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Moskva (Project 1164 Atlant)

1983 COLD WAR MODERN NAVY

History

The Slava class (Project 1164 Atlant) was a Soviet Cold War-era initiative to field around 10 guided missile cruisers for the Soviet Navy in the 1970s. Design work began in the 1960s, and the models would feature conventional propulsion, a range of sensors and processing systems, and a wealth of missile weapons to defend against Western aircraft threats and water threats to Soviet territory and interests. Ultimately, due to the end of the Soviet Empire in 1991, only three of the planned ships were completed, leaving one incomplete hull and six ships that needed to be cancelled. Moskva - originally commissioned as Slava (meaning "glory") - became the capital ship of the class, and her keel was laid by the 61 Kommunara shipyard in 1976.

She was launched in 1979 and officially commissioned with the Soviet Navy on January 30, 1983. Her name was changed in 1995 to honor the Russian capital, Moscow, and her main station is part of the Black Sea Fleet. "Project 1164 Atlant" was the Soviet Navy designation for the Slava class.

The Moscow guided missile cruiser has a completely traditional design profile, including an upward-sloping bow, a central superstructure and a stern helideck. The Moskva features unique deck guns mounted along the bow, large missile launchers along the port and starboard sides, and an enclosed fore mast to house radar, communications and sensitive processing systems. Installed high on the superstructure, the bridge provides impressive views of the fields ahead. The stern superstructure contains the stern mast and a pair of flat, closed chimneys.

The small helicopter landing deck can manage a twin-rotor Kamov Ka-25 or Ka-27 naval helicopter or similar anti-submarine helicopter, designed to search, pursue and fight enemy submarines. The entire crew consists of 480 people, including the small aviation sector.

The ship displaces 11,500 tons and the armor consists of anti-fragmentation.

The Moskva is a conventionally powered "blue water" vessel designed for operations away from the coast, independently or as part of the main Russian fleet. Propulsion is provided by 4 x gas turbines arranged in a COGOG (gas or combined gas) configuration designed for maximum efficiency. COGOG allows low and high engine power for general cruise and high speed cruise, respectively. This configuration allows for better management of the limited fuel supply and greater flexibility in driving modes than the old engine configuration.

A clutch system manages each turbine, producing a total power of approximately 121,000 shaft horsepower, sent to 2 shafts. Range is specified at 10,000 miles when maintaining a cruising speed of 16 knots.

Moskva is equipped with a range of sensors and processing systems, led by its powerful Voskhod/Top Pair MR-800 series 3D long-range search radars, which provide a modern "all-seeing" digital suite. This is combined with the Fregat MR-710 3D air search radar to counter incoming air threats. Navigation is aided by the "Palm Frond" kit, fire control includes multiple radar units and applicable systems - Bass Tilt AK-360 series for short-range air threats including cruise missiles, MPZ-301 Baza SAM (surface-to-air missile) Controls, Door-C SSM (Surface-to-Surface Missile) controls, bow mounted MG-332 Tigan-2T sonar array and Platina "horsetail" MF VDS (variable depth sonar) mounted aft.

Intercept and jamming antennas ("Kol'cho" kits) help manage the airborne electronic warfare suite, and 2 x 140mm PK-2 DL series chaff catapults are installed to detect incoming radar and thwart missile threats.

At the heart of the Moskva and its ilk are a series of missile launch systems designed to counter air and surface threats, with additional measures to counter underwater threats as needed. The main weapon system consists of 16 x P-500 "Bazalt" (SS-N-12 "Sandbox") anti-ship missiles (in pairs) mounted in two rows of four launchers - four in pairs on one side of the hull The superstructure of the launcher.

The launcher is easy to spot and tilts up in a ready-to-fire position. This arrangement is complemented by 8 x 8 S-300PMU "Fortress" (SA-N-6 "Grumble") surface-to-air missile launchers for a total of 64 missiles, with additional air defense support provided by 2 x 20 OSA-MA ( SA-N-4 "Gecko") short-range surface-to-air missile launcher with a total of 40 missiles.

Traditional close range work is managed through a digitally controlled network of 6 x 30mm AK-630 Close-In Weapon Systems (CIWS). Another conventional weapon is the AK-130 series 130mm/L70 deck gun mounted on the double-barreled turret on the first floor.

Anti-submarine measures include 10 x 533mm torpedo tubes and 2 x RBU-6000 series anti-submarine mortars.

Born as Slava in 1983, the ship underwent her first (and rather lengthy) overhaul between 1991 and 1998, before being re-entered into fleet service in 2000. At this point, her name has been changed to match "Moscow", to match the emerging Russia that was born from the ashes of the old Soviet Union. Moscow received flagship status in the Black Sea Fleet, replacing Admiral Golovko in the same role. In 2003, Moscow participated in joint exercises with the Indian Navy in the Indian Ocean, and India has increasingly become a military export customer for the Asian superpower. As tensions with neighboring Georgia erupted into full-scale war in 2008, Moscow campaigned in the Black Sea to support Abkhazia's independence during the 2008 South Ossetia war.

She returned to Russia in late 2009 for an overhaul and was placed on a floating dock while she worked. In April 2010, the ship conducted exercises in Indian waters, and then participated in the Eastern Military Exercise in the Sea of ??Okhotsk.

In August 2013, she made a goodwill stop in Cuba, a longtime communist ally, miles from the U.S. coast.

As tensions between Russia and the West centered on years of civil war in Syria a longtime Soviet military and political partner, Syria was recently accused of using chemical weapons against rebels the Russian navy has launched its guided-missile cruiser Moscow Deployed from Atlantic waters to the Mediterranean in late August 2013 in response to the growing threat of military intervention from the West, largely led by the United States and supported by European powers. For now, the Moskva River will act as a deterrent to Western intervention and (supposedly) assist in the evacuation of Russian citizens from the Syrian mainland. Russia remains the Syrian government's most powerful ally in the region (and Syria's largest military supplier). The Russian Navy also dispatched an anti-submarine ship to the theater. The Russian government said the show of force was aimed at protecting its "interests" in the region, not fueling already heightened tensions between world powers.

Russia (like its communist ally China) is openly opposed to any Western military intervention in the civil war.

Russia has a dozen ships in the Mediterranean.