On December 25, 2024, Admiralty Shipyards JSC (the company is part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation - USC JSC) in St. Petersburg hosted the launching ceremony of the Nikolay Zubov project 23550 multifunctional ice-class patrol ship (code "Arctic") with the serial number 02461, which is under construction for the Russian Navy. This is the second of two Project 23550 ships ordered for the Russian Navy.
The second multifunctional ice-class patrol ship Nikolay Zubov of project 23550 (code "Arctic") with factory number 02461, which is being built for the Russian Navy, was launched at Admiralty Shipyards JSC. Saint Petersburg, 12/25/2024 (c) Valentin Egorshin / TASS
The multifunctional ice-class patrol ship of project 23550 combines the functionality of a tugboat, patrol ship and icebreaker capable of overcoming ice up to 1.7 m thick. The ships of project 23550 are designed to protect and monitor Arctic water resources; escort and tow detained vessels to port; escort and support support vessels; participate in rescue operations; transport special cargo. Project 22350 was developed by Almaz Central Design Bureau JSC (part of USC).
The contract for the construction of a series of two patrol ships of Project 23550 was signed by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation with JSC Admiralty Shipyards on April 25, 2016. The construction of the lead ship Ivan Papanin with factory number 02460 was started at Admiralty Shipyards in September 2016, the official laying ceremony was held on April 19, 2017, and its launching took place on October 25, 2019. However, it was not until June 28, 2024, that the lead ship Ivan Papanin left St. Petersburg for factory sea trials.
The initial contractual delivery dates for both ordered ships were set at the end of 2019 and the end of 2020, respectively. However, in 2018 and 2019, the then general director of Admiralty Shipyards JSC, Alexander Buzakov, reported that, "due to financing," under the revised terms of the contract, the lead patrol ship Ivan Papanin would be transferred to the Russian Navy only in 2023, and subsequently the deadline was repeatedly postponed further.
Now, at the launch ceremony of the second ship Nikolay Zubov, Andrei Bystrov, Acting General Director of Admiralty Shipyards, said that "the first ship [Ivan Papanin] is currently undergoing tests in the Baltic Sea. We will complete the weapons testing by the end of the year. After the New Year holidays, we will go out for flight tests, then the transition to the north, testing, so to speak, the permeability of the ice. All the plans are laid out. I am sure that everything will work out for us... the first ship will be delivered before August next year [2025]."
The laying of the second ordered patrol ship Nikolay Zubov with the serial number 02461, originally scheduled for spring 2018, was carried out at Admiralty Shipyards only on November 27, 2019, and only now it has been launched. At the launch ceremony, Andrei Bystrov said that the second ship will be tested in late 2025 or early 2026 (that is, it will be commissioned no earlier than the end of 2026).
In 2019, two 1st-rank ice-class border patrol ships were ordered for the Coast Guard of the Border Guard Service of the FSB of Russia under project 23550 (code "Ermak"), which is a modified version of project 23550 (code "Arctic"). The construction of the PSKR is underway in Vyborg at PJSC Vyborg Shipbuilding Plant (part of USC), where the lead ship Purga with factory number 235 was laid down on July 25, 2020 and launched on October 7, 2022. The second Dzerzhinskiy MRCC with factory number 238 was laid there on December 22, 2023.
The main tactical and technical characteristics of the 23550 project are: total displacement of about 9,000 tons; length 114.5 m; width 19.5 m, draft about 6.0 m; full speed 18 knots; economic speed 10 knots; crew/ additional crew of about 60/50 people; navigation autonomy of about 70 days; navigation area - unlimited. The Arctic category of the ship is Arc7.
Armament of the ships designed for the Navy: 76-mm AK-176MA universal automatic artillery system; 12.7-mm machine guns, MANPADS launchers; a helicopter pad and a helicopter hangar for basing a Ka-27 class helicopter and unmanned aerial vehicles; two Raptor-type high-speed amphibious assault boats and one hovercraft project 23321 (Manul type). Theoretically, it is possible to equip ships with a containerized version of the Kalibr-NK missile system.
The launch of the second multifunctional ice-class patrol ship Nikolay Zubov, project 23550 (code "Arctic") with serial number 02461, under construction for the Russian Navy at Admiralty Shipyards JSC. Saint Petersburg, 12/25/2024 (c) United Shipbuilding Corporation JSC, paluba.media, www.korabel.ru and vk.com/marinist_spb
