So, this is what I was able to pull up in my info;
Administratively, the Soviet Navy of the 1980's broke up their combat arms into;
-Underwater
-Surface
-Naval Aviation
-Coastal Forces (including coastal missiles)
-Marines
The Soviet Navy did have ships included as part of the auxiliary fleet and special units, but these were assigned to commands as needed, usually by fleet region (Baltic, Northern, Pacific, ect)
Operationally, the Navy was divided into regionally commands;
- Soviet Baltic Fleet
- Soviet Northern Fleet
- Soviet Pacific Fleet
- Soviet Black Sea Fleet
- Soviet Caspian Flotilla
Marski, I think this might help your group classification;
Ships and subs were classed by function;
attack submarines (primary torpedo armed, Anti-submarine)
missile submarines (primary missile armed, anti-ship role)
ballistic submarines (nuclear armed missiles)
guided missile ships (these were any offensive vessel armed primarily with long rang anti-ship missiles)
surface ships (primarily fleet defense, but also general purpose ships, but anti-aircraft missile armed ships fell into this as well)
naval aviation ships
Anti-submarine ships
guard ships (escort and coastal defense and patrol ships)
In actual operational use, the Soviet Navy would assign ship types based on their role to an operations area. So, if the Pacific fleet need ASW ships, Soviet Naval command would assign ships accordingly, based on their current operational classification. The regional fleet command would then assign the ships duties as they saw fit. The only exception to this were the ballistic missile submarines, which were under the control of the central naval command, due to their role as strategic nuclear weapons platforms.
So, the confusing thing about the Soviet Navy is that ship classification was completely dependent on role/armament. As ships were modified/rebuilt over the years, their designation changed.
For example, the Type 61 Kashins were originally commissioned as guard ships. They were later modified and reclassed as ASW ships, and then modified again and reclassed as guided missile ships. The same thing happened with the Type 57 Kanin, originally commissioned as guided missile ships, they were later modified and reclassed as a surface ship when they moved to a general purpose role. Other navies classed both these ships as destroyers.
Another example would be the Project 1135 Burevestnik (Nato: Krivak) ships. They were originally designed as guard ships, changed and commissioned to be ASW ships, rebuilt as guided missile ships. 8 of them were also built and assigned to the KGB Maritime border guards and classed as guard ships. Other navies classed these ships as frigates.
So, its a bit messy and confusing. If you really want to sprain your brain, here is fairly good summary of the Soviet ship classification;
https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/ship-designations.htmMarski, if your looking for a fast rule, the Soviet tradition would class ships based on armament/intended role and what the rough size of the ship was. In Aurora, it would look something like this with the existing ship classes.
So, if the ship was using anti-ship missiles, and its roughly destroyer sized = Guided missile destroyer (DDG)
A generic railgun armed frigate would be a kinetic frigate (FK) while a frigate used for scouting would be a scout frigate (SF), and a missile frigate (FFG)
If you wanted something more accurate, it would require some custom ship classes to be added.
Hope that helps!
