A dangerous dearth of guided missile destroyers because it doesn't have the money to build them has forced the Russian Navy to increase the surface-to-air missile (SAM) armament on the obsolete aircraft carrier RFS Admiral Kuznetsov (063).

Russia plans to spend some $708 million to modernize its only aircraft carrier, or more specifically a heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser whose main role isn't to launch offensive operations with its onboard aircraft but to defend nuclear ballistic missile and attack submarines; other warships and naval strike aircraft of the Russian fleet.

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In this aspect, Kuznetsov isn't a true aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy sense. But the Kuznetsov is more heavily armed than any U.S. Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier.

In its attack mode, Kuznetsov is armed with P-700 Granit anti-ship cruise missiles and 3K95 Kinzhal (Gauntlet) SAMs.

Upgrading the Kuznetsov will mean replacing its obsolete Granit missile systems with 3S14 universal launch systems that can deploy a variety of missiles. The 3S14 can be outfitted with Kalibr-NK anti-ship and land attack cruise missiles; Onyx supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles and Zircon advanced hypersonic missiles.

Russian state-controlled media also said the Kuznetsov's take-off and landing systems will be modernized to enable fighters "to take off and land in full safety".

Kuznetsov carries a mix of Mikoyan MiG-29K/KUB air superiority fighters and Sukhoi Su-33 multi-role fighters.

The proposed Lider-class guided missile destroyer is supposed to have provided anti-aircraft defense for Kuznetsov but this destroyer has been cancelled for lack of money to build it.

Financial and economic sanctions imposed by the European Union and the U.S. to punish Russia for illegally annexing Crimea in March 2014, caused Russia's GDP to plummet by 50 percent from 2014 to 2016, according to western experts.

NATO said the sanctions "are generally assessed to have helped exacerbate the macroeconomic challenges it (Russia) was already facing, notably the rapid and pronounced fall in oil prices that started in the last months of 2014."

Russian military experts said the cash crisis will hit the navy particularly hard, which means the navy will get fewer new warships and submarines. As a result, the navy has to prioritize its procurement targets so no new warships will introduced in foreseeable future, said Dmitry Litovkin, a military analyst.

"Most likely, Russia will have to abandon the Project 23560 Lider-class destroyer program and postpone until the 2030s construction of the Shtorm (Project 23000E) aircraft carrier, which is expected to carry around 90 fighters, including the naval version of the fifth-generation fighter," said Litovkin.

TagsRussian Navy, RFS Admiral Kuznetsov (063), U.S. Navy, P-700 Granit anti-ship cruise missiles, 3K95 Kinzhal (Gauntlet) surface-to-air missiles, Mikoyan MiG-29K/KUB, Sukhoi Su-33, NATO, Project 23560 Lider-class destroyer