World

Russian Naval Power in Decline - mothballed Warships

by Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke | November 29, 2009 at 05:37 am

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Retired Adm. Vyacheslav Popov and Member of Russia's Parliament's Upper House, has stated that the Russian Navy will be in dramatic decline after 2015. Most Soviet-built ships will have to be mothballed by then.

Russia is planning to buy Mistral assault ships from France or built ships under licence. This will at least provide the Navy with some ships that can carry several helicopters.

Recently Russia had deployed ships into the waters of the shore of Somalia to protect shipping in danger of being captured by pirates. They have also recently participated in naval exercise with Venezuela.

Popov along with other retired naval officers estimates that the Russian Navy will have to operate close to home in 2015.

Russia's Navy has had a sharp decline since its glory days as part of the USSRs projected military power during the Soviet regime.

MOSCOW — Russia's once-mighty navy faces further dramatic decline after 2015, when most Soviet-built ships will have to be mothballed, a retired admiral was quoted as saying Friday.

The warning follows comments by Russian officials they were planning to buy a French amphibious assault warship able to carry at least a dozen helicopters or to land forces.

Russia currently has no big ship with the power to anchor off coast and deploy troops onto land. With the likely decommissioning of other aging warships, distant deployments would be impossible, Retired Adm. Vyacheslav Popov said in remarks carried by RIA Novosti news agency.

"If things remain as they are, we will have to mothball most ocean warships by 2015," Popov was quoted as saying. "That will sharply reduce the navy's capability," which he said was now five to six times less than Britain's or France's, and 20-30 times smaller than the U.S. Navy's.

The article below shows that there is some opposition to Russia's Navy buying Mistral assault ship from France. The article argues that ships have to be integrated into the present navy systems of supply and maintenance.

My thanks to np member mshoffner for making me aware of this article in Pravda.

Does Russia need the Mistral that much? If Russia buys the French vessel, will it mean that domestic ship-building enterprises are out of competition?

Konstantin Sivkov, the vice president of the Academy for Geopolitical Sciences, said in an interview with Pravda.Ru that his attitude to Russia’s intention to buy the French warship was absolutely negative.

“Any warship can not be purchased just like that. It must be incorporated into the system of the national armed forces in general and the navy in particular. It must have a specific destination. Therefore, there is no need to purchase the Mistral.

“What is it used for? First and foremost, it is used for landing operations. Where does Russia intend to conduct landing operations with the use of such a large and vulnerable warship? Its air defense system is very weak and can only work well when destroying single airborne targets.