The Russian battlecruiser, ‘Admiral Nakhimov’, will soon be armed with the naval variant of the S-400 SAM system and Zircon hypersonic missiles, reports said. The Russian Navy claims this will be the world’s most lethal warship after the upgrades.
Severnoye Design Bureau (part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation) CEO Andrei Dyachkov told Russian news agency TASS on Thursday on the occasion of the company’s 75th anniversary.
Project 11442M is the third battlecruiser of the Russian Navy’s Kirov-class nuclear-powered guided-missile destroyer. Named after legendary Admiral Nakhimov of the Russian Navy, the ship was originally commissioned into the Soviet Navy in the 1980s. It was originally called ‘Kalinin’ until the warship was renamed ‘Admiral Nakhimov’ in 1992.
The ship is undergoing major refits at Sevmash Shipyard to be compatible with the 21st- century technologies. The upgraded vessel is scheduled to re-enter service with the Russian Navy in 2022.
“The high modernization potential integrated into these ships (Project 1144 and Project 1142) upon their designing helped carry out certain works and outfit Admiral Nakhimov with the most advanced weapons, which makes it the world’s strongest surface combat ship,” Andrei Dyachkov, CEO, Severnoye Design Bureau, told TASS news agency.
Admiral Nakhimov is slated to carry the P-800 Oniks supersonic anti-ship missile, Zircon hypersonic missiles and a naval variant of the S-400 (missile) SAM system, among other weapons, according to reports.
According to Sevmash, on November 2, 2015, work on removing the battlecruiser’s old equipment had been completed, and work to install its replacement commenced. Reports said these upgrades have “substantially boosted the cruiser’s strike capabilities”.
Interestingly, ‘Admiral Nakhimov’ is powered by 2-shaft CONAS, Nuclear propulsion with steam turbine boost giving 100,000 kW (140,000 shp). This gives it an unlimited range and carries a complement of more than 700 sailors and officers.
