The Kirov class Russian Navy battleship cruisers are the largest and most powerful surface combatant warships in the Russian Navy and the largest and most powerful non-aircraft carrier warships in the world. Originally built for the Soviet Navy, in Russia they are usually known by the designation Project 1144 Orlan (meaning Sea eagle). The Kirov class Russian Navy battlecruisers are second in size only to aircraft carriers, and are similar in size to a World War I battleship. Because of this, the The Kirov class Russian Navy battlecruisers are sometimes known as battlecruisers in the West. It is more appropriate to consider Kirov an oversized guided missile cruiser, analogous to the U.S. Navy Alaska-class large cruiser, which had the displacement and armament of a battlecruiser but otherwise was closer to a heavy cruiser in mission and construction. The Kirov hull design also was used for the nuclear-powered command ship SSV-33.
| Kirov Class Cruiser General characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Displacement: | 24,300 tons Standard, 28,000 (Full Load) |
| Length: | 252 m (830 ft) |
| Beam: | 28.5 m (94 ft) |
| Draft: | 9.1 m (30 ft) |
| Propulsion: | 2-shaft CONAS, 2× KN-3 nuclear propulsion with 2× GT3A-688 steam turbines 140,000 shp |
| Speed: | 32 knots (59 km/h) |
| Range: | 1,000 nautical miles (2,000 km) at 30 knots (56 km/h) (combined propulsion), Essentially unlimited with nuclear power at 20 knots (37 km/h) |
| Complement: | 710 |
| Sensors and processing systems: | Radars(NATO Reporting Name): |
| Armament: | 20 P-700 Granit (SS-N-19 Shipwreck) AShM 14 SS-N-14 Silex ASW cruise missiles (Ushakov only) 12x8 (96) S-300PMU Favorit SA-N-6 Grumble surface-to-air missiles (Ushakov, Lazarev, Nakhimov) 96 S-400 (SA-NX-20 Gargoyle) long-range SAM (Pyotr Velikhy) 192 9K311 Tor (SA-N-9 Gauntlet) point defense SAM 44 OSA-MA (SA-N-4 Gecko) PD SAM 2x RBU-1000 305 mm ASW rocket launchers 2x RBU-12000 (Udav-1) 254 mm ASW rocket launchers 1 twin AK-130 130 mm/L70 dual purpose gun (2x AK-100 100 mm/L60 DP guns in Ushakov) 10 533 mm ASW/ASuW torpedo tubes, Type 53 torpedo or SS-N-15 ASW missile 8x AK-630 hex gatling 30 mm/L60 PD guns (Ushakov, Lazarev) 6x CADS-N-1 Kashtan missile/gun system (Nakhimov, Pyotr Velikhy) |
| Armour: | 76 mm plating around reactor compartment, light splinter protection |
| Aircraft carried: | 3 helicopters |
| Aviation facilities: | Below-deck hangar |
Kirov class Russian Navy battleship cruisers is equipped with missiles and guns as well as electronics. Kirov class Russian Navy battleship cruisers has largest radar antenna is mounted on its foremast, and called "Top Pair" by NATO. The Kirov class's main weapons are 20 × P-700 Granit (SS-N-19) Shipwreck missiles mounted on deck, designed to engage large surface targets, and air defense is provided by 12 × 8 S-300F launchers with 96 missiles and 2 × 20 Osa-MA with 40 missiles. The Kirov class Russian Navy battleship cruisers had some differences in sensor and weapons suites; the lead ship Kirov came with SS-N-14 ASW missiles; on subsequent ships these were replaced with 9K331 Tor SAM systems. The 9K331 Tor installation is in fact mounted further forward of the old SS-N-14 mounting, in the structure directly behind the blast shield for the bow mounted RBU ASW rocket launcher. Kirov and Frunze had eight 30 mm AK-630 close-in weapon systems, which were supplanted with the Kashtan (CADS-N-1) air-defence missile/gun system on later ships.
Other weapons of Kirov class Russian Navy battleship cruisers are the automatic 130 mm AK-130 gun system (except on Kirov which had two single 100 mm guns instead), 10 × torpedo/missile tubes (capable of firing SS-N-15 missiles on later ships), Udav-1 with 40 anti-submarine rockets and the 2 × RBU-1000 six-tube launchers.
The lead ship, Kirov class Russian Navy battleship cruisers (renamed Admiral Ushakov in 1992 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union) was laid down in June 1973 at Leningrad's Baltiysky Naval Shipyard, launched on December 27, 1977 and commissioned on December 30, 1980. When she appeared for the first time in 1981, NATO observers called her BALCOM I (Baltic Combatant I).
Kirov class Russian Navy battleship cruisers suffered a reactor accident in 1990 while serving in the Mediterranean Sea. Repairs were never carried out, due to lack of funds and the changing political situation in the Soviet Union. Kirov class Russian Navy battleship cruisers may have been cannibalized as a spare parts cache for the other ships in her class.
