Tass News Agency reported on June 6, 2017 that Russia would soon launch a new corvette for its Navy.
According to the report, Russia’s Northern Shipyards, located in St. Petersburg, will launch Project 20385 corvette Gremyashchy in June of this year.
In comments regarding the ship, Navy Spokesman Igor Dygalo said, “By the end of 2017, a new Project 20385 corvette – the Gremyashchy – will be launched at the Northern Shipyards in St. Petersburg. It will be equipped with a precision-guided munition and Russian-made propulsion systems.”
The vessel received a locally-made propulsion system produced by Kolomensky Plant last year, according to the Navy spokesman. This new propulsion system is part of Russia’s import substitution program.
Gremyashchy is the lead ship of Project 20385; it was laid down in 2012. The following year, Russia laid down the second vessel in the class, Provornyy. The former will join the Northern Fleet while the latter will join the Black Sea Fleet. Initial plans had called for many more in the class, but due to associated costs, the program was scaled down.
Project 20385 corvettes feature VLS cells capable of launching anti-shipping cruise missiles, like Oniks or Kalibr. For air-defense, the corvettes have the Redut surface-to-air missile system.
Military markets analyst, covering Eurasia, Middle East, and Africa.
