Lessons from Russia's Bad Choice?
By David Prior, 14 March 2026
Does an article by H.I. Sutton, “Russia’s overspend on old battlecruiser,” published by the Australian Naval Institute in February, have relevance for Canada? Sutton talks about Russia’s project to modernize Admiral Nakhimov, a Kirov-class battle cruiser that was built in the Soviet Union, and put on ice in the 1990s. Starting in 2015 the ship was modernized over a decade, at great expense. Hutton argues that it is now a ship that is good to create the perception of strength in peace, but not terribly useful in war time. (see https://navalinstitute.com.au/russias-overspend-on-old-battlecruiser/). (See also a YouTube video produced by The Military Show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pgd4bsHSko) Naval warfare has changed -- Ukraine has managed to inflict serious damage on the Russian Black Sea Fleet, even without a navy. Nakhimov is not a match for cheap but effective drones.
What is the relevance here? Will the Polar Class 2 amphibious icebreaker being considered by the Royal Canadian Navy be the Canadian version of Admiral Nakhimov? It would certainly be a beautiful target, ready and waiting to be overwhelmed by a swarm of 500 drones – aerial, surface or sub-surface (UAV, USV, UUV) -- loitering and otherwise, removing bridge windows and interiors, exterior electronics, weapons, etc. Ukraine now has quadcopter drones fibre-optic-controlled with a range of 80 km. That number will likely double soon. The limiting factor is the amount of fibre-optic cable a drone can carry. On a ship, in addition to defending against them, the question could be how many drones the ship could accommodate and how to launch them in swarms.
I argue that...
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Latest CNR: Vol. 21 No. 3 (2026)
Happy New Year! Now that January is here, we all need something to look forward to – other than bills for all those things you bought for Christmas! Fret no longer, you can look forward to the upcoming CNR issue.
As usual, the new issue of CNR contains a variety of interesting articles. Our first article was the winning essay of the 2025 CNMT Essay Competition. It’s called “Pirates and Partnerships: An Examination of Maritime Non-State Actors,” by Edward Khitab. Khitab uses the example of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to examine the nature and increasing number of maritime non-state actors -- and concludes that the RCN needs to start paying attention to them.
The second article, “The Strategic Utility of Aircraft Carriers in China’s Ambitions in East Asia,” discusses the rapid growth of China’s aircraft carrier capability and how and where Beijing would likely use them in the case of war. The third article is “Why Does Canada have a Navy? Reflecting on the Canadian Leaders at Sea Program.” In this article, the author addresses a simple question that was asked while he was participating in the CLaS program, and considers what a navy represents and why Canada has one. The final essay, “SS Nerissa: A Tragic Footnote to History,” tells the little-known story of the last voyage of SS Nerissa that was sunk by a U-boat while transporting troops and civilians across the Atlantic in the Second World War.
If that isn’t enough to spark your interest, we have our usual Making Waves commentaries. We have a commentary about hydrography in the Arctic. Sound boring? It’s not. If Canada is getting submarines that are expected to operate in the Arctic, Ottawa needs to act now to map the seafloor there. We have a commentary about the many historic discussions about moving the Coast Guard into the defence department. We have a commentary about the unthinkable – i.e., having naval ships that can act as ‘tripwires’ in the event that the United States decides to blockade Canada. We have an account of a conference in Australia, Canadian interest in East Asia, and preparing for Russia in the Arctic.
And, of course, we have our regular columns. “A View from the West” looks at North Korea’s increasing focus on its navy. “Dollars and Sense” examines the defence-related parts of Budget 2025, and “Warship Developments” updates us on several interesting recent naval decisions.
In addition to all this great information, we have our usual amazing photos!
Stay tuned. In a few weeks, the issue will be in the mailbox of people who are lucky enough to be subscribers! It’s not too late for you to subscribe. See here for the Table of Contents.
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