The second ship of project 20385 will make the transition to the Far East after testing
The Nimble corvette of project 20385 will significantly strengthen the defense of the Kamchatka region, experts interviewed by Izvestia said, commenting on its launch. The ceremony took place on June 18. The ship will join the Pacific Fleet (Pacific Fleet) next year. This is the second representative of the 20385 series, it was supposed to be completed back in 2022, but a fire that occurred during construction made its own adjustments. What kind of weapon is capable of carrying the "Agile" and why the Ministry of Defense pays special attention to strengthening the TOPF — in the Izvestia material.
The first in the series
The launching ceremony of the Project 20385 Nimble corvette took place in St. Petersburg on June 18. It was attended by the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Admiral Alexander Moiseev, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Viktor Yevtukhov, representatives of the USC, St. Petersburg and the Severnaya Verf plant.
Photo: USC press service
Image source: iz.ru
— Today is a significant event, undoubtedly, for the Northern Shipyard, for the Navy. Today we are launching the first production ship of a new generation — the corvette "Agile" of project 20385. The lead ship was accepted into the Navy a little earlier, the corvette "Gremyashchy", built by your company," Alexander Moiseev said at the ceremony. — The ship, built in the interests of the Navy, strengthens Russia's status as a great maritime power.
Agile became the second representative of Project 20385. The lead ship of the Gremyashchy series is serving in the Pacific Ocean, it performs tasks as part of a compound in the North-East of Russia. According to the commander-in-chief, the "Gremyashchy" worthily serves on the Pacific Fleet and has earned a reputation as reliable, modern, capable of solving the full range of tasks inherent in this ship.
As the Ministry of Defense told Izvestia, the Agile will also replenish the forces of the Pacific Fleet. After completion on the water and carrying out mooring, factory-running and state tests, it will make the transition to the Far East. It is planned that the corvette will join the Navy in 2025.
Photo: USC press service
Image source: iz.ru
The ship was supposed to be handed over to the fleet back in 2022, but on December 17, 2021, a fire broke out on the Nimble under construction. The fire engulfed the upper deck, the wheelhouse of the main command post, and the integrated tower-mast structure was damaged. Then the commission came to the conclusion that the ship could still be completed. In November 2022, a new superstructure was installed on its hull, created at the Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard.
— Fires at shipyards, unfortunately, happen. In the same America, several large ships and a submarine have burned in recent years," military expert Dmitry Boltenkov told Izvestia.
Izvestia's help
The ships of this series represent an upgrade of the basic design of corvettes 20380, developed by the central marine design Bureau Almaz. Compared to the 20380 project, the "Thunderous" and "Agile" have an increased displacement and more powerful missile weapons.
Strengthening the region
Photo: USC press service
Image source: iz.ru
After completion, the ship will go to Kamchatka — to the 114th brigade of surface ships of the Pacific Fleet, Dmitry Boltenkov said.
— The corvette will significantly strengthen the defense of the Kamchatka region, — he noted. — He will ensure the overall security and, most importantly, the deployment of our submarine fleet. A powerful grouping of our nuclear submarines is now concentrated in Kamchatka. So far, there is only one ship of project 20385 in service — the corvette "Gremyashchy". He has proven himself well in the Navy. Currently, several ships of this project are being built in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, just for the Pacific Fleet.
The expert noted that the situation in the Far East-Pacific region is currently turbulent.
"American allies have become more active there," he said. — Japan has taken the path of unfriendly relations with Russia. Australia is going to start its own nuclear fleet. In such a situation, it is necessary to strengthen the TOPH.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Lvov
Image source: iz.ru
The Pacific Fleet is responsible for the defense of the longest ocean line — from Chukotka to Vladivostok. Do not forget that our submarines are located in Kamchatka, recalled military expert, captain of the first rank Vasily Dandykin.
— Now the TOPH needs to be strengthened, which is what is being done, — he noted. — Ships, as well as diesel submarines, are needed to protect our coast, bases and ensure the operation of submarines. Their number is increasing. Moreover, corvettes began to be built in the shipyards of the Far East. At first, not everything went smoothly, but now our shipbuilders have picked up the pace. These are some of the most successful ships of our fleet, they have their own aircraft — a helicopter. These are corvettes of the near sea zone, but they can also operate in the far sea — autonomy and good habitability allow this to be done. The crews of these ships are equipped with contractors.
Project 20385
The corvettes of Project 20385 are designed to perform escort and strike missions in the maritime zone, patrol coastal waters, as well as to combat surface ships and submarines. The displacement of such a ship is more than 2 thousand tons, length 104 m, width 13 m. They can reach speeds of up to 27 knots and have a cruising range of up to 4 thousand miles. The ships carry on board the Kalibr-NK missile system, a 100 mm artillery installation, and the Paket anti-submarine complex. An anti-submarine helicopter can be placed on the deck.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Lvov
Image source: iz.ru
The ships are designed using stealth technology: their superstructures are made of multilayer composite materials, which seriously reduced the visibility of corvettes in the radar range.
The ships' air defense is provided by the Redut anti-aircraft missile system, which includes the Poliment radar station with four phased antennas. The missiles are placed in vertical launch units consisting of modules of four or eight cells each. As a result, the complex can fire at up to 16 targets at the same time, its practical range is 400 km.
In 2019, the President of Russia visited the lead corvette of project 20385 "Gremyashchy", which was under construction at that time. The commander of the ship, Roman Dovagailov, told the head of state about its features and, in particular, that hypersonic Zircon missiles could be placed on it in the future. There will definitely be a Zircon," the president noted, addressing the head of the military department.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Lvov
Image source: iz.ru
Recently, Russia has been actively replenishing the surface forces of the fleet. On June 11, the launch of the Stavropol small rocket ship (MRK) of project 21631 Buyan-M took place at the Zelenodolsk Shipyard. He became the 12th in the series. These are small ships with an impressive arsenal. Eight launchers for Kalibr cruise missiles or Onyx anti-ship missiles are mounted on board the Buyans. In addition, they are armed with a 100 mm A-190 artillery launcher. The Calibres are equipped with a penetrating high-explosive warhead weighing up to 450 kg and have a range of about 1.5 thousand km. Supersonic Onyx have a warhead weighing 300 kg, they can strike ships and ground targets at a distance of up to 500 km.
The completion of the lead icebreaker patrol ships of the project 23550 Ivan Papanin continues. In April, the crew settled on it on the eve of its entry into factory sea trials.
Roman Kretsul
Bogdan Stepovoy
