What You Need to Know: The Russian Navy’s decision not to modernize the Pyotr Veliky, one of two remaining Kirov-class nuclear-powered battlecruisers, underscores the vessel's diminishing value.

The Kirov class is equipped with an array of weapons systems, including a 130 mm AK-130 twin-barrel gun used for surface and air targets. SS-N-19 Shipwreck long-range anti-ship missiles are deployed.

Still, the Russian Navy does exist, and one of its most interesting vessels, the Kirov-class battlecruiser, may be heading to the scrapyard because it's getting too expensive to maintain them.

4 Points You Need to Know: The Soviet Union’s Kirov-class guided-missile cruisers, launched in the late 1970s, were among the largest non-aircraft carrier warships built since World War II.