New amphibious ships would require a new Russian Navy.
As Russia flexes its muscles in overseas conflicts like Syria, the Russian Navy is changing its amphibious doctrine to emphasize long-range operations.
Russia is moving away from World War II-style storm-the-beach assaults to modern amphibious landings where the big transports remain beyond the horizon as they dispatch troops by landing craft and helicopter.
“The large amphibious warfare ships currently in service with the Russian Federation Navy, whose architecture hearkens back to the tank carriers of World War II, primarily envisage amphibious landings directly onto the shore using ramps,” according to an article written by Russian analyst Ilya Kramnik in Izvestia. “In rare cases, amphibious landings used floating armor in direct proximity to the shoreline,” while support ships provided close-range firepower to subdue coastal defenses.
But a Normandy-style landing today would leave amphibious craft as sitting ducks for long-range enemy weapons. One reason America is beginning to embrace over-the-horizon operations is the proliferation of anti-access/area denial weapons, such as missiles, mines, and drones, designed to keep the U.S. ships from approaching hostile shores.
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