The ceremony was led by Admiral Nikolay Yevmenov, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy. It was attended by Igor Orlov, General Director of Severnaya Verfiya, and Almaz, General Director of the Central Design Bureau. The first-in-class corvette joins the Pacific Fleet and will soon make the transition to its permanent bases.
During the ceremony Admiral Nikolay Yevmenov presented the Commander of the corvette with the flag of St. Andrew, which was then hoisted on the aft flagpole.
“Today is a momentous event for the Navy – the raising of the Navy flag on the flagship, the newest combat ship of Project 20385 Gremyashchy. Over 170 warships of different classes have been built at Severnaya Verf shipyard over its many-year history. The Project 20385 corvette designed by the Almaz Central Design and Engineering Bureau is a further development of the Project 20380 corvette, it is equipped with modern strike and radio-technical armament and its capabilities to fulfill its primary missions have been significantly expanded. The ship was developed in close cooperation with the Main Command of the Navy and the United Shipbuilding Corporation. Military and scientific support for the design and creation of the corvette Gremyashchy was provided by the Navy’s Military Research and Training Center.”
Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy
Based on the Project 20380 (Steregushchiy-class) Project 20385 corvettes are designed by Almaz bureau. The « Gremyashchiy » is the lead corvette in a series of two ships and was laid down on 2012. It is fitted with 1 x 8 UKSK VLS cells for Kalibr-NK cruise missile systems, 2 x 8 VLS for Redut anti-aircraft systems, 2 x 4 330 mm torpedo tubes for Paket-NK antisubmarine systems and an AK 630M CIWS.
The Project 20385 corvette is designed for strike missions and anti-submarine warfare. The ship has a displacement of 2,500 t, a length of 106 m, a width of 13 m, a speed of 27 knots, a range of 4,000 nautical miles, and a crew of 99 servicemen. The ship can accommodate a Kamov Ka-27 (Helix-A) naval rotorcraft.
According to an additional contract concluded with the Russian Ministry of Defense in 2011, construction of eight more Project 20385 corvettes was supposed to occur at the Severnaya Verf yard by 2020. However, wishes for further improvement of the project and widespread use of imported components, including German MTU diesel engines, blocked after 2014 under sanctions restrictions, led to the decision of the Russian Navy to limit the series to only two ships at the time.
Russia’s Defense Ministry announced on December 15 that it had concluded a contract with the Amur Shipyard on building two Project 20380 and four Project 20385 corvettes due to enter service with the Pacific Fleet in 2024-2028.
