Severnaya Verf to launch first series-built corvette Soobrazitelny

31.03.2010 Source: RIA Novosti, photo: keel laying ceremony at Severnaya Verf shipyard (nordsy.spb.ru)

Severnaya Verf shipyard (St. Petersburg) will launch the first series-built corvette of Project 20380 Soobrazitelny, reported RIA Novosti citing the Navy's spokesman.

Corvettes are designed for operations in littoral zone, antisurface and antisubmarine warfare, and also for gunfire support of landing troops. Lead ship of this project - Stereguschiy - was commissioned into Baltic Fleet in Oct 2008. Russian Navy command appraised the need for corvette class as 30 ships.

Soobrazitelny is the first series-built ship of the project; she has been constructed on schedule determined by the orderer. During construction innovative solutions were applied related to armament, shipborne general purpose systems, communication systems, and automatics", said Navy representative.

He underlined that during project implementation some hull and bulkhead structures were changed. At present, two more corvettes are being constructed at slipways of Severnaya Verf at different levels of completeness – Boiky and Stoiky.

According to Navy official, ships of this class have crucially new performance characteristics. Their main features are multifunctionality, compactness, low-signature, high level of automation and control integration.

Corvette Soobrazitelny was laid down in May 2003. Her displacement is 2,000 tons; length is over 100 meters; max speed is up to 27 knots; operating range is 4,000 nautical miles.