Corvettes of projects 20380/20385. History and characteristics

On May 13, a solemn ceremony of the new Mercury corvette joining the Navy took place in BaltiyskTASS-DOSSIER.

On May 13, 2023, a solemn ceremony was held in Baltiysk to receive the new Mercury corvette project 20380 into the Russian Navy (Navy). The ship was built at the Severnaya Verf plant (part of the USC) for the Black Sea Fleet. TASS has prepared a material about this type of warships.

Basic information and history

The ships of projects 20380/20385 are a series of multi-purpose corvettes (patrol ships) of the near sea zone created for the Russian Navy.

As a result of the freezing of most shipbuilding programs in the 1990s, the fleet stopped receiving not only missile cruisers, destroyers and strategic missile submarines, but also ships of the 2nd and 3rd ranks - patrol boats, small anti-submarine ships, minesweepers. An attempt to build a series of new-generation patrol boats of project 12441 was unsuccessful - the lead ship of the Novik series, laid down in 1997, was never completed.

The situation was aggravated by the fact that the official priority of the fleet was considered to be the preservation and development of naval strategic nuclear forces and it was they who had priority in financing.

As a result, by the beginning of 2008, the Navy had only six patrol ships (TFR) - as many as missile cruisers and 2.5 times less than strategic missile submarines. The Pacific and Northern fleets did not have patrol ships at all - although it was the TFR that should ensure the deployment and combat stability of submarine missile carriers in coastal areas. At the same time, the six available TFRs belonged to five different modifications, and their average age was 28 years.

The Fleet needed a new series of ships to perform escort and strike missions in the near sea zone, patrol coastal waters and patrol duty. In this situation, in the late 1990s, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced a tender for the design of a new TFR, which was won by the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau (St. Petersburg).

Prior to that, the Almaz Central Design Bureau specialized in missile boats and small rocket ships, landing craft on an air cushion and so on. The storozhevik designed by him, 12441 Grom Ave., was never completed, and the project of an "export" corvette prepared in the mid-1990s was not implemented.

Nevertheless, already in 2000, the Almaz Design Bureau presented eight draft designs of the 20380 patrol ship (the design code is Corvette-1), one of which was accepted by the customer in 2001. In the same year, the technical project was approved, at the same time the working and design documentation was developed, which made it possible to lay the head TFR at the end of 2001. The general designer of the ship was Alexander Shlyakhtenko, the chief designer was Igor Ivanov.

The designers used the "modular principle" in the design, which not only reduced production costs, but also ensured a high modernization reserve of the ship throughout the entire life cycle (30 years). Also, special attention was paid to reducing radar visibility, the use of composite materials, a new element base, and so on. In addition, for the first time in the history of domestic shipbuilding, it was possible to place a hangar for a helicopter on a ship of such a small displacement. The shipbuilding enterprises "Yantar" (Kaliningrad), "Baltic Plant" (St. Petersburg), "Zelenodolsk Plant" (Zelenodolsk, Tatarstan) and St. Petersburg "Severnaya Verf" participated in the competition of the Ministry of Defense for the right to produce corvettes, which became the winner. The amount of the contract was not disclosed.

For the creation and development of the construction of the corvette ave. 20380, a group of engineers, designers and shipbuilders was awarded the Prize of the Government of the Russian Federation in the field of science and technology for 2011. The winners of the award included Almaz CEO Alexander Shlyakhtenko, Chief Engineer of the bureau Konstantin Golubev, chief designer of the ship Igor Ivanov, General Director of Severnaya Verf Andrey Fomichev, Deputy chief builder of this plant Alexander Ulyashev and other specialists.

Features, weapons

The length of the corvettes exceeds 100 m, the total displacement is over 2 thousand tons. The main power plant is a two-shaft diesel.

The corvettes are armed with anti-ship missile launchers "Uranus" or "Caliber-NK" (depending on the modification of the ship), anti-aircraft missile system, artillery installations, machine guns, grenade launchers. They have anti-submarine and anti-torpedo protection. A helicopter can be based on the ship.

