the old SS-N-14 mounting, in the structure directly behind the blast shield for the bow mounted RBU ASW rocket launcher. Kirov and Frunze had eight Template:Convert AK-630 close-in weapon systems, which were supplanted with the Kortik air-defence system on later ships.
Other weapons are the automatic Template:Convert AK-130 gun system (except in Kirov which had two single Template:Convert guns instead), 10 Template:Convert torpedo/missile tubes (capable of firing RPK-2 Vyuga ASW missiles on later ships) and Udav-1 with 40 anti-submarine rockets and two sextuple RBU-1000 launchers. Template:Multiple image
Russia is developing a new anti-ship missile to equip Kirovs called the 3M22 Tsirkon, which is capable of traveling at hypersonic speeds out to at least Template:Convert.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ArmamentsEdit
| Kirov / Admiral Ushakov | Frunze / Admiral Lazarev | Kalinin / Admiral Nakhimov | Yuri Andropov / Pyotr Velikiy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anti-ship missiles | 20 x P-700 Granit (SS-N-19 'Shipwreck') | |||
| Anti-submarine missiles | 1 x twin RPK-3 Metel (SS-N-14 'Silex') | |||
| RPK-2 Vyuga (SS-N-15 'Starfish') launched via 533 mm torpedo tube | ||||
| Surface-to-air missiles | 12 × 8 S-300F (SA-N-6 'Grumble') | 6 × 8 S-300F (SA-N-6 'Grumble') | ||
| 2 x 20 9K33 Osa (SA-N-4 'Gecko') | 6 × 8 S-300FM (SA-N-20 'Gargoyle') | |||
| Space reserved for 16 x 8. Only installed on Pyotr Veiliky (8 x 8) 3K95 Kinzhal (SA-N-9 'Gauntlet') | ||||
| Guns | 2 × 1 AK-100 100 mm | 1 × 2 AK-130 130 mm | ||
| close-in weapon systems | 8 x AK-630 | 6 x CADS-N-1 | ||
| Anti-submarine rockets | 2 x RBU-1000, 1 x RBU-12000 | |||
| Torpedo tubes | 10 x 533mm torpedo tubes for Type 53 | |||
Fire controlEdit
- 2 × Top Dome for S-300F fire control radar (the forward Top Dome is replaced with Tomb Stone (Passive electronically scanned array) in Pyotr Veliky)
- 4 × Bass Tilt for AK-630 CIWS System fire control (not in Admiral Nakhimov or Pyotr Veliky)
- 2 × Eye Bowl for OSA-M fire control (also for SS-N-14 in Admiral Ushakov)
- 2 × Hot Flash/Hot Spot for Kortik (CADS-N-1 units only)
- 1 × Kite Screech for AK-100 or AK-130
- 2 × Cross Sword for Kinzhal (Kinzhal-equipped units only)
Combined nuclear and steam propulsionEdit
Combined nuclear and steam propulsion system (CONAS) is used on the Kirov battlecruisers. Complementary to the nuclear component, there are two conventional boilers installed as a backup in case of reactor failure. Both components can drive two geared steam turbines, generating 120,000 hp (89 MW), at two prop shafts.<ref>V.P. Kuzin, "Type 1144 Nuclear Guided Missile Cruisers", "Typhoon" almanac, 1-4 1999 Template:Webarchive</ref>
ShipsEdit
| Name | First Namesake | Second Namesake | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Admiral Ushakov (ex-Kirov) |
Sergei Kirov | Fyodor Ushakov | Baltiysky Zavod, Leningrad | 27 March 1974 | 26 December 1977 | 30 December 1980 | Laid up, to be scrapped in 2021<ref name="NavRec6991"/> | ||
| Template:Ship (ex-Frunze) |
Mikhail Frunze | Mikhail Lazarev | 27 July 1978 | 26 May 1981 | 31 October 1984 | Scrapping commenced April 2021<ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref> | |||
| Template:Ship (ex-Kalinin) |
Mikhail Kalinin | Pavel Nakhimov | 17 May 1983 | 25 April 1986 | 30 December 1988 | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> Was due to return to service in 2024,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |
CitationClass=web
}}</ref> but this has been pushed back to "sometime in 2025."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |
CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| Template:Ship (ex-Yuriy Andropov) |
Yuri Andropov | Peter the Great | 11 March 1986 | 29 April 1989 | 9 April 1998 | In service with the Northern Fleet | |||
| Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov (ex-Dzerzhinsky, ex-Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya) |
Felix Dzerzhinsky, October Revolution | Nikolay Gerasimovich Kuznetsov | Cancelled, 4 October 1990 | ||||||
- Tactical exercises of the Russian Navy.jpg
The Russian flagship Pyotr Veliky
- Kirov class cruiser.jpg
Kirov at anchor
- ARKR Kalinin flight deck with Ka-25 and Ka-27.jpg
The flight deck of Kalinin showing the hangar doors open and a Kamov Ka-25 and a Kamov Ka-27 helicopter
See alsoEdit
- List of naval ship classes in service
- List of active Russian Navy ships
- List of ships of Russia by project number
- List of ships of the Soviet Navy
- Kirov-class cruiser
ReferencesEdit
SourcesEdit
External linksEdit
- Illustrated article about the Kirov class
- Globalsecurity.org page on Kirov class
- Kirov class photos from Mark Meredith
- Encyclopedia of ships Template:In lang
- Military Reform Support Fund Template:Webarchive Template:In lang
- Forum discussion of ships' armament Template:In lang
- FAS.org article Template:Webarchive
- Project 1144 – Complete Ship List
Template:Kirov-class battlecruiser Template:Soviet and Russian ships after 1945