Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Meets with Media

Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief ADM Vladimir Vysotsky took part in the session of defense ministry’s press club. Meeting with the press, he discussed current condition of Russian Navy and its development prospects till and after 2020.

Speaking of implementation of the shipbuilding program, Vysotsky pointed out that Russia should turn away fr om large number of types and classes of ships following the principle of maximal unification when building new warships.

According to Admiral V. Vysotsky, the stake is placed on wide unification of warships. It means that task groups will be formed depending on certain missions and certain regions wh ere a fleet is based. Of course, the Black Sea, the Arctic, and the Pacific theaters have different characteristics. “Therefore, task groups must be also different, but unified to the maximum”, emphasized the Navy Commander.

Vladimir Vysotsky confirmed plans of Russian Navy to purchase eight Borei-class and eight Yasen-class nuclear-powered submarines, having noted that one should keep an eye on the longer prospect while planning national navy’s structure. “Some countries look decades ahead when planning prospects for their navies, and that’s well founded. We also look more than 20 years ahead“, said the admiral.

Plans for Mistral amphibious landing ships aroused interest of reporters. Admiral Vysotsky said the French helicopter carriers built for Russian Navy would be armed with Russian-made weapons. As for the admiral, it is planned to mount air defense systems on those ships to improve their protection from aerial attack means. The main condition for purchase of such ships is achieving technology. Third and fourth ships will be built in Russia.

Answering the question about further renovation and reinforcement of Black Sea Fleet, the Navy Commander affirmed that in the nearest future the fleet would receive 6 diesel submarines and 6 frigates. “It is a wrong belief that speaking of renewal of Black Sea Fleet we mean only Sevastopol. It can be Novorossiysk and other basing sites on the Russia’s Black Sea coast“, noted Vladimir Vysotsky. As for him, construction of the fleet’s bases is actively held in Krasnodar region. Up-to-date coastal facilities are being constructed in Novorossiysk naval harbor for prospective quayside infrastructure.

Regarding construction of non-nuclear submarines, Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky said that the Navy plans to equip them with anaerobic (air-independent) powerplants turning them into advanced and effective naval assets. “Expectedly, anaerobic powerplants would be mounted in all diesel submarines we build including Lada-class ones”, said the Navy Commander.

Speaking about commissioning of SSGN Severodvinsk, Vysotsky said the sub would face trials and could be commissioned in the current year.

“We’ve passed on to batch production, and the every new sub will differ from the previous one with technical solutions”, said Admiral Vysotsky answering the question about lead and serial submarines.

“Shaping prospective Russian Navy, we look further than it is stipulated in program documents. It is justified and reasoned by present-day challenges and technology development”, emphasized the Navy Commander in the end of the press conference.

[mappress]
Naval Today Staff , February 21, 2012; Image: mil