Operational? None.
Severstal had ten missiles left back in 2004, presumably that might be called “operational”, the other missiles are either launched in exercises or expired date and scrapped.
Dmitry Donskoy is the one you are referring too, she has a new towed array sonar (same as Gepard’s) and has the “Bulava” system, although that is not for sure. She did the test launch, but to the question whether she really has the system I have no answer. She was converted some two years ago, yet only last year the Bulava tests were done from it, first a test of the shipboard system, this year the test of the missile itself. But whether she really has 20 of them, that’s not for sure. Tuman is also left “in service”, but doesn’t have any missiles left, so is basically out of service. The other three of the class were some of the first victims of the Nunn Lugar program, scrapped with US help. This year, “Red October” was on the list.

Hmm, Wanshan, the Enforcer series costs approx $480million, that is of course quite a bit more… They could buy 10 of these old boats for the price of one enforcer. On the other hand it would be brand new and has some more capabilities. It would most likely be more interesting in training on an enforcer before building something like Mistral than training on one of these old ships.

Yes, Garry, plenty of those reports in other services too, but none in the nuclear submarine service. A TOW or Stinger going missing isn’t really that much of a disaster as it doesn’t create a danger to 120 men (unless of course the plane that is shot down with the stinger is filled with 50 and crashes on another 70 men) or the bus that gets hit by the TOW is filled with 100 people and explodes killing another 20.

Granit-M does not exist, the closest to it would be Vulkan, used in Varyag.

[quote]Sky Watch, is Mars Passet. That was the system that was meant to be intalled on Kuznetzov. The Tombstone mounted on Peter the Great (Kirov class) is installed as a single rotating mount. So I doubt that was intended to be fitted, it is also associated with the S-300FM system which was never intended for installation on a carrier.[quote]

If you read the description of the system I put behind the Sky Watch designation you would know what I meant. I was thinking, thinking, thinking and only Sky Watch came up my mind. It has another name, but I simply forgot it, as it’s not commonly used nor known.
Here are some more pictures of the system I mean:


Looks big on this ship, but a lot smaller on Ural, and Ural is smaller than Kuznetsov, so it would again look pretty realistic on that ship.
Tombstone you are right, but I’m quite sure that it can be used in general surveillance task too, or at least something based on it, which you would at least expect after Tombstone.
Nonetheless, I still think Varyag was meant to go without a phased array.
The Su-33 purchase has been mentioned a few times now, I wonder what is the truth behind these reports.

——————————————————————————–

The Tombstone was meant to be placed like this, but I doubt the angled areas are large enough to hold one. Otherwise there is the Sky Watch phased array radar. That one certainly is too big, but a smaller version could probably be carried. The large panels were always used in surveillance missions, not for defensive purposes up till now.

But, in general I do think she was designed without phased array panels in mind, as you mentioned.

Mudry’s nearly finished, everything in place, ready for a nice coat of paint and she’ll be ready. As they also mentioned this year:

MOSCOW. Sept 16 (Interfax-AVN) – Cutting-edge Project 20380
corvettes will be fielded with the Baltic Fleet in the near future,
Admiral Vladimir Valuev, Baltic Fleet Commander, told Interfax-Military
News Agency.
“The Baltic Fleet expects to receive up to 10-13 Project 20380
corvettes,” he said.
He also pointed out that the Baltic Fleet expected to be equipped
with the Yaroslav Mudry flagship in 2006-2007. “It was decided to
complete the construction, and we hope that the ship will be finished in
2006 in order to enter service with the Baltic Fleet in 2007,” Valuev
said.
At the same time he noted the high combat efficiency of the
Yaroslav Mudry flagship, especially as far as air defense was concerned.
“The ship is so efficient, that it has been nicknamed “missile hunter”,
” he said.
Valuev pointed out that at the present time the surface ship
strength of the Baltic Fleet amounted to 60 ships of various types,
including missile boats.
He also said that the Baltic Fleet would have established a
submarine brigade, comprising up to nine subs, by the end of 2007. “The
new submarine brigade to be established in the next two years will be
equipped with six to nine cutting-edge Project 677 Lada submarines,”
Valuev said.
The Baltic Fleet is manned with 25,000 men.
The new corvette was developed at the Almaz Central Naval Design
Bureau, based in St. Petersburg.
The corvette is armed with advanced anti-ship, anti-submarine and
air defense missile systems. The 100-mm multi-purpose deck artillery
system enables it to effectively counter hostile vessels of the same
type as well as engage shore targets. The Kashtan-type anti-aircraft
missile artillery system is capable of killing low-altitude airborne
targets with super-sonic missiles at a distance of up to 10 kilometers.
The two AK-30 automatic artillery systems are designed to destroy
targets at a distance of up to five kilometers.
The stealth technology of the vessel minimizes its radar, infrared,
magnetic and visual signature.
The vessel is capable of launching missile strikes on hostile
surface ships and shore objects and participating in anti-submarine
operations; it can be hardly detected by the enemy’s aircraft radars due
to its low signature. The 100-mm automatic system enables the corvette
to provide fire support to friendly landing troops.
The new ship will displace up to 2,000 tonnes; it will be 100
meters long and 13 meters wide.
The corvette is fitted with a K-27 deck helicopter.

