01.02.2012
Festive keel-laying ceremony took place on Jan 31 at Severnaya Verf shipyard (St. Petersburg). The name plaque was triumphantly planted on a section of frigate Admiral Golovko constructed for Russian Navy. The ceremony was attended by Navy Commander-in-Chief ADM V. Vysotsky, fleet commanders and top-ranking naval officers, representatives of JSC United Shipbuilding Corporation and JSC United Industrial Corporation, veterans and guests.
The frigate was laid down on the same day with Project 20385 lead corvette
Gremyaschiy.
According to Admiral V. Vysotsky, frigate
Admiral Golovko will be based at Northern Fleet.
Admiral Golovko is a third Project 22350 frigate. Lead ship –
Admiral Gorshkov – is being outfitted at the yard's wall and will start trials in 2012. The second hull –
Admiral Kasatonov – will be launched this year.
Project 22350 multipurpose frigates developed by
Severnoye Design Bureau are large seagoing warships capable to accomplish wide range of tasks. Design displacement is 4,500 tons; length is 130 meters; beam is 16 meters; draft is 4.5 meters; max speed 30 knots. Ships of the project are armed with
Caliber-NK missile system with 32
Onyx and
Caliber missiles capable to hit sea and coastal targets,
Poliment-Redut SAM system,
Paket ASW system, one 130-mm gun mount A-192, two
Palash gun/missile close-in systems, and
Ka-27PL ASW helicopter.
The frigate is named after outstanding Soviet naval officer Arseny G. Golovko who headed Northern Fleet during the World War II. Formerly, his name was given to a Project 58 missile cruiser, one of the first Soviet warships armed with antiship missiles.
JSC
Severnaya Verf is the only supplier of Project 22350 frigates for Russian Navy. Under State Arms Program 2020, defense ministry and the shipyard tied a contract for six frigates of this type. All of them are to be built and joined the Navy by 2018.
Commissioning of Project 22350 lead frigate
Admiral Gorshkov is scheduled late in 2012.
