The Russian Navy Report

Welcome to the first post of what I hope will be many for the new Russian Navy Report!

In searching the internet for developments that have taken place in the Russian Navy and for historical perspectives on those developments, I have not come across much that was worthy of such a topic. And what a topic it is. The Russian Navy was started under the iron rule of Peter the Great and is currently being brought back to life under the current regime. We have a lot of ground to cover so let’s get started.

I’m going to keep my posts on a schedule. Each Monday I’ll present a post regarding an historical event, person, or weapons systems connected with the Russian Navy. Then, at the end of the week, on Friday, I’ll present an overview of what occurred that week in the Russian Navy.

Now for some news:

The commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy, Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky, stated, “On June 1 or soon thereafter, we will resume constant patrolling of the world's oceans by strategic nuclear submarines. We've been waiting for this for 26 years.”

For those that can read Russian,here it is:

"Уже 1 июня или чуть позже мы выходим снова на непрерывное боевое патрулирование ракетных крейсеров стратегического назначения", - сказал он. "Мы ждали этого события 26 лет", - сказал командующий ВМФ.

I’m not really sure what he was referring to with the 26 years remark. If you look at the patrol data from the Russian Strategic missile submarines, the only year that they didn’t patrol was in 2002. Twenty six years ago was 1986. In that that year the Soviet Navy had nearly 80 deterrence patrols.

Here is a chart from the Federation of American Scientists that documents the number of patrols from the early 1980’s until 2008.

It’s obvious that the number of patrols decreased significantly, but in recent years, the numbers have been increasing slowly.

The one point I find interesting, is that Admiral Vysotsky said that the Russian Navy would maintain a constant presence at sea with its ballistic missile carrying submarines. That is going to take a lot or resources and it's something the Russian Navy hasn't done in a long time.

It is difficult to find data on when the last time the Russian Navy maintained such a presence at sea, but looking at information provided by the Federation of American Scientists, I would say that 1998 was most likely the last year that the Russian

s maintained a constant at-sea deterrent. Since then most of the Russian ballistic missile submarines have spent most of their time at the pier. Every so often they would conduct training missions lasting about a month.

Here is the current order of battle for the Russian Navy, concerning ballistic missile submarines.

Typhoons: Currently there are three of them. One, the Dmitriy Donskoy, was refitted to be the test bed for the new Bulava missile, two others, Arkhangelsk and Severstal, are in Severodvinsk in reserve status ( If you put the following coordinates in Google maps you can see the two typhoons sitting side by side 64.575061,39.770744)

Here is an example of a Typhoon class submarine. This submarine is TK-202 just prior to its scrapping

The Typhoons will most certainly not be taking part in any deterrence patrols in the near future. The missile which was associated with the Typhoons has been eliminated from the Russian arsenal. As such the boats would have to be overhauled in order to carry the new Bulava missile.

Delta-IV: Currently there are seven units in various states of readiness. All of the units are stationed with the Northern Fleet.

Here is an example of the Delta-IV. This is K-18 "Karelia"

These submarines will likely be the first to patrol. Most have recently finished refitting or are currently being refitted.

Delta-III: The data on these submarines varies widely. With some sources saying as many as six remain active, but the more likely number is three remain active. All of these units are stationed in the Pacific Fleet.

The possibility of the Russian Navy to resume constant at sea strategic patrols, with its current force structure is unlikely in my opinion. The deployment of the submarines will place a huge amount of stress on the fleets, which are only just starting to get the supplies and support that is needed to maintain a fleet of ballistic missile submarines. I will believe it when I see it.

Tell me what you think.