Black Sea Fleet (BSF) - Order of Battle
At one time, the Black Sea Fleet bore the nickname "museum of sea ships." For example, the patrol ship "Sharp-witted" celebrated 50 years of service. A couple of landing craft are even older. And the rescue ship carrying underwater vehicles "Commune" was built back in the days of the Russian Empire. However, five years after annexation, such a nickname for Sevastopol was no longer relevant.
In 1991, the Black Sea Fleet employed about 100,000 personnel as well as 60,000 service members and consisted of 835 vessels from practically all existing classes, including 28 submarines, two anti-submarine cruisers, six 1st class missile cruisers and large anti-submarine ships, 20 large, 2nd class anti-submarine ships, 2nd class destroyers and patrol ships, about 40 multipurpose patrol ships, 30 small missile ships and launches, about 70 mine-trawlers, 50 troop-carrying ships and launches, and more than 400 naval aircraft. The fleet had two divisions of ships (anti-submarine and troop-carrying), one submarine division, and two aviation divisions (assault and naval missile-carrying aircraft), one division of costal defense ships and dozens of separate brigades, regiments, battalions, divisions, platoons and batteries.
Up to a hundred warships and support vessels entered the world's oceans through the Black Sea straits every year. The fleet had an extensive network of bases from Ismail to Batumi (Ismail, Odessa, Nikolayev, Ochakov, Kiev, Chernomorskoye, Donuzlav, Sevastopol, Feodosia, Kerch, Novorossiisk, Poti, etc.). Its units were deployed in Ukraine, Moldova, Russia, Georgia and the autonomous republics in the North Caucasus. Experts from the International Institute of Strategic Studies estimated that at the beginning of 1992 the value of everything owned by the Black Sea Fleet, including warships, exceeded $80 billion.
By 2010 the Black Sea Fleet had 50 warships and a dozen support vessels. The number of shore-based aircraft and cost guard vessels has also decreased many times over. The Black Sea Fleet previously dominated the Black Sea and competed with NATO allied forces for supremacy in the Mediterranean; now there are fewer vessels in the Black Sea Fleet than in the Turkish Navy. Nevertheless, the Black Sea Fleet was more powerful that the navies of all other Black Sea countries put together, and the fighting power of its main warships would allow it to succeed in a confrontation with a more powerful enemy.
By 2010 the situation was particularly acute for the Black Sea Fleet. It mainly comprised frigates and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) ships dating back to the 1970s. The service life of the fleet's flagship, the Moskva guided-missile cruiser, can certainly be extended thanks to its considerable modernization potential. Although built in the early 1980s, there was every chance the vessel will be redeployed away from Sevastopol, to the Pacific theater. The Black Sea Fleet was expected to become one of Russia's most active fleets, projecting its naval power out into the Mediterranean Sea and across the Indian Ocean. Given these circumstances, the immediate renovation of the Black Sea Fleet was no longer merely desirable, it was essential.
The Black Sea Fleet had become Russia's most obsolete because the majority of its capital warships were launched in the 1970s. Although the Moskva cruiser, the Kerch anti-submarine warfare ship, as well as the Ladny (Well-Built), Pytlivy (Inquisitive) and Smetlivy (Keen) escort ships, have a long and glorious service record, they should now be replaced. The Moskva was the only ship on this list that can continue to serve beyond 2020 after a major overhaul. The Black Sea Fleet's main elements, except the Moskva cruiser, were well suited for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) missions, but had a rather modest strike potential and relatively weak air defense systems.
Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky, Commander of the Russian Navy, said in October 2010 that the Black Sea Fleet was to receive five new frigates by 2015. This will make it possible to replace all operational frigates that have outlived their service life, in addition to the Kerch ASW ship. Russia's Black Sea Fleet will be reinforced with 15 new combat ships and diesel-electric submarines by 2020, the commander of the Russian Navy said . "We are planning to build 15 frigates and diesel-electric submarines for the Black Sea Fleet by 2020," Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky said 23 June 2010.
More than 30 warships and support vessels formerly in the Ukrainian navy could enter into Russia's Black Sea Fleet by the end of the year, but only after they pass inspections, a source in the fleet's headquarters said 27 March 2014. 'Ships that were sailing previously under the Ukrainian flag will not be automatically included in the [Russian] Black Sea Fleet until they have undergone a technical evaluation and we can decide which ships will enter the fleet, and which ones will be scrapped,' the source said. He added the ships' condition would be evaluated by specialists from the Russian navy and shipyards of the Black Sea Fleet. 'This process could take some time, but we hope that it will be completed by the end of the year,' the source said, adding the ships currently closest to being combat-ready include three corvettes, two amphibious assault ships and a command ship. The source expressed doubts about the readiness of several vessels anchored in Sevastopol's Streletskaya Bay, including mine sweepers and missile boats. 'These ships didn't go to sea much so we have a few questions [about their readiness],' he said.
Russia’s Black Sea Fleet will be strengthened with some 30 warships, submarines and auxiliary vessels in the next six years, the head commander of the Russian navy said 13 May 2014. According to the Defense Ministry, among the new vessels being built for the fleet are six Admiral Grigorovich-class frigates and six Varshavyanka-class (Improved Kilo-class) diesel-electric submarines.
Newly-built ships of the Black Sea Fleet may be based either in Crimea or Novorossiisk, the chairman of the State Duma’s defense committee, Vladimir Komoyedov, said on 15 April 2015. "A good port was being built in Novorossiisk. All facilities that existed in Crimea back in the Soviet era should be used, too, so as to avoid the costs of building new ones," Admiral Komoyedov told the media in Sevastopol.
