In the 1970s, the Soviet Union embarked on an audacious project that was unrivaled in
its ambition—constructing a surface warfare vessel that could measure up to the mighty
battleships of the World Wars.
A feat abandoned by navies worldwide due to crippling costs and glaring vulnerabilities,
the Soviets dared to dream of a ship that would dwarf all others, a leviathan stretching
over 250 meters in length with a full load displacement of 24,300 tons.
It would be nearly double the size of any American competitor.
Undeterred by changes in global naval strategy, the Soviets defiantly forged ahead, bringing
to life their colossal ships that were not only nuclear-powered but also equipped with
an arsenal of formidable weaponry.
These included 20 P-700 Granit anti-ship missiles and 96 S-300F Fort long-range surface-to-air
missiles, making them a dangerous adversary for any naval force.
Their nuclear reactors gave them an essentially unlimited range, allowing them to project
power across the globe.
These maritime behemoths were so menacing at their debut that they stirred the U.S.
Navy's slumbering giants, resurrecting an old American fleet that was considered all
but extinct.
Originally designed to threaten the U.S. Navy's crown jewels—the irreplaceable aircraft
carriers and ballistic missile submarines—these surviving Soviet titans have since transitioned
into new roles, proudly flying the Russian flag.
One Russian military expert lays bare their potential: As the only remaining battlecruisers
from Russia's naval arsenal, the Kirov-class warships not only stand as an imposing testament
to the country's naval prowess but are also poised for a significant service life that
stretches far into the future.
The saga of the Kirov-class battlecruisers is not just a tale of Russian naval might,
but also a testament to their impact on global naval strategy.
It was a threat so sudden and immense at its inception that it led to the emergency reactivation
of the U.S. Navy's remaining battleships…
Soviet Leviathan
In the 1970s, the tension between the superpowers was reflected not just in politics but also
in the water.
The Soviet Union embarked on a mission to challenge the naval supremacy of its greatest
adversary - the United States.
As such, despite being well past the end of the golden age of warships, the Soviet Union
set its sights on a new project: Project 1144 Orlan.
The Kirov class, the largest and heaviest surface combatant warships in operation in
the world, was only second in size to large aircraft carriers and similar to a World War
1-era battleship.
While Western defense refers to these ships as battle cruisers, the official Soviet classification
for the type is a heavy nuclear-powered guided-missile cruiser.
At 28,000 tons and an overall length of 827 feet, these ships are comparable in size to
Japan's Izumo Class aircraft carriers and well over three times the size of the Arleigh
Burke Class destroyers that today form the backbone of the United States Navy.
Launched in 1977 and officially commissioned in 1990, the lead ship and namesake of the
class, Kirov, was named after Sergei Kirov, a prominent early Bolshevik leader.
Original Soviet plans called for the construction of five ships, all named after early 20th-century
revolution heroes.
However, only three more ships were built, Frunze, Kalinin, and Yuri Andropov, laid down
in 1986 and launched three years later.
Expected Role
Had the Cold War turned hot, these unique battlecruisers would have played a significant
role in Soviet naval strategy, designed to intimidate and assert dominance on the high
seas.
Initially planned to find and engage enemy missile submarines, the class became a much
more capable warship after being equipped with the long-range P-700 Granit anti-ship
missiles.
With this, the Kirovs could threaten Western, particularly United States Navy carrier battle
groups, while also carrying out an anti-submarine role.
The Soviet battlecruisers also served another strategic purpose: power projection.
Using an unusual combination of both nuclear and steam propulsion to generate a top speed
of thirty knots, with the dual system providing a backup in case of technical failures.
With this, the world's only nuclear-powered surface combatants have significant advantages
in terms of endurance, allowing them to remain at sea for months if required if resupplied
by air.
They can also cruise at full speed for significantly longer than other cruiser or destroyer classes.
On paper, the Kirov class was the ideal platform, forming the core of task forces that could
influence political developments worldwide.
The Soviet Navy planned the Kirovs to operate in tandem with a new class of nuclear-powered
aircraft carriers that ultimately never came to be.
