Close-up of Russia's most powerful warship
The Kirov-class nuclear-powered guided missile cruisers often attract a lot of attention when people look at the surface ships of the Russian Navy.
According to Business Insider, that's quite understandable because these assets are equipped with many powerful weapons, such as SS-N-19 Shipwreck surface-to-surface missiles and SA-N-6 Grumble surface-to-air missiles.
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But Russia also has arguably the most powerful cruisers: the Slava-class ships that entered service in the 1980s.
Today, Russia is focusing more on small but powerful ships, returning to the heyday of the Soviet Union, achieving the status of a blue-water navy.
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| Close-up of Russia's most powerful warship. |
Kuznetsov-class aircraft carriers will need escorts capable of providing air defense and destroying enemy warships. The Slava can do this.
The 16th edition of the Naval Academy Guide to World Combat Fleets indicates that the Russian Slava-class cruiser carries 16 SS-N-12 Sandbox surface-to-surface missiles and 64 SA-N-6 Grumble surface-to-air missiles.
The ship also carries a pair of SA-N-4 missile launchers for point defense, a 130mm dual gun, six 30mm AK-630 guns, two 21-tube torpedo tubes, and a Ka-27 Helix helicopter.
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Russia currently has three such ships in its arsenal. Two others were planned and were supposed to be armed with improved surface-to-surface missiles, but were canceled after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The Russian Navy will have these ships for at least another decade, by which time it hopes to have the Lider-class destroyers ready to enter service. Until then, the Slava cruisers will continue to make a significant contribution to Russian naval power.