Corvette Volgodonsk Joins Caspian Flotilla on June 29

27.06.2012 The ensign-hoisting ceremony on corvette Volgodonsk will take place in St. Petersburg on Friday, June 29, Director General of JSC Almaz Shipbuilding Firm Leonid G. Grabovets told Central Navy Portal.

The ceremony to be held at the yard will be attended by Russian Navy top-ranking officers and representatives of St. Petersburg City Administration. Few days after hoisting of the St. Andrew's Flag (Russian Navy ensign), corvette Volgodonsk will be towed to the Caspian Flotilla base via inland waterways.

Recall that acceptance certificate of Project 21630 Buyan corvette Volgodonsk was signed in Dec 2011 in Baltic Fleet (BF) main base Baltiysk after successfully passed state trials. It is the first batch-produced Buyan-class corvette built by JSC Almaz Shipbuilding Firm (St. Petersburg).

Launched in May 2011, corvette Volgodonsk was for the first time presented to public at the International Maritime Defense Show IMDS-2011 in St. Petersburg. Project 21630 Buyan new-generation corvette was developed by JSC Zelenodolsk Design Bureau under direction of chief designer Y. Kushir.

General characteristics:

displacement – about 500 tons
length – 62 meters
beam – 9.6 meters
height – 6.57 meters
draft – 2 meters
propulsion plant – CODAD two-shaft diesel
propulsor - 2 water jets
speed – 28 knots
fuel range – up to 1,500 nautical miles
endurance – 10 days
complement – 29-36 men

Armament of Project 21630 Buyan corvette:

navigation aids – radar MR-231, tactical data system Sigma
radar equipment – radar Pozitiv, radar 5P-10 Laska for gun mounts and antiaircraft guns
radioelectronics – 2 x 10 launchers of PK-10 Smelyi decoy system
artillery arms – 100-mm gun mount A190-01 Universal, two 14.5-mm machinegun mounts MTPU, 1 x 40 122-mm MLRS A-215 Grad-M
antiaircraft artillery – 2 x 6 30-mm antiaircraft guns AK-306
antiaircraft missile armament – 1 x 4 launcher of 3M47 Gibka with Igla (Igla-S) surface-to-air missiles