...but it all seems academic for the moment when the priority for the next 7/8-years has to be pumping out shiny Gorshkov frigates and getting a goodly proportion of the current rust-buckets out of the water.
Amen to that.
The Russians face some monumental tasks.
Most of their navy is left over from the Soviet era and is rusting away in place.
At the same time, they are strapped financially.
...and then added to that is the fact that the expertise for the larger ships has also aged away into retirement.
Lately, any larger projects have been scheduling and financial disasters for the Russians.
I do not see that getting better any time soon.
They are turning our fairly decent frigates and corvettes. But those will only go so far.
They have to have a successful project for DDGs and for SSNs.
The Yasen is a good boat...but they have only launched and commissioned one, commissioned in 2010. The last one before that was an Akula class (also a very decent boat) the last of which was the Chakra launched in 2006 for the Indians. Beofre that, you have to go back to 1999.
So, since 2006 to now, when the Russians have launched two SSNs, one for the Indians, the US Navy has launched twelve new Virginia class boats
The last DDG commissioned was the last Udaloy II, the Admiral Chabanenko which was commissioned in 1999. That's over 17 years ago! In that same time frame, the US has commissioned 36 new DDGs.
The Russians simply have to find a way to start producing DDGs and SSNs again.
Not to mention LPDs, LHDs, Carriers, etc...which the Russians have not produced any of.