Admiral Nakhimov is now on track to become the Russian Navy’s flagship, as Moscow has scrapped plans to see its sister ship Pyotr Velikiy undergo a similarly expensive refit.
The Russian Navy’s nuclear-powered battlecruiser Admiral Nakhimov completed its first series of new sea trials last weekend—which could lead to the warship finally returning to operational service after more than 25 years.
The largest nuclear-powered surface combatant, apart from the United States Navy’s supercarriers, the warship began testing its propulsion and other critical systems last month. It marked the first time the warship, initially commissioned into the Soviet Navy in 1988 as the Kalinin, had been at sea since 1997.
Russian shipbuilder Sevmash, which has been overseeing the refit and subsequent sea trials, announced that additional testing will follow in the Barents Sea later this year.
“The heavy nuclear missile cruiser Admiral Nakhimov, currently undergoing modernization at the Sevmash shipbuilding association, successfully completed the first stage of sea trials and returned to the shipyard. During the initial phase, the operation of the main power plant and various onboard systems was verified,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
The Admiral Nakhimov’s Slow Return to the Sea
By all accounts, the refit of Admiral Nakhimov would set the record for the longest refit. While other warships, notably the United States Navy’s four Iowa-class battleships, were returned to service after decades of inactivity, the Russian battlecruiser was never decommissioned or officially placed in reserve.
However, the ship’s last operational voyage was in July 1997. Two years later, the warship was towed to the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk for a planned refit.
Then nothing happened, as the Russian government debated the future of the Cold War-era vessel. A decision was made in 2006 to modernize the nuclear-powered battlecruiser. However, owing to budget constraints, it was not until 2013 that work finally began. Modernization has now been underway for over a decade.
Last month, Admiral Nakhimov was finally assisted out of the drydock at Severodvinsk to begin its first sea trials in nearly three decades.
The Admiral Nakhimov Is a Symbol of Russian Pride
The third battlecruiser of the Russian Navy’s Kirov class, Admiral Nakhimov, first entered service with the Soviet Navy in 1988 as the Kalinin. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1992, the nuclear-powered surface combatant was renamed for Admiral Pavel Nakhimov, an Imperial Russian admiral and hero of the Crimean War. Although Nakhimov served in Russia’s imperial era, Nakhimov was regarded as one of Russia’s most iconic war heroes, and his legacy endured even during the Stalinist period.
The warship was deployed to the Mediterranean in 1991, but due to the financial hardships Russia faced after the end of the Cold War, it rarely left port and subsequently languished in drydock for more than a decade. That led to speculation Moscow would retire and even scrap the vessel.
The Kremlin’s original maintenance timeline called for the warship to return to service by 2018, but it was plagued by numerous delays. Its two nuclear reactors were finally restored to service last year, with work on Reactor 1 completed in December 2024, while Reactor 2 was activated in February of this year.
The propulsion system has undergone little change since the ship was designed, with much of the refit focused on its armament. It is reported to be equipped with 80 UKSK vertical launching system (VLS) cells, mounted in 10 eight-cell modules, providing the warship with the capability to serve as a massive missile truck at sea.
Once back in service, the Admiral Nakhimov will be able to fire the Kalibr anti-ship, land-attack, and even anti-submarine missiles, as well as the Oniks anti-ship missile and the Tsirkon (Zircon) hypersonic missile. For air defense, it will be outfitted with an S-400 Triumf air defense system, giving it considerable anti-air and anti-missile defenses.
Admiral Nakhimov is now on track to reenter service and become the Russian Navy’s flagship, as Moscow has scrapped plans to see its sister ship Pyotr Velikiy undergo a similar refit. The Kremlin has likely realized that such an endeavor would be even more costly and time-consuming. The outstanding question is whether the refit of Admiral Nakhimov, which could give the Russian Navy the bragging rights of having a large and well-armed surface combatant, was worth all the effort.
About the Author: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu has contributed over 3,200 published pieces to more than four dozen magazines and websites over a 30-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a contributing writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. He is based in Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: [email protected].
Image: Shutterstock / Oleg Kuleshov.
