Yeah, Russia has most of THEIR boomers in port mothballed. Why are OURS still wasting billions roaming the oceans? Looks like a good place to save a LOT of money.
In 2004, the Russians did ONE patrol, we did 60!
thebulletin.org
Nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs). With 14 operational submarines, the Russian SSBN fleet is the same size as last year: two Typhoons, six Delta IVs, and six Delta IIIs. (A third Typhoon and a seventh Delta III may be used for testing.) This is a dramatic reduction compared with 1990, when Russia reported 62 operational SSBNs. Operational Northern Fleet SSBNs are based on the Kola Peninsula at Nerpichya (only Typhoons) and at Yagelnaya; operational Pacific Fleet SSBNs are based on the Kamchatka Peninsula at Rybachi (only Delta IIIs), 15 kilometers southwest of Petropavlovsk.
After nearly 10 years in overhaul, in December 2003 the Typhoon-class Dmitri Donskoi test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) from the White Sea, and the sub may enter full operational status this year. The Dmitri Donskoi has been modified as a trial platform for the new SS-N-27 missile, but there are conflicting reports about which missile was test fired in December. The Archangelsk, another Typhoon sub, test-fired two SS-N-20 missiles on October 15, from the White Sea.
Two Delta IV SSBNs are being refitted. A third, the Yekaterinburg, reentered service in January 2003 after a six-year, non-refueling overhaul. The Pacific-based Delta III Svyatoy Giorgiy Pobedonosets completed an 11-year refueling overhaul in November 2003, which indicates that at least a small number of Delta IIIs may continue to serve in the Pacific well past 2005, the announced retirement date for the force.
Three Borey-class SSBNs are under construction at the Severodvinsk shipyard in northern Russia, all behind schedule. The first boat, the Yuri Dolgoruki, is scheduled for delivery in 2005 or 2006. The keel of the second boat, the Alexander Nevsky, was laid down in March 2004. All three subs should be in service by 2012. Each will carry 12 SS-N-27 (Bulava-30) SLBMs, which will be MIRVed and have a range of more than 8,000 kilometers. A modified Typhoon SSBN will begin testing the SS-N-27 this year.
Over the past year, the Russian Navy has conducted eight SLBM test launches, three of which failed spectacularly. During a naval exercise in the Barents Sea on February 17, the Delta IV SSBN Novomoskovs attempted to launch two SS-N-23 missiles; Putin was observing from the nearby Archangelsk. Both tests were aborted due to technical problems. The next day, the Karelia managed to launch an SS-N-23, but the missile was blown up when it strayed from its planned trajectory. On March 17, the Novomoskovs finally succeeded in a second attempt, during which an SS-N-23 was launched from the Barents Sea and later hit the Kura target range on the Kamchatka Peninsula.
The Russian Navy resumed SSBN deterrent patrols in 2003, after not conducting any in 2002 and only one in 2001, according to the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence. Since 1990, the number of patrols had declined steadily. Even after resumption, the number is a far cry from the U.S. SSBN patrol rate of more than 60 a year. |
