The Mercury corvette, Severodvinsk and Vepr submarines will be shown to the public for the first time in St. Petersburg
47 ships and vessels, 42 aircraft and more than 3.5 thousand servicemen will take part in the main naval parade on the occasion of Navy Day on July 31. St. Petersburg is hosting the sixth parade in a row, since this tradition was revived in 2017. The Ministry of Defense of Russia reported that representatives of all fleets and the Caspian Flotilla, as well as boats of the FSB border service and the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia will be involved in the celebrations. For the first time the public will be shown the corvette "Mercury", the submarines "Severodvinsk" and "Boar".
Equating to "Rooks"
The newest anti-sabotage boats of project 21980 "Grachonok" will lead the parade formation on the Neva. Together with them, the landing boat Ivan Pasko will follow, on board of which there is an exact copy of the "grandfather of the Russian fleet" — the Peter I boat. Then the patrol boat "Evgeny Kolesnikov" led by the female crew, the minesweepers "Ivan Henov" and "Alexander Obukhov", the missile boat "Chuvashia", the small rocket ship (MRC) "Green Dol" of project 21631 "Buyan-M", as well as the MRC "Odintsovo" of project 22800 "Karakurt" will pass by the spectators.
The Karakurts are considered to be the most massive and at the same time modern ships that enter the fleet today. Despite their modest size and displacement of 800 tons, they carry an impressive arsenal on board: Kalibr cruise missiles, a 76.2-mm AK-176MA installation, and, if necessary, can be equipped with Onyx anti-ship missiles.
The MRCS of the Buyan-M project have on board eight launchers for Kalibr or Onyx anti-ship cruise missiles, as well as artillery weapons. These small ships are equipped with reconnaissance equipment and, if necessary, can be included in the so-called reconnaissance-strike and reconnaissance-firing circuits.
MRK "Green Dol"
Image source: Photo: IZVESTIA/Sergey Konkov
MRK Odintsovo and Zeleny Dol serve in the Baltic Fleet. However, their capabilities have also been tested in the waters of the Arctic region. They passed into the White Sea through the Neva, Lake Ladoga and the White Sea-Baltic Canal. There they successfully completed training missile launches, after which they returned to their place of residence.
The parade formation was closed on July 31, two boats of the FSB border service and two boats of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
The Great Ustyug MRC, the Mercury corvette, the Admiral Gorshkov frigate and the St. Petersburg submarine will also be demonstrated in the Neva water area. These ships will be in the roadstead. In addition to them, several sailing ships will appear before the eyes of Petersburgers. Among them is the famous brig "Russia", the main symbol of the holiday "Scarlet Sails". However, this time the sails will be a different color. Some kind of intrigue that will persist until the start of the parade, said Vladimir Kasatonov, Deputy head of the Navy, on July 27.
In Kronstadt, the parade will be opened by the missile boat Dimitrovgrad, followed by the MRK Passat, Sovetsk, Urengoy, Kazanets, the corvettes Stoyky and Savvy, the patrol ship Yaroslav the Wise, the FSB border guard boat Blizzard, the training ship Perekop and the submarine boat "Magadan". The static exposition will feature sailing vessels, the large landing ship Ivan Gren, the corvette Boyky, as well as the submarines Vepr and Severodvinsk.
— It draws attention to the fact that small ships participate in the parade, but with powerful weapons, — former chief of the General Staff of the Navy Valentin Selivanov told Izvestia. — Everyone remembers how the IRC fired from the Caspian Sea at militant targets in Syria. And even now, small ships with the most powerful weapons are hitting military facilities in Ukraine. "Admiral Gorshkov" is called a frigate, but in principle it is a missile cruiser with the most powerful weapons. In addition, three nuclear submarines of the Northern Fleet were brought to Kronstadt. In a word, the most powerful group with great combat capabilities will be shown at the parade to our people. Everyone will be able to see the latest Russian ships.
MRC "Odintsovo" and "Veliky Ustyug" (from left to right)
Image source: Photo: IZVESTIA/Sergey Konkov
The Pacific Fleet is represented at the parade by the Magadan submarine, which is completing the tests, military historian Dmitry Boltenkov told Izvestia.
— For the first time, the Mercury corvette of the 20380 family will be shown. This ship is named after the legendary brig, who distinguished himself in a battle with Turkish battleships in 1829. In addition, the submarines Severodvinsk of Project 885 and Vepr of Project 971 of the Northern Fleet will appear in public for the first time," the expert noted.
This year there are practically no landing ships among the participants — they solve special tasks on the Black Sea, Dmitry Boltenkov said.
The air part of the main naval parade will be opened on July 31 by four Mi-8 military transport helicopters. They will be followed by groups of Ka-31R, Ka-29, Ka-27M helicopters, two An-72 transport aircraft, Il-38N anti-submarine aircraft. The parade will also include Su-27 and MiG-29KUB deck fighters, Tu-142M3 anti-submarine aircraft, MiG-31 fighters, Su-24M bombers and Su-25 attack aircraft.
On all fleets
Parades on the occasion of the Russian Navy Day will also be held in Baltiysk, Severomorsk, Vladivostok, Kaspiysk, Novorossiysk and the Syrian port of Tartus.
According to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, in total, up to 200 warships of various classes, about 80 aircraft, more than 100 units of military equipment and about 15 thousand military personnel and civilian specialists will be involved in the ceremonies.
26 warships and 15 support vessels of the Caspian Flotilla will be in parade formation in Kaspiysk.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Olga Maltseva
Image source: iz.ru
In Vladivostok, the frigate "Marshal Shaposhnikov", the corvette "Perfect", the small anti-submarine ship "MPK-221", the missile boat "R-261", the minesweeper "BT-100" and the submarine of project 877 "Ust-Bolsheretsk" will take part in the parade. The total length of the ships was more than 1000 m, the military department reported.
The heavy nuclear missile cruiser "Peter the Great", nuclear submarines "Verkhoturye" and "Smolensk" will be in parade formation in the Northern Fleet.
Roman Kretsul
