Russia’s Largest Nuclear Battlecruiser, Admiral Nakhimov, Completes Sea Trials

The world’s largest nuclear-powered surface combatant, Russia’s Admiral Nakhimov, has returned to its Severomorsk home port after sea trials to test its upgraded weapons, sensors, propulsion and combat management system.

This development brings the 28,000-tonne ship closer to its reinduction in the Russian Navy, per sources, who said that it will join the forces once it concludes the final phases of the acceptance process, which is a mandatory procedure.

The Russian naval ship was commissioned into the Soviet Navy in 1988 and was then withdrawn from service in the late 1990s.

The warship underwent an overhaul at the Sevmash Shipyard between 2014 and 2015, which replaced its old and obsolete infrastructure with a modern combat system, defensive sensors and main weapon systems.

The battlecruiser has several next-gen precision-guided munitions, according to the Russian Defence Ministry’s information available to the public.

This includes 3M22 Zircon hypersonic missiles and Kalibr land-attack cruise missiles. Its new air defence network has the Fort-M and Pantsir-M systems and Paket-NK anti-submarine and anti-torpedo armaments to counter underwater threats.

The warship has also been equipped with 80 universal vertical launch cells for heavy strike missiles and 96 long-range-surface-to-air missile launchers.

These specifications make it one of the most heavily armed ships in the entire world.

For its main propulsion, the warship uses two KN-3 nuclear reactors, which enable long-duration deployments without the need to refuel.

The battlecruiser operates across the Arctic, North Atlantic and other distant regions, strengthening Russia’s maritime power projection capabilities.

Located on the Kola Peninsula along the Barents Sea, Severomorsk is the central command headquarters for the Russian Northern Fleet.

It is the main Russian naval base for operations covering the Arctic and the North Atlantic and is home to many nuclear submarines and other warships.