Selivanov Describes a Pathetic Navy

Lenta.ua picked up some of former Main Staff Chief Selivanov’s comments about the state of the Navy at a KPRF round table on Serdyukov’s reforms.  He says 80-85 percent of the Navy’s platforms have been written off.  In the fleets, he sees only about 30-35 ships and submarines.  The Soviet Navy used to get 10 or 11 nuclear submarines per year.  Now, in the Northern and Pacific Fleets, there are just a handful of nuclear submarines.  The fleets have about 129 aircraft.  The Navy can’t perform any of the operations required of it and the West long ago surpassed it technologically.  Russia is looking at steam catapults and the U.S. is working on electromagnetic ones.