Russia’s Navy to be Fully Modernized

Russia has started the implementation of its military shipbuilding program, and aims to fully modernize its Navy, supplying it with over 600 surface ships, submarines and other auxiliary ships by 2050. Also, Russia’s Defense Ministry has already approved the technical design specifications for its Leader class destroyers. The destroyer’s nuclear-powered and gas turbine propulsion power plant will be manufactured in Russia and will allow the ships to travel at 30 knots.

The key developer of the next-generation warships is Krylov State Research Center in St. Petersburg. The next-generation warships will be equipped with Caliber cruise missiles and a S-500 Prometey antiaircraft defense system. The warships will be capable of combatting submarines and will also be equipped with two special helicopters and a modern sonar system.

Russia activates new early warning radar systems

The Voronezh-DM early warning radar in Kaliningrad is set to be put on combat duty in late 2014.
The station itself monitors North Africa and the Mediterranean Sea as far as the Atlantic Ocean, which includes the areas patrolled by American, Ohio-class submarines with strategic missiles.
It covers a radius of 3,728 miles over the Earth’s surface and 4,970 miles into space.

Russia has similar stations in Armavir (to be put on combat duty in June of this year), Lehtusi near St. Petersburg (already operational) and in Siberia, near Irkutsk (the first radar is operational, while the second is still under construction). There are also early warning radar systems in the Kola Peninsula (Dnestr-M and Daryal radars), the Komi Republic (Daryal radar), Belarus (Volga radar) and Kazakhstan (Dnepr and Dnestr radars). (Read more)