In the epic saga of the repair and modernization of the missile cruiser "Admiral Nakhimov," Project 1144.2 "Orlan," which has been undergoing continuous repairs and upgrades since 1997, the reactor has been launched. This event occurred in the 20s of December 2024, but Russian state media only reported on it days ago.
It was immediately emphasized that the physical launch of the reactor does not signify the completion of the cruiser’s repairs and modernization; rather, it indicates that the "nuclear power unit is ready to operate at maximum capacity."
It is worth noting that the power plant on the missile cruisers of Project 1144.2 "Orlan" consists of two KN-3 nuclear reactors, each with a capacity of 150 MW. This reactor was developed in the 1970s for the missile cruisers of this project, and its KN-3-43 version was intended for the first Soviet aircraft carrier "Ulyanovsk."
However, despite the reactor's launch, the completion dates for the work and the delivery of the ship have once again been postponed. Referring to the recent timeline, it was initially set for 2018, then moved to 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and now, as confirmed by Russian sources, it has been pushed to 2026, as mentioned last summer.
According to the plan, this is when the ship's trials are supposed to be completed, and its transfer to the Russian Navy is to take place, or the timeline will be postponed again.
By August 2023, the cost of the work on the "Admiral Nakhimov" had already exceeded 200 billion rubles, and this is a minimum estimate. Considering the varying exchange rate of the ruble and inflation, this amounts to about 5 billion dollars. This is more than the cost of the American revolutionary destroyer Zumwalt, which was priced at 4.4 billion dollars.
That is why the entire modernization project of this missile cruiser, which was launched in 1986, is even referred to in Russia as a "mega-scam."
Moreover, for this amount, Russia is transforming the "Admiral Nakhimov" into a cruiser equipped with 80 universal launchers UKSK 3S14 for "Kalibr," "Onyx," and "Tsirkon" missiles. This is the same number of launch cells as the Zumwalt, while the standard and most common American destroyers, the Arleigh Burke class, have 96. In contrast, its counterpart—the Ticonderoga-class missile cruiser—has 122.