Russia plans new Nuclear carriers, subs to boost navy*

By Dmitry Solovyov
Reuters
Sunday, July 27, 2008; 8:45 AM

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia announced plans on Sunday to revive its
once-mighty navy by building several aircraft carriers and upgrading its
fleet of nuclear submarines in the coming years.

Russia's power at sea is a shadow of the formidable Soviet navy which
challenged U.S. military dominance in the Cold War. But, with a strong
economy now from booming oil exports, it is seeking to raise its profile
on the world stage by modernizing the armed forces.

Russia will build five or six aircraft carrier battle groups in the near
future, RIA news agency quoted Navy Commander Vladimir Vysotsky as
telling Navy Day festivities in St Petersburg, the second city.

"We call this a sea-borne aircraft carrier system which will be based on
the Northern and Pacific fleets," Vysotsky said. "The creation of such
systems will begin after 2012."

He said such carrier groups would operate in close contact with Russia's
military satellites, air forces and air defenses.

Russia now has only one aircraft carrier, the Soviet-built Nikolai
Kuznetsov, which was launched in 1985 but did not become fully
operational for 10 years due to the turmoil following the Soviet Union's
collapse in 1991.

In fact, it is not even a fully-fledged aircraft-carrier, being
officially called an air-capable cruiser. It carries fewer aircraft than
U.S. carriers and features a steam-turbine power-plant with
turbo-generators and diesel generators, while all modern carriers are
nuclear-powered.

NEW NUCLEAR SUBS AND MISSILES

Vysotsky said that along with designing new aircraft carriers Russia
would also modernize its new-generation nuclear submarines of the Borei
class (Arctic Wind).

The first Borei submarine of the so-called "Project 955," the Yuri
Dolgoruky, was launched in February and is expected to be fully
operational by the end of 2008. Two other submarines of this class are
now being built.

"Starting with the fourth submarine, we will begin modernizing this
class," Vysotsky said. "The modernized Borei submarines will be the core
of Russian naval nuclear forces until 2040."

"We are aspiring not only to introduce new technologies, not only to
compete with the West, but to take completely new steps which would
allow us to look at submarine technologies of the middle of the 21st
century," he said.

The prestige of Russia's navy was badly dented in August 2000 when the
Kursk nuclear submarine, one of its newest, sank in the Barents Sea,
with the loss of all the 118 sailors on board.

Tests of a new nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile Bulava-M,
designed to be mounted on Borei-class submarines, have been a mixture of
failure and success. The Kremlin has touted Bulava as a unique weapon
able to pierce any air defense.

Vysotsky said Bulava would come into service this year.

"Despite the fact that there are still some glitches, the missile will
all the same learn how to fly," he said. "Not just to fly, but also to
use all the potential invested in it."

(Writing by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Richard Balmforth)