Amur Shipyard holds keel-laying ceremony for new missile ship Ussuriysk of project 22800.

On December 26, 2019, at the PJSC Amur Shipbuilding Plant (Shipyard, part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation JSC) in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, the laying ceremony for the Pacific Fleet of the Russian Navy of the small missile ship Ussuriysk of project 22800 with the serial number 204. This is the third ship of project 22800, being built in the Far East.

The ceremony of laying the first two RTOs for the Pacific Fleet (Picture source: Russian Internet)

The ship is being built in accordance with the contract concluded on August 22, 2018, by the Russian Ministry of Defense for the construction of six small missile ships (RTOs) of project 22800, which are intended for the Pacific Fleet. Four of them should be built at Amur Shipbuilding Plant JSC (Komsomolsk-on-Amur) with delivery by 2026, and two ships at Vostochnaya Verf JSC (Vladivostok) with delivery at 2023.

Project 22800 small missile ship (code "Karakurt") was developed by Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau JSC (St. Petersburg) and is to replace the 21631 MRK project (Buyan-M code) developed by Zelenodolsk Design Project JSC for the Russian Navy Design Bureau ”, the construction of which is so far limited to 12 units.

The ships are designed to be armed with the Kalibr or Oniks anti-ship cruise missiles and have an endurance of 15 days. They are also to be a cheap alternative for larger Admiral Grigorovich class frigates, which construction was delayed due to the suspended military cooperation with Ukraine, and because of Russia's intentions to continue in the modernization of its Navy until all necessary tasks for construction of larger vessels domestically are solved.

Project 22800 derives from Project 12300 Skorpion, a proposed 1990s Almaz design for a 500-ton displacement missile boat, and was also heavily influenced by Project 21631, the Buyan-M corvettes. Ships of the class have a stealth shaped superstructure with an integrated mast carrying four phased array radar panels.

The primary armament consists of Kalibr cruise missiles or P-800 Oniks supersonic anti-ship missiles carried in eight UKSK VLS cells in the rear part of the superstructure, behind the bridge. The corvettes built for the Russian Navy will be equipped with a 76.2 mm AK-176MA automatic dual-purpose gun, a modernized version of the AK-176. However, at least on the first ship, the 100 mm A-190 was installed. A proposed export version may carry the Italian OTO Melara 76 mm gun. For anti-missile defence, the first two ships will only carry a pair of AK-630M gun-based CIWS. Starting from the third ship, they will be equipped with Pantsir-M, a naval version of the Pantsir surface-to-air missile system. Project 22800 is not designed for anti-submarine warfare.