"What I have in mind is the research base in Feodosia, Sevastopol proper and the Crimean naval base. They are located well enough to disperse the fleet’s forces for the time being, and to bring them together into one force at a certain area again, if need be," Komoyedov said.
By 2022 the ship strength of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, whose main base was in Sevastopol, was relatively small. This operational and strategic unit has neither submarine flotillas nor mixed flotillas, nor operational squadrons, nor any other squadrons. The fleet currently employed the following units, formations and ships:
- The 30th Surface Ship Division: the missile cruiser Moskva (the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet), patrol ships Ladny and Pytlivy, plus frigates Admiral Grigorovich, Admiral Makarov, and Admiral Essen;
- An assault ship brigade: the large landing ships Nikolay Filchenkov, Orsk, Saratov, Azov, Novocherkassk, Caesar Kunikov and Yamal;
- Submarines: Novorossiysk, Stary Oskol, Krasnodar, Velikiy Novgorod, Kolpino, and one Project 877 boat, Alrosa;
- A harbor defense ship brigade including the small anti-submarine ships Alexandrovets, Muromets and Suzdalets; base minesweepers Ivan Antonov, Vladimir Emelyanov and Georgy Kurbatov and sea minesweepers Ivan Golubets, Turbinist and Kovrovets;
- The Bora and Samum hovercraft; the small missile boats Vyshny Volochek, Orekhovo-Zuyevo, Ingushetia, Grayvoron, Tsiklon; R-60, Shuya, R-109, Naberezhnye Chelny and Ivanovets;
- The 184th Harbor Defense Ship Brigade: the three small anti-submarine ships Povorino, Yeisk, and Kasimov; and patrol ships Vasily Bykov, Dmitry Rogachev, Pavel Derzhavin, and Sergey Kotov;
- The 170th minesweeper division: the minesweepers and assault boats Zheleznyakov, Valentin Pikul, and Vice-Admiral Zakharyin.
At first glance, this looks like a very impressive list. However, it should be noted that the Black Sea Fleet employs relatively few new project ships. Among these are ‘Admiral-series’ frigates (Project 11356), Project 636.3 diesel submarines, Vyshny Volochek-class small missile ships (Project 21631), Ivan Antonov-class sea sweepers (Project 12700), and Vasily Bykov-class patrol vessels (Project 22160).
The remaining ships of the Black Sea Fleet are of a very considerable age, typically several decades. For example, the Ladny missile frigate has been part of the fleet since 1981, which means it served under Leonid Brezhnev. The Black Sea Fleet does not currently have any modern guided missile cruisers or guided missile destroyers. And, unfortunately, it was not even clear when they might appear in the fleet.
As for possible comparisons with fleets of other countries in the region, it was more appropriate to compare the Black Sea Fleet with the Turkish Navy forces. After all, these two nations are the major regional maritime stakeholders. According to open sources, Turkey’s navy consists of 16 frigates, 10 corvettes, 16 patrol ships, 13 submarines, 11 minesweepers, 33 assault ships and boats, 18 missile boats, 16 maritime patrol aircraft, and 38 helicopters, with over 48,000 personnel. The Russian Black Sea Fleet, meanwhile, has 48 surface ships, 7 diesel-electric submarines, 20 aircraft, and 10 helicopters, staffed by around 14,000 people.
It might look like Turkey has an absolute numbers advantage, but this was not entirely true. The Russian Black Sea submarines are much newer than the Turkish ones, with six commissioned after 2013, while four of Turkey’s subs were put into service between 2006 and 2008. The Russian Project 636.3 subs are equipped with shipborne Kalibr-PL cruise missiles with a range of 2,600 kilometers, giving them an upper hand over Turkish models. This easily puts the Russian subs into the strategic weapons category. Turkey has more big surface ships than Russia, but most of them are quite old, being commissioned in the last century.
The Black Sea Fleet operates in the Mediterranean, Red Sea, and parts of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, as well as in Black and Azov Seas. Some Russians believe it was too small and underequipped to deal with the tasks at hand.
An ideal fleet composition might include in the south-west strategic direction and the region as a whole another division of surface ships. For example, five or six guided missile cruisers and at least a hundred vertical launching systems, a destroyer brigade (six or seven guided missile destroyers and at least a hundred vertical launching systems), a seaborne landing division (five or six all-purpose landing craft like Project 23900, recently laid down in Kerch), and a submarine division (12–14 diesel-electric submarines).
In this case, Sebastopol can host all these forces. The seaborne landing division would be better based at Donuzlav Lake (after heavily overhauling the base). With this in mind, it was advisable to form at least one more marine infantry brigade.
The Black Sea Fleet could also benefit from establishing a maritime transportation command overseeing sea and ocean transportation for both the fleet and the entire Ministry of Defense. The Syrian campaign has convincingly demonstrated the need for that. The command should charter trade vessels (ro-ro and container vessels, bulk and lighter carriers, tankers, etc.). Using big landing craft to move equipment, as was done amid the Russian campaign in Syria, was not practical for many reasons. And solving a hypothetical crisis can require a lot of cargo capacity.
In other words, according to Mikhail Khodarenok, a military commentator for RT.com, who was a retired colonel who served as an officer at the main operational directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, the Black Sea Fleet needs at least twice as many surface ships and submarines as it currently possesses. Some might say this was overkill, but Khodarenok claims this was the bare minimum needed, in both equipment and personnel. Only after implementing these proposals could the Fleet be deemed sufficient to address the challenges it faces today.
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