First Improved Russian Corvette Project 20385 ‘Gremyaschiy’ Launched

Russia`s Northern Shipyard (a subsidiary of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, USC) has launched the Project 20385 ‘Gremyaschiy’ corvette, TASS reports.

a

Naval Forces News - Russia

First Improved Russian Corvette Project 20385 ‘Gremyaschiy’ Launched

Russia`s Northern Shipyard (a subsidiary of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, USC) has launched the Project 20385 ‘Gremyaschiy’ corvette, TASS reports.

"Gremyaschy", the first Project 20385 corvette being built for the Russian Navy was launched at the Severnaya Verf Shipyard (Northern Shipyard) in St. Petersburg on June 30, 2017. Picture by Curious / forums.airbase.ru via bmpd

According to the Director General of the Northern Shipyard Igor Ponomaryov, a Project 20385 corvette developed by the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau (a subsidiary of the USC) has a pivotal advantage over the ships of the class. "Its [the corvette`s] maneuvering performance has been enhanced. The ship is armed with a state-of-the-art armament suite and features a radar waves absorbing coating that reduces the corvette`s signature," Ponomaryov said adding that ‘Gremyaschiy’ will receive a new multipurpose radar system that will improve the ship`s navigability and allow receiving of exact target acquisition data. According to the Director General of the Almaz bureau Alexander Shlyakhtenko, the ship`s radar system integrates active and passive phased antenna arrays. "It is an innovation, a global tendency. The introduction of the improvement has started from this ship," he pointed out. The corvette`s superstructures are made of composite materials that reduce its radar signature. The head of the Russian Navy`s shipbuilding department, Rear Admiral Vladimir Tryapichnikov said that the Project 20385 series will be comprised of four corvettes. "The series will be made of four ships; then, we will switch to the building of Project 20386 corvettes," he said adding that ‘Gremyaschiy’ will be issued to the Pacific Fleet.

Video on the sensor suite and combat system aboard Project 20385

According to the press department of the Northern Shipyard, the ship`s harbor acceptance test is scheduled for August. The corvette is planned to be handed over to Russia`s Ministry of Defense (MoD) by end-2018. The Project 20385 corvettes are intended for detection and destruction of enemy`s underwater and surface combatants, landing operation support and accomplishing of various missions in green waters. According to the Northern Shipyard, the ship has a displacement of 2,500 t, a length of 106 m, a width of 13 m, a speed of up to 27 knots, a cruising range of 3,500 nautical miles, an endurance of 15 days and a crew of 99 naval servicemen. The corvette is powered by two 1DDA-1200 diesel-diesel engines. Its armament suite incorporates a 100 mm A-190-01 naval gun, two 30 mm AK-630M close-in weapon systems (CIWS), a Kalibr missile system, a Redut naval surface-to-air (SAM) missile system, a Paket anti-submarine system and a Ka-27 anti-submarine warfare (ASW) shipborne helicopter. © Copyright 2017 TASS. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.