SIMFEROPOL, September 21. /TASS/: The Kerch Shipyard in Crimea has floated out the Project 22800 latest missile corvette Askold built on order from Russia’s Defense Ministry, the Crimean State Council’s press office reported on Tuesday.
"The launch ceremony was held under the direction of Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov who also inspected the course of surface shipbuilding at the Shipyard and its production capacities," the statement sways.
The Askold will be the second Project 22800 corvette built at the Kerch Shipyard, according to the data of Russia’s Defense Ministry.
"The first warship, the Tsiklon, was put afloat at the end of last year’s summer and is currently undergoing a series of trials in Novorossiysk while the third corvette Amur is at the stage of its construction in the Shipyard’s slipway, with the work on its hull completed and the assembly of its equipment underway," the ministry said.
The press office of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet reported in August that the Tsiklon would enter service with the Fleet by the yearend.
Currently, the Russian Navy operates three Project 22800 corvettes: the Mytishchi, the Sovetsk and the Odintsovo. All of them are operating in the Russian Baltic Fleet. Overall, shipbuilders will construct 18 such warships, which will be divided equally between the Pacific, Baltic and Black Sea Fleets.
Project 22800 corvettes
Project 22800 Karakurt-class missile corvettes are a series of Russian green-water multipurpose missile/artillery warships. The corvettes of this class developed by specialists of the St. Petersburg-based Almaz Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering (part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation) are characterized by high sea worthiness and handling characteristics. They are based on the most advanced domestic technologies that allow their effective operation within fleet taskforces both in the northern and southern latitudes.
Karakurt-class corvettes displace about 800 tonnes, develop a speed of over 30 knots and their sea endurance is 15 days. They are armed with Kalibr-NK cruise missiles and upgraded AK-176MA 76.2mm artillery guns.
