Norman Polmar describes Udaloy and Sovremenny as distinct designs with different hulls, propulsion, weapons, and sensors, each entering series production at about one ship a year. No Soviet destroyers were completed between the last Kashin in 1973 and the first ships of the new classes in 1981. Their construction nevertheless began earlier: the laydown dates cited in the lecture are 1976 for Sovremenny and 1977 for Udaloy. Completion dates therefore exaggerate the apparent interruption in destroyer building. Polmar also considers modest increases at existing yards and the possible transfer of cruiser-building capacity to destroyers.
Notable Point · 1:15:40-1:17:43
A completion gap concealed new destroyer construction
The absence of completed Soviet destroyers between 1973 and 1981 conceals work already underway on Sovremenny and Udaloy.