Families Welcome Nevskiy Home for First Time (photo: Pressa-tof.livejournal.com)
Following a roughly 40-day inter-fleet transfer, proyekt 955 Borey-class SSBN Aleksandr Nevskiy arrived at Rybachiy at approximately 1700 hours local on September 30. Families waiting for the submarine held a sign reading “Welcome to Your Native Shores!”
The Pacific Fleet’s website provided lots of good photos of the occasion.
Nevskiy at New Pier (photo: Ministry of Defense)
NG published this MOD photo of Aleksandr Nevskiy at its new pier.
The MOD press release for Nevskiy’s arrival focused on the reconstruction of the Pacific Fleet’s SSBN base. It noted that the new base “should systematically underpin the service cycle, base training, technical servicing of submarines, and life cycle support and have essential social infrastructure to allow crewmen to fulfill their duties fully with great efficiency.”
Down the Gangplank (photo: Ministry of Defense)
Navy CINC Salutes Nevskiy’s Commander (photo: Pressa-tof.livejournal.com)
Behind Navy CINC Admiral Viktor Chirkov, Pacific Fleet commander Admiral Sergey Avakyants also salutes.
In remarks to assembled officials, Navy personnel, and families published on Mil.ru, Chirkov said the Pacific Fleet’s submarine force is in a “renewal phase.” Demands on the training of submariners are greater now that 4th generation boats are entering the fleet.
Admiral Chirkov added that the design of 5th generation submarines has begun within the framework of the 2050 Shipbuilding Program. These future boats will be stealthy, and have improved C3, automated reconnaissance and “collision avoidance” systems, and better weapons, according to him.
In the Interfaks-AVN recap, Admiral Chirkov also referred to the “deep modernization” of existing 3rd generation nuclear subs saying that, “These boats have great modernization potential allowing them to be made practically new and return to the Navy’s order-of-battle as effective and powerful units.”
“The intensity of combat service of [Russian] strategic and multipurpose nuclear-powered submarines on the world’s oceans will be maintained at a level that guarantees our country’s security,” according to the Navy CINC.
Of course, Chirkov didn’t note that — with Russia’s array of land-based ICBMs and position in Eurasia’s heartland — that intensity, that level of submarine operations may not need to be too great.
Nevskiy Captain Vasiliy Tankovid Addresses His Crew (photo: Pressa-tof.livejournal.com)
Family Reunion on the Pier (photo: Pressa-tof.livejournal.com)
A happy scene familiar to every sailor.
Russian Defense Policy 