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Russia's Admiral Nakhimov nuclear-powered battlecruiser, currently undergoing extensive renovation and rearmament, will hit the water in 2018 as Russia's most powerful warship, Northern Design Bureau chief Vladimir Spiridopulo was quoted by the state-run TASS news agency as saying on Thursday.

The ship went into service in 1988, but has been mothballed at the Sevmash Shipyards in Severodvinsk since 1999. After years of delays, work on her restoration began in January of this year.

"This will be a complete overhaul of the ship, [to make it] almost new. She has a good hull. But everything else, except for the hull and the [nuclear] power plant will be new," Spiridupulo said, adding that the refurbishment will allow the Nakhimov to serve another 30 to 40 years.

The Admiral Nakhimov is one of two surviving vessels of the Soviet-era Kirov class — nuclear-powered battlecruisers that are the largest surface warships in the world, other than aircraft carriers. The only Kirov to see constant service since construction has been the Pyotr Veliky, at one time the flagship of the Russian navy.

Kirov-class battlecruisers are used to destroy large enemy surface vessels, such as aircraft carriers. But advances in naval technology and tactics led most navies to dump these types of vessels after the Second World War.

The other two Kirov's have been sitting in port awaiting dismantlement for years. One of those ships, the Admiral Ushakov on the coast of the White Sea, is considered to be a profound radiological threat to the local population and environment.

The Admiral Ushakov has two nuclear reactors, and the spent nuclear fuel aboard the ship has not been removed since she went into service in 1980. Spent nuclear fuel is the most radioactive man-made nuclear waste. The state of the reactors is currently unknown.

Regardless of the sorry state of the Kirov-class as a whole, Russian naval officials are enthused about the restored combat capability of the Admiral Nakhimov. The RIA Novosti news agency reported in 2011 that repairs would cost around 50 billion rubles ($1.2 billion), or roughly the price of the two French-built Mistral-class warships ordered by Russia. 

"It will be a powerful vessel that exceeds the combat capabilities of the Pyotr Veliky," Spiridupolo said

La signature du contrat portant sur la modernisation du croiseur nucléaire lance-missiles Amiral Nakhimov est intervenue le 13 juin dernier entre le chantier naval Sevmash (Severodvinsk) et le ministère russe de la Défense. Depuis, les travaux ont débuté sur le bâtiment.

Le ministère russe de la Défense et Sevmash se sont entendus sur la réparation et la modernisation du croiseur nucléaire lance-missiles Amiral Nakhimov (Projet 1144 Orlan) pour un montant de 50 milliards de roubles (€1,1 milliard), et ont signé la contrat correspondant le 13 juin dernier. Selon le document, il est prévu que le bâtiment refitté soit livré à la marine russe en 2018....

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D'après Sevmash, ce sont près de 70% des équipements du croiseur qui doivent être démontés et remplacés. Le chantier naval, très sollicité à la fois pour les constructions des nouveaux SNLE (Projet 955) et SSGN (Projet 885), mais également pour des travaux de refittage sur le futur PA indien INS Vikramaditya, est toutefois parvenus à entamer le chantier du croiseur. Et les travaux sur les bâtiments devraient permettre... de financer le refittage de l'Amiral Nakhimov, même de façon modeste. A en croire Izvestia qui se réfère à Sevmash, ce sont 878 tonnes de métaux précieux qui ont été retirés du navire, dont 53 tonnes d'alliages d'aluminium, 66 tonnes d'aciers inoxidable, 115 tonnes d'alliages de cuivre et 644 tonnes de métaux ferreux. Le chantier naval escompte retirer près de 20 millions de roubles (€458 000) de la revente de ces métaux qui auront auparavant été fondus. Aluminium, cuivre, laiton et bronze devraient en effet représenter 25% des métaux à recylcer.

Toutefois, selon certains experts, la modernisation d'un tel bâtiment risque de s'avérer compliquée et Sevmash doit se préparer à relever les défis posés par un navire de conception soviétique pour lequel il n'était guère prévu de mise à niveau. En 2018, lorsque le croiseur Amiral Nakhimov modernisé doit être remis à la marine russe, il devrait être classé comme croiseur nucléaire d'attaque polyvalent. Il pourrait alors être équipé de systèmes de défense anti-aérienne Pantsir S-1 navalisé et de systèmes de défense anti-missiles S-400 (voire S-500?). Le bâtiment pourrait enfin être équipé de 10 UKSK (multipurpose ship firing system) qui est l'équivalent russe des VLS occidentaux (Mk-41 américain par exemple). Le UKSK (УКСК en russe pour Универсальный корабельный стельбовой комплекс) doit notamment équiper les frégates du Projet 22350.

Lire l'intégralité de l'article sur RusNavy Intellignece :

http://www.rusnavyintelligence.com/article-les-travaux-de-modernisation-du-croiseur-amiral-nakhimov-ont-debute-a-severodvinsk-119352291.html

On January 20, ITAR-TASS reported a source in the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC).
"In the future, the new co-operation, to perform the work under the contract for" Admiral Nakhimov "will be used for repairs to the modernization of the consistency of the nuclear-powered cruiser " Piotr Veliky ", now performing the tasks in the Mediterranean Sea", - he said.

The interviewee confirmed that the first preparatory stage of repair and modernization of "Admiral Nakhimov" carried on "Sevmash" in accordance with the signed last year a contract between the company and the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, with the modernization project developed the Northern Design Bureau in St. Petersburg.
"It is planned that the" Admiral Nakhimov "will be delivered to the Navy in 2018. The ship will be equipped with modern weapons and weapons systems, which will significantly increase its combat potential and opportunity," - said the source at USC, but did not specify the number and types of weapons .
Meanwhile, Chief of the Russian Navy, Admiral Viktor Chirkov while attending the Naval Academy. Kuznetsova in St. Petersburg on September 2 last year, told reporters that "Admiral Nakhimov" after the upgrade "will carry up to 80 units of missile weapons for various purposes."
According to sources in the General Staff of the Navy, the cruiser, in particular, will be equipped with attack missile complex "Caliber", which do not yet have Russian surface ships of the first rank, and in the summer will continue to test nuclear submarine "Severodvinsk" class "Ash", as well as air defense -missile system "polyment-Redoute", while also passing the test.
"As a result of the installation of new weapons systems and weapons," Admiral Nakhimov "will be a multi-purpose - able to strike not only in groups of enemy ships, especially aircraft carrier, but also coastal facilities" - said the source in the General Staff.
Source USC also said that the main power plant (GEM) "Admiral Nakhimov" will not be replaced, but it will renovate and modernize. "On the GEM work will be performed, which will increase its nuclear, radiation and technological security," - he explained.

MOSCOW, June 13 (RIA Novosti) – The Admiral Nakhimov, a nuclear-powered missile cruiser currently being overhauled and modernized, will rejoin the Russian Navy in 2018 with the most advanced weapons systems for its vessel type, the Sevmash shipyard said Thursday.

The Kirov-class cruiser, known as the Kalinin until 1992, was commissioned in 1989 and mothballed in 1999. It has since been docked for upgrades at the Sevmash shipyard in the northern Russian city of Severodvinsk, on the White Sea.

Sevmash deputy head Sergei Marichev said in a statement that the Admiral Nakhimov would become the most advanced heavy nuclear-powered missile cruiser in the Russian Navy.