Pretty funny that they call her missile hunter, especially because they already have one of those in service and a dozen more ships with the same Air Defence system!
On the other hand, she does differ a bit from Neustrashimiy in the mid-section, where the SSMs will come.

Haha, you just can’t believe it can you? It’s a widespread thing, happening all the time. They guarded it, but the guards were the ones stealing afterwards… As mentioned in the report, maybe you should read it again.

As for NK subs, don’t underestimate the power a very small conventional sub in shallow waters using the bottom contours to hide. And be sure, also NK has some good captains and crews. As for the Oscar, with Granit (and “supposing” you can change fuel, technology, warhead and seeker is out of the question, as you would then just basically make a new missile) it would have to get in the range of these NK subs. You never know when one gets lucky. Killing an Oscar would be quite a good propaganda issue. Nonetheless, NK isn’t the best of examples I admit, as the NK peninsula isn’t a good area for such a thing. But, using a 3000km cruise missile, the Oscar can stay well out of reach of these SSKs, not even taking the slightest risk.

Report from 2003, I think the “Granit class” submarine was Krasnoyarsk, not sure, but I think that was mentioned in later reports, which I can’t find at the moment.

Thieves plunder Russian Navy

Russia’s nuclear-armed Northern Fleet is falling to pieces – quite literally – as scavengers plunder its ships of precious metal components. Hundreds of naval officers and civilian contractors have joined with criminal gangs in the illegal trade targeting anything containing a few dollars’ worth of gold, silver or palladium. Millions of dollars are being made on smuggling the loot abroad, and naval equipment worth perhaps hundreds of millions is being ruined in the process, Russian TV reports.

Warships and submarines, both decommissioned and in active service, often find themselves missing vital components, including telecommunication circuit boards, air regeneration filters and even torpedoes. “Expensive equipment is rendered inoperative as a result of these thefts,” says Vladimir Mulov, the Northern Fleet’s military prosecutor. “Parts, for example, are stolen from anti-aircraft systems. Such thefts cause enormous damage to the ships’ military capability.” The port has become the scene of fierce turf wars between rival gangs which has claimed more than 10 lives this year alone, says its police chief Viktor Pesterev.

One Russian Granit-class nuclear-powered submarine contains roughly a tonne of silver, more than 30 kg of pure gold and 20 kg of the precious metal palladium, experts say. Some of this potential treasure is dispersed in thousands of tiny circuit-board components throughout the ship. A detailed diagram showing where such components can be found on a submarine, along with instructions on how best to dismantle them, was recently found during a police raid. But just one shoebox-sized air regeneration cartridge, for example, can yield 139 grams of palladium, worth over 2,000 dollars on the black market, the TV says. No wonder places like Murmansk are littered with booths of scrap metal dealers, and local papers are filled with advertisements offering a good price for precious metal – no questions asked.

Shipyards and naval bases have employed guards with metal detectors in an effort to keep the ships’ components where they belong. But that does not always help. One recent victim is the nuclear submarine Kazan, which lost her air regeneration filters. They were stolen by two officers who were supposed to guard them. Still on trial for a similar offence is the chief of a naval garrison and a naval captain. Of the 147 people investigated for the theft of precious metals from the military last year, more than half were officers.

And no I’m not Vlad