The Russian Navy

The Russian Navy Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation

The Russian Navy is the armed service of the Russian Armed Forces (RF AF) responsible for the armed protection of Russia’s interests and conduct of operations in the maritime theatre of war. The Navy is capable of attacking enemy land-based facilities with nuclear weapons, destroying enemy naval forces at sea and on bases, disrupting its maritime lines of communication and protecting friendly maritime shipping operations. It can also support the Ground Forces during the operations in the continental theatre of war, insert maritime forces into the area, repel enemy’s assaults and accomplish a number of other missions.

Currently the Navy’s objectives are as follows: 

• to deter the use of military force or the threat of its use against the Russian Federation;
• to protect through military methods the sovereignty of the Russian Federation in its internal sea waters and territorial sea, its sovereign rights in the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf; to protect the freedom of the high sea;
• to provide and maintain required conditions for the security of Russia’s maritime activities in the world’s oceans and seas;
• to ensure Russia’s naval presence in the world’s oceans and seas, demonstrate the flag and military force and support visits of Navy’s ships;
• to participate in the international community’s military, peacekeeping and humanitarian operations serving the interests of the Russian Federation;

Peacetime objectives:

• to ensure combat patrols and combat duty of ballistic missile submarines prepared for attacking designated enemy facilities;
• to provide combat support (sustainability) of ballistic missile submarines on the march and in combat patrolling areas;
• to search and track enemy ballistic missile and multipurpose submarines on the march and in mission areas and be ready to destroy them at the beginning of combat operations;
• to monitor enemy aircraft carriers and other ships, track and be ready to attack them at the beginning of combat operations in the areas of combat maneuvering;
• to identify and hamper the activities of enemy reconnaissance assets in the seas and ocean areas adjacent to the Russian coastline; to monitor, track and be ready to destroy them at the beginning of combat operations;
• to ensure the deployment of naval troops during the period of threat;
• to identify the lines of communication and equipment of maritime theaters of war in strategically important areas of the World ocean;
• to study probable areas of combat operations and conditions of employment of various Navy’s branches and equipment;
• to survey the activities of foreign ships and aircraft;
• navigation protection;
• to implement foreign policy decisions of the government;
• to participate in strategic nuclear deterrence as part of strategic nuclear forces;
• to ensure non-nuclear deterrence of the threat or use of military force against Russia from seas and oceans;
• to protect Russia’s state borders under water;
• to protect Russia’s state borders in the air space and to control the airspace use;
• to protect Russia’s land and sea borders using military methods;
• to support border-security troops of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) in protecting the border, territorial sea and exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation;
• to support internal security troops and internal affairs bodies of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs in preventing internal conflicts and other activities associated with the armed violence on the territory of the Russian Federation; to ensure public security and emergency mode as provided for by the regulations of the Russian Federation;
• sea coast defense;
• to support civil defense troops and bodies of the Russian Emergency Ministry (Emergency Control Ministry) in disaster control and accident management;

During the period of threat the objectives are as follows:

• transition from peacetime to wartime and rapid deployment of troops;
• involvement in the localization of probable near-border military conflicts;
• protection of navigation and industrial activities in the territorial sea and exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation, and, if required, in the crisis areas of the World ocean.

Wartime objectives:

• to destroy enemy land-based facilities at long distances;
• to ensure sustainability of ballistic missile submarines;
• to destroy enemy antisubmarine and other forces as well as its coastal facilities;
• to maintain favorable operational environment;
• to provide maritime support of contact troops during maritime defensive and offensive operations;
• sea coast defense.