Abstract
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union ten years ago, Russian’s navy has been in decline. But the trend has been halted, if not reversed, since Vladimir Putin took over as president. Central to Putin’s new National Security Concept is the goal of restoring the navy’s ocean-going capability. Putin’s ambitions are aided by an upturn in Russia’s economy, which is making more money available for defence spending. But even if the projected funds are forthcoming, it is likely to take more than a decade to make the entire fleet seaworthy again.