Back To Life
Such a powerful combatant did not go unnoticed by the West, and their arrival on the world
stage was seen as a significant shift in naval power dynamics.
The Kirov class showed that the Soviet surface fleet posed a serious threat to United States
carrier battlegroups.
In the 1980s, Secretary of the Navy John F. Lehman Jr. of the Reagan administration proposed
that the Iowa class ships be reactivated.
The plan aimed to counter the Soviet Union's expansion of its Navy, with the Kirov class
being seen as a particular threat.
The belief was that by bringing the Iowas back into service, the U.S. could provide
a credible counter to the Kirovs.
Unsurprisingly, the reactivation suggestion caused a heated debate, given the cost and
the fact that the ships were seen as somewhat outdated.
Although the vessels differed dramatically in capability, configuration, and technology,
they were large vessels.
The Navy imagined several new ways of packing updated systems onto their massive hulls that
would turn them into formidable, multi-purpose ships.
Eventually, the U.S. Navy recommissioned four of these ships, Iowa, New Jersey, Missouri,
and Wisconsin.
The models received significant upgrades to their weapons and electronics systems, including
the addition of Tomahawk cruise missiles and Harpoon anti-ship missiles.
One thing they kept from their old configuration was that they retained their main battery
of nine 16-inch guns, which could deliver awe-inspiring firepower.
These ships' presence served as a counterbalance to the Soviet Union's Kirov-class battlecruisers.
Not To Be
Yet, the Kirov's reign was as impressive as it was short-lived.
As such an impressive yet costly vessel class, the Kirov battlecruisers were expensive to
build and maintain, especially for a Soviet economy that was already strained.
Some critics have suggested that the Kirovs, along with other expensive military projects,
contributed to the financial crises that ultimately led to the collapse of the Soviet Union in
1991.
As such, the class never actively participated in a Soviet combat situation.
And after the collapse of the Soviet Union, all four existing and incomplete Kirovs were
given new names and would see different fates.
Following a reactor accident in 1990 during her second deployment, Kirov was never repaired
again.
After being placed in reserve, she was renamed Admiral Ushakov.
Frunze, now named Admiral Lazarev, and Kalinin, now Admiral Nakhimov, were put in storage
to await her fate.
However, Yuri Andropov, the last Kirov vessel to be constructed, was renamed Pyotr Velikiy,
Peter the Great in English, and since the fall of the USSR, has remained operational
with the Russian Navy, today serving as the flagship of Russia's Northern Fleet.
In 2008, Peter the Great was part of a naval task group that sailed to the Caribbean Sea
to conduct exercises with the Venezuelan Navy.
Arriving on November 25, 2008, coinciding with a visit by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev,
the task force conducted a combined exercise, VENRUS-200, with the Venezuelan Navy that
December.
This exercise was seen as a significant show of force as it marked the first time since
the end of the Cold War that Russia had sent such a strong naval force into the Western
Hemisphere.
Whispers of a Comeback
Over the years, there have been persistent rumors regarding the return of the three other
Kirovs to service.
With the first two ships decommissioned shortly after the Soviet Union disintegrated and deteriorating
badly in storage, it was expected that the already-in-service Pyotr Veliky and her sister
ship, Admiral Nakhimov, would be modernized with 21st-century sensors, electronics, and
weaponry, as an attempt to double, from one to two, its active fleet of giant, nuclear-powered
battlecruisers.
But for over a decade now, the process has not been going well.
The main problem with this modernization is the nuclear-powered engines, which use enriched
uranium.
Today, Russian industry lacks the capacity and expertise to produce reliable gas-turbine
engines for large ships.
This means the workers must make do with the older machinery, particularly the engines
already aboard the old Kirovs, which is almost 50 years old.
This is why Russia has only been able to maintain one cruiser, Pyotr Velikiy, since the late
1990s.
For years, the date has been pushed back further and further, adding to the confusion.
