On June 11, 2024 in Zelenodolsk at JSC Zelenodolsk Plant named after A.M. Gorky (the enterprise is part of JSC Shipbuilding Corporation Ak Bars group of companies JSC Holding Company Ak Bars) A solemn ceremony of launching the Stavropol small rocket ship project 21631 (code Buyan-M; developer Zelenodolsk Design Bureau JSC), which is under construction for the Russian Navy, took place with the factory number 642. This is the twelfth, and probably the last in a series of small rocket ship project 21631.
Launching ceremony at JSC Zelenodolsk Plant named after A.M. Gorky of the Stavropol small missile ship project 21631 (code "Buyan-M") under construction for the Russian Navy with factory number 642. Zelenodolsk, 06/11/2024 (c) TASS
The ceremony of launching the Stavropol was attended by the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy Admiral Alexander Moiseev, Head of Shipbuilding, Armament and Armament Operation - Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Navy for Armament Vice Admiral Igor Mukhametshin, Commander of the Baltic Fleet Vice Admiral Vladimir Vorobyov, Acting Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Nigmatullin, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan - Minister of Industry and Trade of the Republic of Tatarstan Oleg Korobchenko.
According to the statement of the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy Alexander Moiseev, this ship is planned to be commissioned into the Baltic Fleet (36th brigade of missile boats and ships of the Baltic Naval Base) by the end of 2024.
Despite the fact that the Stavropol was launched at a high degree of readiness in the third year of the ongoing war, no changes have been made to its design based on the experience of ongoing hostilities and no measures have been taken to strengthen its anti-aircraft, anti-drone and anti-submarine defenses.
The Stavropol Small Rocket Ship (MRK) is the third and last of three ships under construction under a contract worth 27 billion rubles issued by the Russian Ministry of Defense on September 7, 2016 for the construction of three more MRKS of Project 21631 with factory numbers from 640 to 642 for the Russian Navy. MRK Stavropol with factory number 642 was laid down in Zelenodolsk on July 12, 2018. The commissioning of all three ships in the Navy was supposed to be in 2021-2023, but in the end it was postponed by about a year.
The main MRK under this contract, Grad (factory number 640), was laid down in Zelenodolsk on April 24, 2017 and launched on September 17, 2021. In August-September 2022, the MRK Grad was towed by inland waterways from Zelenodolsk to Kronstadt, and on October 12, 2022, for the first time entered the Baltic Sea for factory sea trials, the ship was commissioned into the Baltic Fleet [...] on December 29, 2022.
The second MRK under this contract, Naro-Fominsk (factory number 641), was laid down in Zelenodolsk on February 23, 2018 and launched on December 9, 2022. In August 2023, she was towed by inland waterways from Zelenodolsk to Kronstadt and began factory sea trials on October 11, 2023, and commissioned into the Baltic Fleet on December 25, 2023.
The Zelenodolsk plant had already handed over nine MRCS of project 21631 to the Russian Navy. The first two MRCS of project 21631, Grad Sviyazhsk and Uglich (factory numbers 631 and 632), built in Zelenodolsk, were commissioned into the Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy on July 27, 2014, and the third Veliky Ustyug (factory number 633) was commissioned into the Caspian Flotilla on December 19, 2014. The fourth and fifth MRCS of project 21631 "Zeleny Dol" (factory number 634) and "Serpukhov" (factory number 635) were built in Zelenodolsk under a contract dated October 19, 2012 and joined the Black Sea Fleet on December 12, 2015. In October 2016, both of these ships transferred to the Baltic Fleet. On June 1, 2018, it joined the Black Sea Fleet html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">the sixth MRK Vyshny Volochyok (factory number 636) was introduced, on December 10, 2018, the MRK Orekhovo-Zuyevo (factory number 637) was introduced into the Black Sea Fleet, on December 28, 2019, the MRK Ingushetia was introduced (factory number 638), and on January 30, 2021, the Grayvoron MRC (factory number 639) was introduced.
Launching ceremony at JSC Zelenodolsk Plant named after A.M. Gorky of the Stavropol small rocket ship project 21631 (code "Buyan-M") under construction for the Russian Navy with factory number 642. Zelenodolsk, 06/11/2024 (c) TASS, RIA Novosti and JSC Zelenodolsk Plant named after A.M. Gorky