TSAMTO, June 21. Ukraine will buy two Sandown-class minesweepers from the UK. This, as reported by "RIA Novosti", was reported by the Odessa edition "Duma" with reference to its sources.
According to the publication, the ships will be purchased this year, especially for the signing of the contract for their delivery on June 21, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky will arrive in Odessa.
According to "Dumskaya", the purchased ships were built in the early 1990s. The Royal Navy had 15 minesweepers of this type, while in the 2000s, three ships were transferred to Estonia and Saudi Arabia, the agency notes.
The Sandown-class minesweepers are 53 m long, they are equipped with two diesel engines, as well as an electric motor for silent running, with a maximum speed of 13 knots. The ships are armed with a 30 mm cannon and several machine guns. The sole purpose of these minesweepers is to search for and destroy sea mines using remote-controlled search vehicles, they do not have devices for minesweeping.
As RIA Novosti reminds, in October last year, the press service of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported that in the memorandum signed by V. Zelensky with the export credit agency of Great Britain, we are talking about the supply of modern samples of military equipment and the latest high-precision weapons to Kiev, the establishment of production of certain types of military products in Ukraine, as well as the construction of facilities based on the Ukrainian Navy.
The office of the President of Ukraine said that the United Kingdom for $ 1.4 billion will help to re-equip the Naval Forces of Ukraine with modern missile boats that are compatible with NATO standards, the agency notes.
