MOSCOW, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- A Russian destroyer will re-join the country's Northern Fleet by the end of the year after an 18-year overhaul, military officials say.
The Vice-Admiral Kulakov, an Udaloy-class destroyer commissioned in 1982, served with the fleet until March 1991 when it was retired for repairs, a process running into serious funding problems almost leading to the ship being scrapped, RIA-Novosti reported Thursday.
The Udaloy-class destroyer was originally designed for anti-submarine warfare, filling the same role as the American Spruance class. The Udaloy II class was developed in 1992 with improved missile and destruction capability.
A Russian fleet spokesman said after the Vice-Admiral Kulakov finishes its current tests in the Baltic Sea it will head to its home port of Severomorsk in the Kola Peninsula.
The ship has a displacement of 6,200 tons, a length of 535 feet, a speed of 35 knots, a range of 12,000 miles and a crew of 300, RIA Novosti reported.
