"Zvyozdochka
and its subcontractors have launched the dockside tests of individual
systems, mostly mechanical ones," the press office said.
As was reported in the press, the upgraded cruiser will be delivered
to the Russian Navy in 2016. The Marshal Ustinov was laid down by the
Nikolayev Shipyard in 1978, commissioned for service with the Northern
Fleet in September 1986 and upgraded by the Severnaya Verf Shipyard
in St. Petersburg in 1994-97. It has been undergoing normal repair since
June 2011.
The Marshal Ustinov will be afforded an advanced missile system, probably,
the Kalibr (SS-N-27 Sizzler) or Oniks (SS-N-26 Strobile). The upgrade
will provide the cruiser with the Podberyozovik three-dimensional long-range
target acquisition radar and Fregat-M2M sea-skimming target acquisition
radar. There have been statements that the ship will not receive advanced
air defense missile systems.
The Project 1164 Atlant-class cruisers are designed for dealing with
enemy surface combatants and providing combat stability of Russian task
forces in remote corners of the ocean. The development of the class
began in the later 1970s. Four cruisers were built, of which three are
in the Russian Navy’s inventory. The cruisers in the class displace
a total of 11,500 tons and measure 186 m in length. They have a full
speed of 32 knots, a range of 7,500 nm at 18 knots, a 130-mm AK-130
gun, antiship and air defense missile systems, 30-mm AK-630M antiaircraft
guns and torpedoes. They can carry a Kamov Ka-27 (Helix) helicopter
or derivatives thereof.
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