• Despite Putin's swagger, Russia struggles to modernize its navy
    30 replies, posted
Privyet Vlad. Russia's conventional equipment has almost always been inferior to its western counterparts in a one-on-one comparison, they've long relied on unconventional usage and weight of numbers to win the day. At the height of the cold war the Soviet Navy was impressively large, but since the collapse maintenance has basically fallen off a cliff. The submarine base in Murmansk almost experienced a nuclear submarine meltdown when the externally powered cooling systems were shut down by the power company for unpaid bills, and the majority of the old Soviet nuclear submarine fleet has quite literally been rusting away awaiting proper decommissioning and disposal since the late 80s. After the collapse Russia has essentially had to rebuild its navy from scratch either because the ships were in serviceable condition or because they had to be sold to keep the lights on, but they largely lack the shipbuilding capabilities to rival any of the major naval powers.
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