The Russian Navy has decided to use a nuclear power reactor unit for the new Leader-class guided missile destroyers it plans to build.
According to ITAR-TASS press agency, the Russian Navy decided to switch from a gas turbine power unit, to a nuclear power reactor unit for the new class of 12 destroyers it is planning to acquire.
The Russian Navy’s decision to build 12 new nuclear powered destroyers is related to Moscow’s plans to create a naval force that will be able to operate on the high seas for a long time and to sail unlimited distances.
Six of the 12 new destroyers will serve in the Northern fleet and the rest in the Pacific fleet. The conceptual technical design of the new destroyer has been prepared by the Severnoye design bureau in St. Petersburg.
In the 70’s this bureau designed the Sovremenny-class (Project 956 Sarych) and the Udaloy I/II-class (Project 1155 Fregat) destroyers of the Soviet Navy, which the new destroyers are going to replace.
In total the Soviet shipyards constructed 17 units of the Sovremenny-class destroyer and 13 units of the Udaloy I/II-class.
Today only five of the Sovremenny-class ships are still active, along with only nine of the Udaloy I/II-class still in operation within the Russian Navy.
The first of the 12 new 10,000 ton destroyers of the Leader-class are going to be delivered to the Russian Navy between 2023 and 2025. It will be equipped with S-500 Surface to Air Missiles and Kalibr (SS-N-27) Cruise Missiles.
The construction of the first vessel is planned to commence in 2017. It is quite possible that the Leader-class destroyers will serve as a base on which to gain experience for building the future Russian Navy fleet in the 2020’s.
The nuclear powered destroyers will have advanced antiballistic missile capabilities thanks to the S-500 system.
According to the Sputnik news agency, Russia and China may work together on the development of the new nuclear-powered destroyer.