MOSCOW. July 27 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia will soon have to purchase battleships from foreign producers because the domestic shipbuilding sector fails to meet the country's defense interests, Alexander Khramchikhin, director of the analytical department of Russia's Institute for Political and Military Analysis, told Interfax-AVN.
"The domestic shipbuilding industry is in a state of irreversible degradation. Today, it already fails to meet the country's defense interests. Should the present-day socioeconomic tendencies continue, the Russian Navy will have only one chance of survival: to purchase ships in the West," Khamchikhin said.
A considerable number of battleships currently used by the Russian Navy will be decommissioned within the next 10-15 years, and the country's shipbuilding sector will not be able to produce the required number of ships due to the slow pace of such projects, the military expert said.
The Russian Navy currently has 29 nuclear submarines, 19 diesel electric submarines, one heavy aircraft carrier, six cruisers, eight destroyers, 11 large and 29 small anti-submarine ships, seven patrol ships, 15 small missile carrying ships, 28 missile carrying motorboats, 36 minesweepers, and 21 assault ships, he said.
The construction of new ships is proceeding at a slow pace because of technological and personnel problems facing the country's shipbuilding industry today, Khramchikhin said. The financial factor does not play a decisive role, he added.
Addressing the prospects of Russia's Navy, the expert said that "we will most likely be among the first 20 or even 30 combat fleets of the world within 10-15 years."