Kirov class

   In December 1977 the Baltic Shipyard in Leningrad launched the largest warship other than aircraft carriers built by any nation since World War II. Commissioned into Soviet fleet service in 1980s Kirov was assigned the RKR (Raketnyy Kreyser, or missile cruiser) designation by the Soviets and a CGN designation by the Americans. Planned initially to find and engage enemy missile submarines, it became a much more capable warship when it was equipped with the long-range P-700 Granit anti-ship missile. In appearance and firepower Kirov is more like a battle cruiser than a normal missile cruiser.

   Its powerplant is unique in being a combined nuclear and steam system. Two reactors are coupled to oil-fired boilers that superheat the steam produced in the reactor plant to increase the power output available during high-speed running.

   Most of the weapons systems are located forward of the massive superstructure. The stern is used to house machinery and a below-deck helicopter hangar, which accesses the flight deck via a lift. Up to five Ka-27 Helix helicopters can be accommodated in the hangar, though a normal complement is three.

   The helicopters are a mix of ASW and missile-guidance/Elint variants. The latter provide target data for the main battery of 20 Granit (SS-N-19 Shipwreck) Mach-2.5 anti-ship cruise missiles, located below decks forward in 45° angled launch tubes.

   Other weapons and systems vary from ship to ship. Area air defense is provided by vertical launch Fort (SA-N-6) missiles, housed in 12 eight-round rotary launchers forward of the SS-N-19 bins. Close-in air defense is handled by a mix of Osa-M (SA-N-4 Gecko) missiles 30-mm CIWS mountings and 130-mm DP guns. The main ASW armament is a reloadable twin Rastrub (SS-N-14 Silex) ASW missile-launcher with associated variable-depth low-frequency sonar aft and a low-frequency bow sonar. Later ships carry 10 Vodopad (SS-N-16 'Stallion') torpedo-carrying missiles.

   The sheer size of the ships mean that they have plenty of space for a command, control and communications (C³) outfit, and could serve as effective fleet flagships. One of their intended missions was to act as a task group command escort to the aircraft carriers being planned by the Soviet navy.

   Five vessels were laid down between 1974 and 1989, but only four were completed. The first ships were named after heroes of the Bolshevik revolution, but with the end of the Communist state all have been renamed. Admiral Ushakov (ex-Kirov) was inactive through most of the 1990s following a reactor accident, and has been cannibalized to provide parts. Admiral Lazarev (ex-Frunze) has been out of service for a decade, and is destined to be scrapped. The Admiral Nakhimov (ex-Kalinin) was refitted in 1994, but did not go to sea from 1997. Since 2004 it is completely refitted and is expected to return in active service in 2007. Petr Veliky was launched in 1989, but was not completed until 1998. Lack of funds also meant that the fifth ship, the Kuznetsov, was scrapped before launch, the name being assigned to a carrier.

   Currently Petr Veliky is in active service, while the Admiral Nakhimov should join the fleet after refit in 2012. Other sources claim that Nakhimov is in active service.