Russian naval shipbuilding set to gather pace at last

Subject

Russian naval shipbuilding.

Significance

An accident on a secret deep-water submarine on June 1 embarrassed Russia's defence establishment. Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu rushed to assure President Vladimir Putin that the damage was repairable and the vessel's nuclear power plant was unharmed. Despite the negative optics, the accident was something of a one-off with no direct bearing on naval shipbuilding, which is forging ahead after years of delays.

Impacts

• Defence spending is planned to stay around 24 billion dollars annually over the next three years.
• Rising food and liquified natural gas exports and trade shifts towards Asia and the Middle East mean Russia's maritime interests will rise.
• The modest size of most warships mean Russia is a long way from true global 'blue water' naval capacity.