Russia's new maritime doctrine big on naval rivalry, short on realism
Russia has aspirations to build new aircraft carriers but is already struggling to maintain larger surface combatants such as the cruiser Admiral Nakhimov. (Photo: Oleg Kuleshov)
Russia's July 2022 Maritime Doctrine is noticeably more ideological, closer to Soviet concepts and oriented towards rivalry with the USA and naval aspirations.
On 31 July Russia adopted a new Maritime Doctrine, replacing the previous iteration enacted in 2015. The new version has some important changes, especially in its military and security articles.
While the majority of the document is still dedicated to civilian issues such as development of the commercial fleet or climate change, the doctrine is noticeably more ideological, closer to Soviet concepts and oriented towards rivalry with the US and military aspirations.
For example, the US is mentioned only once in the 2015 doctrine, and not as a rival, but as trade partner. In the new version there is special article on threats which was absent before,
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