how the Russian Navy developed in 2024 –

In 2024, the planned renewal of the Russian Navy continued.

In particular, the Navy received two small missile ships of Project 22800 Karakurt – Amur and Tucha. The first joined the Caspian Flotilla, and the second joined the Black Sea Fleet. RTOs of this series are designed to destroy critical enemy targets in the coastal zone, destroying surface combat ships, ships and boats.

Karakurts can be equipped with both Kalibr cruise missiles and Onyx anti-ship missiles. The arsenal of these RTOs also includes AK-176MA artillery mounts, Kashtan-M and Palma anti-aircraft missile and artillery systems, 14.5 mm machine gun mounts and Pantsir-ME and Igla-S air defense systems.

The Project 21180M icebreaker Evpatiy Kolovrat entered service with the Pacific Fleet in 2024. It is designed for guiding ships in difficult ice conditions, delivering cargo to remote garrisons and hydrographic work.

In the past year, the Navy also received the Project 677 diesel-electric submarine Lada, Kronstadt. She will serve as part of the 161st brigade of the Northern Fleet.

The submarine is highly stealthy, can dive to a depth of more than 300 m and stay under water for two weeks without surfacing to recharge its batteries. The Lada is armed with torpedoes and Caliber-PL missiles (a special modification for submarines).

The fleet will soon be replenished with another submarine of this project, Velikiye Luki. As noted on the website of TC Zvezda, within the framework of the 677 Lada project, the most modern non-nuclear submarines in Russia are being produced, which are superior in their characteristics to the famous Varshavyanka.

In December, the Project 885M (Yasen-M) nuclear submarine cruiser Arkhangelsk was handed over to the sailors. Submarines of this series can launch Onyx, Caliber and hypersonic Zircon missiles. In addition, they are equipped with homing and remote-controlled torpedoes, mines, and Igla-S and Verba air defense systems.

The United Shipbuilding Corporation is also preparing for delivery to the fleet the Project 955A (Borey-A) strategic nuclear-powered submarine “Prince Pozharsky”, equipped with Bulava intercontinental ballistic missiles. These ICBMs, by the way, were officially put into service this year after many years of testing.

“The rearmament of the nuclear fleet is proceeding at a fairly high pace, which is encouraging. These submarines are the most modern in the Russian fleet. These are advanced ships that significantly strengthen our Navy,” military expert Alexander Mozgovoy noted in a commentary to RT.

New commander

An important event in the life of the fleet in 2024 was the change of commander-in-chief. In April, the Russian Navy, instead of Nikolai Evmenov, was headed by Admiral Alexander Moiseev, who had previously led the Northern Fleet.

According to analysts, the change in leadership has already had a positive impact on countering naval drones of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Black Sea.

“The fight against maritime drones is now being carried out quite successfully. Since then, our fleet has not been able to attack in any place, the system was built well,” said Alexander Mozgovoy.

Dmitry Zhavoronkov, an expert on the Russian Navy and military shipbuilding, shares a similar opinion.

“Naval aviation has begun to play a major role in the fight against drones. She is coping with this quite successfully now. Dozens, if not hundreds of Ukrainian unmanned boats have already been destroyed. It is worth noting that in general, in world military history, such drone attacks on targets in Crimea are a unique case that will be studied in military academies. No country has faced such pressure from, in fact, the entire NATO bloc,” the specialist noted in an interview with RT.

Exercise “Ocean”

In 2024, the Russian Navy conducted the largest strategic command and staff exercise (SCSHU) “Ocean-2024” since the times of the USSR. The training took place in the waters of the Pacific and Arctic oceans, the Mediterranean, Caspian and Baltic seas from September 10 to 16.

More than 90 thousand military personnel, over 400 warships, submarines and support vessels, about 7 thousand weapons and more than 120 aircraft and helicopters of naval aviation and the Aerospace Forces took part in the maneuvers.

According to Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, during the exercises the military practiced repelling large-scale aggression. In addition to the sailors, operational groups of other law enforcement agencies – the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the FSB, the Russian Guard and the Federal Security Service – were involved in the command and control command.

Four warships and a Chinese Navy supply vessel also took part in the exercises.

Russian and Chinese sailors practiced missions in the Sea of ​​Japan with live firing of missiles and artillery. The actions of the joint group were covered by more than ten aircraft and helicopters of the naval aviation of the Pacific Fleet and the Russian Aerospace Forces.

As Vladimir Putin noted, speaking via video link at the opening of the active phase of the command and control operation, Russia must be prepared to repel possible military aggression in any direction.

“The United States is provoking an arms race, regardless of the security of its European and Asian allies, creating the preconditions for a dangerous crisis situation in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region… Russia must be prepared for any development of the situation, and our armed forces must ensure reliable protection of sovereignty and national interests of Russia, to repel possible military aggression in any direction, including in the ocean and sea zones,” the head of state emphasized.

According to Dmitry Zhavoronkov, the Ocean-2024 maneuvers were the first naval exercises of this scale in the modern history of Russia.

“Of course, in terms of scope and duration, these maneuvers are not the same as they were during the Soviet era. Still, the scale of the fleet is different now. But these were complex exercises, as close as possible to combat missions. It is clear that any maneuvers have public and non-public goals. One can only guess about the non-public one, but I believe that the task was to see how the fleet works as a single whole,” the analyst said.

He also expressed hope that exercises of this scale will be held regularly in the Russian Navy.

“This is necessary because we are facing serious challenges. Under these conditions, there should be many exercises, including such as “Ocean,” the specialist said.

USC under VTB management

In 2024, work also continued to improve the structures of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), the main supplier of military equipment for the Russian Navy. Let us remind you that in the fall of 2023 the company was transferred to trust management of VTB for five years. This decision was approved by Vladimir Putin. According to the president, the proposal to resort to such a measure came from the Russian government.

Speaking about the situation in USC, the head of state noted that the company has many problems, “but it is a working structure and, in general, is gaining momentum in this work.”

“There are issues that require special attention, including from bank specialists. This is connected with calculations, with the financial recovery of the company. Everything, of course, cannot be done without the support of the government, and such support, of course, must be provided,” the president said at a meeting with VTB head Andrei Kostin.

After this decision, USC was headed by the former first deputy chairman of VTB Andrey Puchkov, who replaced Alexey Rakhmanov.

In May 2024, Kostin announced the completion of the USC audit. He also spoke about plans to modernize shipyards in St. Petersburg. In addition, the head of VTB took the initiative to build new production facilities in the European part of Russia.

In addition, in September, on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum, Kostin said that at least $5 billion could be invested in the construction of a new shipyard in Vladivostok.

According to Dmitry Zhavoronkov, there are already positive results from the change of leadership at USC.

“The fleet and shipbuilding are a long-term game, so for now it is only possible to assess the consequences of the transition under the control of VTB in the financial sector. Currently, the assessment of USC’s financial indicators and optimization of management processes are ongoing, and enormous efforts are being made in this matter. One can only wish that USC would eventually be able to deliver more ships, work faster and that employees would receive a competitive salary,” the specialist concluded.