USC Eyes Russian Navy Contract for Project 23560 Leader-class Destroyer.

The United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) hopes to get a contract for the construction of a prospective Russian destroyer, USC CEO Alexey Rakhmanov told TASS.

Scale model showing the Project 23560E "Shkval-class" Destroyer (export variant of Leader-class) at Army 2018 exhibition. Twelve ships of the 10,000t "Leader class" are planned to enter service from 2023-25, split between the Northern and Pacific Fleets. They will all be nuclear powered. They will be fitted with the ABM-capable S-500 SAM and Kalibr (SS-N-27) cruise missile.

"We hope the Leader destroyer will remain with the USC as we have operating or upgraded capacities for that," he said. He refused to say when the destroyer may be laid. "It is to be discussed with the Defense Ministry. It is not an easy issue," Rakhmanov said.

Navy Deputy Commander-in-Chief Vice Admiral Viktor Bursuk earlier said the technical design of the Leader destroyer would be ready by 2020 and the warship will be laid after that. Bursuk said appropriations had been reserved for the project.

The Leader-class destroyer is designed by Severnoe Bureau in St. Petersburg. USC Deputy President Igor Ponomarev said the Defense Ministry had approved the blueprints.
The Leader-class destroyers of project 23560 have to replace project 956 and 1155 warships which today comprise the backbone of the green-water fleet. They will be nuclear powered and armed with Kalibr and Onix missiles, as well as shipborne S-500 air and missile defense.

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