Image source: topwar.ru
Patrol ships of Project 22160 are expanding their capabilities in the field of air defense. According to a source in the Russian defense industry, it was decided to retrain the ships of the series into air defense corvettes.
The decision to arm the entire series of patrol ships of the 22160 project was made taking into account the experience of conducting a special military operation in Ukraine, the Tor-M2KM SAM will be installed on the ships. By the end of the year, all corvettes of this series will be re-equipped, the lead ship of the Vasily Bykov series is currently undergoing tests with the installed Tor-M2KM SAM module. The ship takes an active part in the special operation.
- TASS quotes the words of the source.
As specified, the corvettes "Dmitry Rogachev", "Pavel Derzhavin" and "Sergey Kotov" will be re-equipped taking into account the combat use of the SAM on the "Vasily Bykov", the fifth corvette of the series "Victor the Great" will enter the fleet already with the installed SAM "Tor-M2KM". The sixth and last ship of the Nikolai Sipyagin series is planned to be transferred to the fleet next year with a new version of the ship-based SAM.
Recall that the entire series of six patrol ships of the project 22160 is intended for the Black Sea Fleet, four corvettes are already in combat service, two more will join its composition this year and next.
The patrol ship (corvette) of project 22160 has a displacement of 1,700 tons and is capable of speeds up to 30 knots. Cruising range – 6000 miles, autonomy – 60 days. The crew is 80 people. The Ka-27PS helicopter is based on board. As standard weapons, corvettes are equipped with a 76-mm artillery installation, an anti-aircraft missile system and machine guns. A place is provided for the placement of various modules (RCC, missile defense systems, electronic warfare, etc.), depending on the tasks performed.
