BSF flagship Guard missile cruiser Moskva to start long-range cruise today

09.04.2010 On Apr 9 Black Sea Fleet (BSF) flagship Guard missile cruiser Moskva will sail off Sevastopol to start a long-range cruise to Indian Ocean, informs First Channel referring to a source in Black Sea Fleet HQ.

Shipment of water and provisions is at final stage. Next moorage will be at the Indian Ocean. Cadets of Russian naval institutes will be among the cruiser's crew practicing naval skills; during passages of straits and at foreign ports the ship will be guarded by BSF marine unit. The cruise commander is Capt 1 rank Igor Smolyak, deputy commander of BSF surface ships division.

It was previously reported by Interfax referring to a source in Black Sea Fleet HQ that in May cruiser Moskva along with supply vessel would firstly arrive to Vladivostok to take part in operational strategic exercise Vostok-2010 jointly with Pacific Fleet ships. Within the framework of long-range cruise the ship will train interaction with Russian strategic aviation, perform missile strike against sea target by main missile system P-500 Bazalt, and participate in bilateral naval exercise with India.

Also in spring the cruiser will carry out maneuvers jointly with French and Italian warships in the Mediterranean Sea.

On March 30 Northern Fleet flagship heavy nuclear-powered missile cruiser Petr Veliky sailed off Severomorsk and also headed for the Indian Ocean.

Moskva is a Project 1164 Atlant (Slava) Guided Missile Cruiser; lead ship of the project.

REGISTRATION

Sevastopol, Black Sea Fleet

CONSTRUCTION, NAME

The cruiser was laid down on November 4, 1976 at Nikolayev 61 Kommunara Shipyard and launched on July 27, 1979 with the name of Slava. Naval flag was hoisted on January 30, 1983 and the cruiser was commissioned into Navy. Since June 22, 1995 the cruiser is known as Moskva.

MILESTONES

The cruiser repeatedly deployed in the Mediterranean, paid numerous calls at ports of the region. In December 1989 she secured Soviet side at meeting between Mikhail Gorbachev, Secretary General of USSR Communist Party and the US President George Bush at Malta. In 1990 the cruiser was inactivated for modernization at Nikolayev Shipyard where stayed for 8.5 years. On May 13, 1998 she obtained flag and guard rank from Guard destroyer Krasny Kavkaz. In 2003 the cruiser took part in INDRA joint Russian-Indian naval exercise. In September 2004 she participated in IONIEX-2004 joint Russian-Italian naval exercise. At the beginning of 2008 the cruiser was deployed at the Mediterranean along with Northern Fleet's ships – Admiral Kuznetsov and its carrier group. Early 2009 she took part in memorial activities at Italian port Messina associated with 100th anniversary of ruinous earthquake at Sicily.

PERFORMANCE

Powerplant: gas turbine; 2 screws
Power: 4 x 22,500 hp
Maximum speed: 32 knots
Endurance: 30 days
Crew: 510 men

DIMENSIONS

Displacement: 9,800 tons (total displacement: 11,490 tons)
Length: 186.4 meters
Beam: 20.8 meters
Draft: 8.4 meters

ARMAMENT

16 antiship missile launchers (16 P-500 Bazalt missiles; after modernization – 16 P-1000 Vulkan missiles)
1 x 2 130-mm gun mount AK-130
6 x 6-barreled 30-mm gun mounts AK-630
8 x 8 B-204 launchers of S-300F Rif SAM system (64 missiles)
2 x 2 launchers of Osa-MA SAM system (48 missiles)
2 x 5 533-mm torpedo tubes
2 x 12 RBU-6000 antisubmarine rocket launchers
Ka-27 helicopter