Modifications

• 20380P and 20383 - projects of border patrol ships (not implemented);
• 20382 "Tiger" - export variant capable of performing tasks in the far sea zone (not implemented);
• 20385 - modernization of the basic project with enhanced anti-aircraft missile and anti-ship weapons. Two four-container launchers of the anti-ship missile system "Uran" have been replaced with an eight-container universal ship firing complex (UKSK) for Kalibr and Onyx missiles. The ammunition of the Redoubt air defense system has been increased. In 2011, the Ministry of Defense signed a contract with JSC Shipbuilding Plant Severnaya Verf (St. Petersburg) for the construction of nine ships of Project 20385. Initially, it was planned to install diesel units of the German company MTU Friedrichshafen on ships of this modification, but after the company refused to supply engines due to the sanctions imposed against the Russian Federation in 2014, it was decided to use Russian-made units. In May 2015, representatives of the plant reported that due to problems with imported components, only two ships ("Rattling" and "Agile", with the replacement of foreign components with domestic ones) would be built according to project 20385, and the remaining ships would be built "according to the modernized project 20380". Nevertheless, on June 30, 2017, the head of the Russian Navy's Shipbuilding Department, Rear Admiral Vladimir Tryapichnikov, told reporters that the 20385 series would consist of four corvettes;
• 20386 is a project of a new generation corvette with modular armament, a superstructure made of composite materials, reduced radar visibility compared to its predecessors, increased displacement (3,400 tons) and cruising range (9,260 km), reduced crew size (80 people).

A series of ships

As of May 2023, eight corvettes of Project 20380 are serving in the Russian Navy (including Mercury), four more are under construction.

• The lead ship of project 20380 "The Guardian" (tail number 530, factory - 1001) was laid down on December 21, 2001 at the Severnaya Shipyard, launched on May 16, 2006, as part of the Baltic Fleet since February 28, 2008;
• The first serial corvette - "Smart" (tail number 531, factory 1002), laid down on May 20, 2003 at the Severnaya Shipyard, launched on March 31, 2010, as part of the Baltic Fleet since October 14, 2011;
• "Boyky" (tail number 532, factory 1003) was laid down on May 27, 2005 at the Severnaya Shipyard, launched on April 15, 2011, as part of the Baltic Fleet since May 16, 2013;
• "Perfect" (factory number 2101) was laid down on June 30, 2006 at the Amur Shipbuilding Plant (hereinafter - Amur SSZ) in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, launched on May 22, 2015, as part of the Pacific Fleet from July 20, 2017;
• "Stoyky" (tail number 545, factory 1004) was laid down on November 10, 2006 at the Severnaya Shipyard, launched on May 30, 2012, as part of the Baltic Fleet since July 18, 2014;
• "Loud" (factory number 2102) was laid down on April 20, 2012 at the Amur SSZ, launched on July 28, 2017, handed over to the fleet on December 19, 2018, the St. Andrew's flag was raised on the ship on December 25 of the same year. As part of the Pacific Fleet;
• "Hero of the Russian Federation Aldar Tsydenzhapov" (factory number 2103) was laid down on the Amur SSZ on July 22, 2015, removed from the slipway and put into the completion dock on September 12, 2019. The corvette is named after the sailor from the destroyer "Bystry" Aldar Tsydenzhapov, who on September 24, 2010 prevented a fire in the engine room of the ship, and after he died a few days later from his burns. The actions of the sailor allowed to save the ship and the lives of the rest of the crew. On November 16, 2010, Aldar Tsydenzhapov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation. On December 25, 2020, the ship joined the Pacific Fleet;
• "Sharp" (factory number 2104) was laid on July 1, 2016 at the Amur SSZ, on July 1, 2021 it was solemnly withdrawn from the slipway shop and put into the transport and launching dock.
• Mercury (factory number 1007) was laid down on February 20, 2015 at the Severnaya Shipyard under the name "Zealous", was launched on March 12, 2020, renamed in October 2021, accepted into the Navy on May 13, 2023;
• "Strict" (factory number 1008) was laid down on February 20, 2015 at the Northern Shipyard;
• "Grozny" (factory number 2105) was laid on August 23, 2021 at the Amur SSZ;
• "Brave" was laid down on September 29, 2021 at the Amur SSZ.

According to the redesigned project 20385, one ship was built, four more are under construction:

• "Gremyashchy" (factory number 1005) was laid down at the Severnaya Shipyard on February 1, 2012, launched on June 30, 2017. Transferred to the Pacific Fleet on December 29, 2020;
• "Agile" (factory number 1006) was laid down at the Northern Shipyard on July 25, 2013, the withdrawal from the boathouse took place in September 2019. On December 17, 2021, a fire occurred on the corvette under construction, in which the superstructure of the vessel was damaged, the hull of the ship was not damaged;
• "Violent" (factory number 2107) was laid on August 23, 2021 at the Amur SSZ;
• Razumny was laid down on June 12, 2022 at the Amur GCC;
• "Fast" was laid down on July 1, 2022 at the Amur GCC.

Another corvette is being built at the Northern Shipyard according to project 20386:

• The ship with the factory number 1009 was laid down on October 28, 2016 as "Daring", later received the name "Mercury", but then the name given during the laying was returned to it.