Still One
Finally, in 2023, a Russian Navy source has seemingly confirmed that plans to modernize
the Kirov Class nuclear-powered battlecruiser Pyotr Veliky have been canceled, with the
ship instead set to be decommissioned.
Instead, Admiral Nakhimov is the only ship of her class set to complete its refurbishment
and return to service sometime in the mid-2020s.
Pyotr Veliky, expected to enter a similar refurbishment at that time, will instead be
decommissioned when Admiral Nakhimov returns to service, again leaving the Russian Navy
with just one Kirov Class ship.
There seem to be a number of factors to this decision, like the nuclear-powered ships'
high operational costs and a refocusing of budgets towards other areas of the armed forces
due to the changing geopolitical realities and necessities Russia has faced in the latest
years.
Further cuts to the fleet of Kirov Class battlecruisers come as part of a long line of cuts to Russia's
ocean-going surface fleet.
In fact, the country has not laid down a single destroyer or cruiser-sized ship since the
Soviet era, and the navy has steadily reduced numbers in favor of a brown and green water
fleet consisting of smaller frigates and corvettes.
Significant advances in missile capabilities, like the development of the Zircon hypersonic
cruise missile and the surface-to-surface variants of the Kalibr missile, allow ships
to engage targets from large distances without moving far from Russian coasts.
Still, the exact cause for the decision to cut the fleet of Kirov Class cruisers remains
uncertain.
Fit For The Future
Speaking about the capabilities of modernized Kirov Class battlecruisers, Andrei Dyachkov,
the CEO of the Severnoye Design Bureau, claimed in April 2021 that: [QUOTE] "The high modernization
potential integrated in these ships upon their designing helped carry out certain works and
outfit the Admiral Nakhimov with the most advanced weapons, which makes it the world's
strongest surface combat ship."
In addition to new sensors and electronics, the Nakhimov will integrate a naval variant
of the S-400 air defense system with a nearly 250-mile engagement range, with 96 cells allocated
to its surface-to-air missiles, more or less the equivalent to the firepower of three full
battalions of the land-based version of those systems.
This will be supplemented by a naval variant of the S-350 medium-range air defense system.
Its 20 launch cells for massive P-700 Granit cruise missiles will be replaced by 80 launch
cells for P-800, Kalibr, and Zircon cruise missiles, for a total of 176 launch cells
for large missiles.
These new capabilities will provide the cruiser class with the greatest firepower of any surface
combatant in the world.
If the specifications didn't say much to you, the Kirov class has the most Vertical Launching
System cells of any battleship, as it has an impressive capacity of a total of 352.
Meanwhile, the Arleigh Burke-class of the United States Navy has 122 cells, while the
Chinese Type 055 destroyers have 112 VLS cells.
Unsinkable Legacy
Today, Pyotr Velikiy, the last of the four ships, remains in active service, unlike some
other remnants of the Soviet period.
The Russian Navy has used Pyotr Velikiy to fly the Russian flag around the world, reminding
everyone of the active relevance of their fleet.
For a time, she even conducted anti-piracy operations off Somalia in one of the most
puzzling matches between mission and capability in recent history.
When finished, the lone remaining Kirov Class battlecruiser, Admiral Nakhimov, will be deployed
under the Northern Fleet, echoing the Russian Navy's prioritization of the Arctic region
as it emerges as both a key trade route as well as a center for geopolitical competition
with the Western Bloc.
After sailing for decades, bearing as a witness to the ever-changing laws of warfare, the
ship remains one of the most dangerous and lethal battleships ever created.
The Kirov-class ships have been and still are crucial for Russia's maritime power.
They can both pose a threat to United States assets and showcase Russia's maritime strength
with their impressive and prestigious presence.
With their outstandingly heavy armament, Even as the geopolitical landscape shifts, the
Kirov class continues to be a threat to all major powers around the globe.
As the Kirov class awaits its rebirth with the modernized Admiral Nakhimov.
It is not inconceivable to think that this resurgence might stimulate a response from
the United States Navy, potentially bringing back to life another previously decommissioned
vessel, just like the Iowa class in the 1980s.
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