Go on, what is it?
The missile cruiser Admiral Nakhimov, which has just finished its refit.
Russian?
Not really, no. It took them 26 years to complete.
No, I meant “with all that crap piled on top it looks Russian”.
Oh, right. See what you mean. Yes, it is. There’s a certain house style, isn’t there?
There’s certainly a hell of a lot of radars…
I assume that with the recent activity of Ukraine there’s rather fewer vessels to put them on. Waste not, want not, eh?
So why did it take so long?
The usual. Corruption, a certain chronic indecision about what to actually do with it, concerns that the buckets of spicy rocks had a hole in them…
Sorry? That thing’s nuclear powered?
Mostly nuclear powered. Terrified by the idea of putting four dodgy nuclear reactors into a single hull, the designers settled on just two – along with a couple of oil burners to produce extra steam during high speed operation and to produce that all-important, homely Soviet naval cloud of intercontinental clag.
Russian designers, eh. What are they smoking?
Extremely dubious heavy fuel oil, mostly.
And with a leisurely 26-year refit I assume it’s been thoroughly modernised?
Sure. Just don’t ask to which decade.
The details:
Launched: 1986
Commissioned: 1988
Refitted: Eventually
Current status: Undergoing sea trials
Glad to see a new entry!
So how often do you think the spare oil burners will get turned on? And how big an explosion when spicy rocks meet leaking bunker oil?