Video: Russian Navy to Receive New Project A223 Landing Craft for Amphibious Ops
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Project A223 Amphibious Landing Craft Russia
The Russian Navy will receive the newest Project A223 landing craft. They will be intended for the rapid delivery of troops and equipment onto an unimproved shore both on open water and in shallow ice. Unlike their predecessors, the Project 21820 Dugon-class landing craft, they will be able not only to be loaded ashore, but also to pick up cargoes from amphibious assault ships, writes the newspaper Izvestia.
 
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Naval Forces News - Russia
 
 
 
Video: Russian Navy to Receive New Project A223 Landing Craft for Amphibious Ops
 
The Russian Navy will receive the newest Project A223 landing craft. They will be intended for the rapid delivery of troops and equipment onto an unimproved shore both on open water and in shallow ice. Unlike their predecessors, the Project 21820 Dugon-class landing craft, they will be able not only to be loaded ashore, but also to pick up cargoes from amphibious assault ships, writes the newspaper Izvestia.
     
Project A223 Amphibious Landing Craft RussiaImage capture from Zelenodolsk Shipyard video showing Project A223.
     
As Izvestia was told at the Russian Navy's Main Command, the Project A223 ships are considered as light assault landing craft for mixed fleet forces. The ship will be used for transporting the landing force both from shore to ship and from ship to shore. The final decision on the ships will be made after consideration of the tender documentation and the decision of the special commission. The Project A223 landing ships were designed by the Zelenodolsk Shipyard.

"The ships could be accommodated on board the French Mistral-class amphibious assault ships (LHDs) if they were part of the Navy,
" Zelenodolsk Shipyard spokesman Sergei Lazarev told Izvestia. "Their dimensions were chosen taking into account the dimensions of the French LHD. Now they are being considered in the context of promising Russian ships."
     
Zelenodolsk Shipyard video showing Project A223.
     
The length of the Project A223 landing craft is about 35 meters, the width is about 7 meters, and the draft is about one meter. The craft is powered by two water-jets, which allow the loaded craft to move at a speed of about 40 knots. Thanks to its glider layout with two transverse swept steps, two integral forward shoulders, a variable rise of bottom in the midships and the transom, a controlled bottom inceptors system and water jet propulsion, the A223 project provides a rational combination of speed, seaworthiness, optimal fuel efficiency and reduced vertical Gs on the wave.

The ships using this effect are also called "levitating." The Project A223 landing craft remain seaworthy in sea state 5, which allows them to operate practically in any conditions. Depending on the version, the ship takes on board up to 150 marines or one to three T-90 tanks, or four to seven BTR-82A APCs.

Expert Alexander Mozgovoy told Izvestia that the Project A223 craft can well compete with air-cushion vessels.

"These craft were developed on the basis of passenger vessels,"
the expert explained. "Their main advantage is high speed and the pace of a landing operation depends on it. In addition, they have small dimensions, so they are designed for use from large landing ships like the French Mistral LHD or the domestic Lavina amphibious assault ship being developed in our country. This is a long-term work. "
     
Project 11711 landing ships Ivan GrenRecent picture (July 2017) showing showing Project 11711 landing ships Ivan Gren anchored in the port of Lomonosov.
     
At present, two new-generation Project 11711 landing ships Ivan Gren and Petr Morgunov are being built in Russia. They use the traditional configuration, when troops are landed through a bow door. Parallel to this, the Nevskoye Design Bureau, the developer of all the largest and heaviest domestic ships, is designing two more amphibious assault ships. Its CEO Sergey Vlasov said that the final concept of all-new amphibious ships is being studied jointly with the Navy Command, recalls the newspaper Izvestia.

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