Kerch Shipyard launches 9th Karakurt-class corvette

According to the Crimean State Council’s press office, the Kerch Shipyard in Crimea has launched Karakurt-class (Project 22800) latest missile corvette Askold, which is under construction on order from Russia’s Defense Ministry for the Russian Navy.

It is stated that the “launch ceremony was held under the direction of Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, who also visited the Shipyard and inspected the progress of surface shipbuilding there as well as its production capacities.”

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Askold will be the second Karakurt-class corvette to be built at the Kerch Shipyard. The first corvette was built at the shipyard in 2009.

According to the Ministry of Defense, “the first warship, the Tsiklon, was launched at the end of last summer and is currently undergoing a series of trials in Novorossiysk, while the third corvette Amur is currently being built in the Shipyard’s slipway, with the hull work completed and the assembly of its equipment underway,” the ministry said.

Tsiklon will enter service with the Russian Black Sea Fleet by the end of the year, according to a press release issued by the fleet’s press office in August.

There are three Project 22800 corvettes in service with the Russian Navy right now: the Mytishchi, the Sovetsk, and the Odintsovo. Every single one of them is a member of the Russian Baltic Fleet. Shipbuilders will construct a total of 18 such warships, which will be divided equally among the Pacific, Baltic, and the Black Sea Fleets, according to the Navy.

Karakurt-class corvettes under construction as part of Project 22800

The Project 22800 Karakurt-class missile corvettes are a series of Russian green-water multipurpose missile/artillery warships that are capable of carrying a variety of weapons. The corvettes of this class, which were designed by specialists at the Almaz Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering in St. Petersburg (a subsidiary of the United Shipbuilding Corporation), are distinguished by their high seaworthiness and manoeuvrability. They are based on the most advanced domestic technologies, which allows them to operate effectively in fleet task forces in both the northern and southern hemispheres, depending on the latitude.

The Karakurt-class corvettes have a displacement of approximately 800 tonnes, can reach speeds of more than 30 knots, and have a sea endurance of 15 days. AK-176MA artillery guns with 76.2mm calibre ammunition and Kalibr-NK cruise missiles are among their arsenals.

Check out Naval Library App to find out the specifications of the Karakurt-class corvettes.