The Russian Navy’s 28,000-ton nuclear-powered cruiser Admiral Nakhimov has returned to sea after nearly 25 years of repairs and modernization.
A source in the shipbuilding industry told the Russian state-owned news agency TASS that the battlecruiser has commenced sea trials. According to the source, the first phase will take place in the White Sea, with testing set to continue over several months in the Barents Sea.
Commissioned in 1988 as Kalinin, the Admiral Nakhimov was laid up for overhaul in 1999 at the Sevmash shipyard, with substantial work beginning only in 2013. Completion was initially planned for 2018 but was repeatedly delayed.
The modernization has significantly enhanced the cruiser’s strike capabilities, adding new radar systems and an AK-192M 130mm gun.
🇷🇺#Russian #Navy Video of the Admiral Nakhimov, a Kirov Class nuclear-powered battlecruiser’s first sea trials after repairs and upgrades. It provides a closer look at the new radar systems and the new AK-192M 130mm naval gun.
Video by Lyudmila Alekseeva. pic.twitter.com/uftFfSVgsZ— Capt(N) (@Capt_Navy) August 18, 2025
According to open sources, it will carry 10 universal shipborne launch systems, each capable of firing 8 Kalibr-NK and/or Oniks cruise missiles. Russian sources also indicate that additional systems, such as Pantsir-M defenses, Fort-M long-range missiles, Paket-NK torpedoes, and Otvet anti-submarine weapons, may be installed, though this remains unconfirmed.
Once trials are finished, the Admiral Nakhimov is expected to become the Northern Fleet’s flagship, replacing its sister ship Pyotr Velikiy.
Russia is also expanding its smaller surface fleet. On August 14, the frigate Admiral Amelko, the first of its class equipped with 24 missile launch cells, was launched in St. Petersburg.
