The Admiral Gorshkov programme demonstrates continuing Russian surface-warship construction despite disruption to Ukrainian gas-turbine supplies. The video gives three ships in service and seven under construction. Earlier ships took about eleven years from laying down to commissioning, while a hull laid down in 2019 and launched in 2025 was expected to enter service in 2028, a nine-year cycle. Schedules remain variable: another hull laid down in 2013 and launched in 2024 was not expected in service until 2027. These frigates provide anti-submarine capability and credible local and regional warfighting forces. Their diplomatic impact is more limited because a routine frigate visit attracts less attention than the arrival of a large capital ship. The comparison with America turns on familiarity: an Arleigh Burke deployment is commonplace, while a carrier group commands notice. Conventional deterrence and conflict management therefore require attention to the visible signal a deployment sends as well as its combat capability.
Chapter · 20:44-24:49
Gorshkov frigates and the limits of routine naval presence
The Gorshkov programme is delivering credible regional warships despite turbine disruption, but a useful frigate cannot create the same diplomatic signal as a rare capital ship.