Navy slowly recovering its poise

RUSSIAN CASE

RUSSIA is well on its way to re-establishing its military and industrial power at a time when its free-market economy is faltering.

The country’s navy had been reduced in size and had logistics-support problems, but the development of new submarines and naval weapons systems was continuing, Captain Richard Sharpe wrote in the foreword of Jane’s Fighting Ships 1994-95.

“From the low point of 1992, the Russian navy is slowly recovering its poise,” he said.

Major warships, especially the older Kiev-class ships, were being scrapped so that money could be spent on more recent priorities, which included:

* COMPLETING the last of the Kirov-class battle cruisers.

* BUILDING a new generation of nuclear attack submarines and improving the Kilo-class diesel submarine design.

* DEVELOPING Sovremenny- and Neustrashimy-class destroyers and frigates.