Targeted To Undergo Trials Next Year, Russian Nuclear Warship Admiral Nakhimov Is Equipped With Fourth-generation Weapons

The nuclear-powered missile cruiser Admiral Nakhimov (080). (Maxim Vorkunkov/TASS)

JAKARTA - The Russian military will again get additional strength, after one of their nuclear-powered missile cruisers has finished undergoing an upgrade of combat capabilities and the addition of a number of new features.

The Project 11442M nuclear-powered missile cruiser Admiral Nakhimov (080), will become the most powerful surface ship, the flagship of the Russian Navy, after undergoing repairs and upgrading at the Sevmash Shipyard (an affiliate of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, USC).

The ship, known as Project 11442M Orlan, will be rearmed with fourth-generation weapons, USC said on its 15th anniversary.

"Outdated ship systems and weapons will be replaced with new generation ones, which according to the parameters are worthy of the image of the fourth generation ship and the flagship of the fleet," said USC, cited from TASS March 21.

Currently, repair and upgrade work is proceeding according to the original schedule. The cruiser's first sea voyage is scheduled after mooring trials.

"After repairs and upgrades, the Russian Navy will have a new state-of-the-art ship capable of carrying out its tasks in all important areas of the world's oceans," explained USC.

Shipbuilding Specialists will load onto cruisers and install over 5.000 items of equipment, as well as over a million different items. Approximately 200 km of pipelines and 1.800 km of cable will be installed on the flagship of the future Fleet.

The upgrade has substantially increased the cruiser's attack capabilities. In particular, the warship will carry 10 multipurpose ship launchers for eight Kalibr-NK or Oniks cruise missiles. Not only that, Admiral Nakhimov is capable of carrying Tsirkon hypersonic missiles.

It is known that the cruiser was withdrawn from service for repairs in 1999. Repair work has been ongoing since 2013. This upgrade is to increase the attack power of the cruiser significantly.

If nothing goes wrong, the warship Admiral Nakhimov will enter sea trials in 2023, Deputy CEO of the United Shipbuilding Corporation for Military Shipbuilding Vladimir Korolyov said last September.

"We can say, our work is progressing according to schedule. I believe, the cruiser will enter trials in 2023," he said confidently when asked about the timeframe for the completion of the long-term project.