Kirov Class Battle Cruisers & Now Only Two Will Remain, Sadly.

Those 827 feet / 252 meters ships were filled to the brim with weapons: 20 long-range anti-ship missiles, 96 long-range AA missiles with anti-ballistic capabilities, 40 medium range AA missiles and 320 short-range AA missiles. You can add to that 6 CIWS equipped with 30mm cannons, a twin-barrel 130mm auto-cannon, 10 rocket-assisted torpedoes, and 144 anti-submarine rockets. Additionally, those ships could carry and operate 5 ASW helicopters.

4 were built. One is operational and awaiting a deep refit (Peter the Great) while another one is currently going through a refit and a modernisation program (Admiral Nakhimov).

Back in 2014, some hoped all 4 Kirovs could be brought back into service by 2022… This won’t happen. The Admiral Ushakov had a reactor malfunction in 1990 and was never repaired. Worse, it was cannibalised for parts throughout the 1990s. It would be too expensive to refit and repair. She will be scrapped instead. As for Admiral Lazarev, She was barely used in the 1990s and subsequently put into reserve in 1999. By 2012, it had been decided that her hull was in such a state of disrepair, it would be impossible to repair and reactivate. She will also be scrapped.