Three Full S-400 Battalions Onboard: What Makes Russia’s New Cruiser an Air Defence ‘Monster’

The world’s largest and most heavily armed surface combat ship the Kirov Class cruiser Admiral Nakhimov has been confirmed to have begun sea trials in the White Sea after 28 years out of water, following confirmation in the final week of July that the warship had been re-floated. Russian media outlets have particularly emphasised the 28,000 ton warship’s firepower, with its arsenal of 80 cruise missiles reported to include both land attack missiles such as the 3M14T Kalibr, which can be used to launch precision strikes on ground targets up to 2500 kilometres away, as well as the anti-ship missiles including the new Zircon which can achieve Mach 9 speeds. Often overlooked, however is the cruiser’s tremendous combat potential as an air defence platform, with the majority of its vast arsenal of vertical launch cells, 96 of the total 176, being allocated to accommodating a navalised variant of the S-400 long range air defence system.

The Admiral Nakhimov is the first warship to use a navalised S-400 variant, with this system having been installed during refurbishment to replace the older Soviet era S-300F system that was previously integrated. The S-300F had a much more limited 90 kilometre engagement range using 5V55R surface-to-air missiles, and while significant efforts were made to modernise the system, including developing the enhanced S-300FM variant with more than double the range, investment in naval air defences declined significantly after the USSR’s disintegration. The navalised S-400 is expected to provide an engagement range of up to 400 kilometres using 40N6 surface-to-air missiles, and to integrate complementary classes of shorter ranged missiles for a multi-layered defensive capability. The high mobility provided by the Kirov Class’ twin nuclear reactors allows this air defence arsenal to be rapidly redeployed across much of the Arctic where the cruiser is set to be stationed, and represents a game changer for air defence capabilities in the region.

Although other Russian warships are expected to integrate navalised variants of the S-400 system in future, the Admiral Nakhimov appears likely to remain wholly in a league of its own in terms of the scale of its air defence arsenal. To place its integration of 96 launchers in perspective, a battalion of ground based S-400 systems accommodates eight launch vehicles each of which carry four missiles, for a total of 32 missiles, meaning that a single Kirov Class cruiser carries the equivalent of three battalions’ worth of S-400 systems. This arsenal exceeds the total arsenals of long range surface-to-air missiles fielded by the vast majority of countries, and would if exported as ground-based systems cost approximately $1.6 billion. The integration of a navalised S-400 system is estimated to be a primary factor that had contributed to the very high costs of the Admiral Nakhimov’s refurbishment, although it is expected to provide a much more efficient means of defending Arctic airspace than relying on ground-based systems due to the warship’s high mobility.

Missiles such as the 40N6 have proven capable of engaging small and very low flying aircraft near their limits of their ranges, and of shooting down hypersonic targets travelling at speeds of up to Mach 8, with the missile itself flying at speeds exceeding Mach 14. The 40N6 and other missiles from the S-400 system have been intensively combat tested in the Russian-Ukrainian War, and have proven sufficiently versatile to perform roles ranging from ballistic missile defence, to defending friendly fighters by shooting down adversary surface-to-air missiles. With Russian officials having emphasised the Kirov Class’ significant potential for further modernisation, a number of Russian sources have speculated that the warships could in future see their air defence capabilities further enhanced with the integration of longer ranged missiles developed for the S-500 and S-550 systems intended for anti-satellite warfare and defence against intercontinental range ballistic missiles.