The heavy nuclear-powered cruiser Peter the Great, the flagship of the Russian Northern Fleet, will be scrapped.
Source. This was reported by Russian media with reference to a source in the naval sphere.
The world's largest warship with a nuclear propulsion system and the only surface nuclear-powered ship of the Russian Navy is planned to be withdrawn from the Navy's combat service, the source said.
The cruiser, which was launched 25 years ago and has a crew of more than 700 people, was planned to be sent for modernization.
However, the experience of repairing the heavy nuclear cruiser Admiral Nakhimov showed that it was very costly, the source explained: the ship was sent for modernization in 1999, and later it was promised to be armed with Kalibr cruise missiles. But the completion date was postponed many times, and now the Admiral Nakhimov remains in the bay of the Sevmash repair plant.
Earlier, other giant submarines of the Northern Fleet – Severstal, Arkhangelsk, and Dmitry Donskoy – were sent for scrapping.
Built in the 1970s and capable of carrying 20 R-39 solid-fuel ballistic missiles, the 170-meter-long Akula-class submarines were also deemed "too costly" to modernize.
Some Russian military officials suggested doing the same: converting Akula submarines into cruise missile carriers. According to various estimates, one boat after modernization could carry from 100 to 160 Kalibr, Oniks, or Zircon cruise missiles.
Background. As reported, the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation has lost 15% of its combat personnel since the beginning of the war.