Russian Navy to get five Project 22160 warships by 2023.

The Russian Navy will annually receive one corvette of project 22160 up to 2023, Mil.Press FlotProm said quoting an explanatory note to the 2018 annual statement of the Gorky Shipyard in Zelenodolsk.

The lead ship of the Project 22160 Vasily Bykov (Picture Source: Russian MoD)

The company is building five warships of project 22160 by a contract of October 9, 2014. They are the Dmitry Rogachev (factory hull 162), the Pavel Derzhavin (hull 163), the Sergey Kotov (hull 164), the Viktor Veliky (hull 165), and the Nikolai Sipyagin (hull 166).

The Dmitry Rogachev was preparing for acceptance trials in April. The hulls 163 and 164 have been built. The Pavel Derzhavin had the hull painted and insulated. Pipelines are assembled and equipment loaded. The shipyard is making section blocks of the Viktor Veliky. It will sign and prepay equipment contracts for the Nikolai Sipyagin. One Corvette is scheduled for commissioning each year up to 2023.

The corvettes will engage in anti-piracy operations and patrol of blue waters and thus free bigger warships, a Navy source said. The first serial Dmitry Rogachev was upgraded under the lead Vasily Bykov and the time of the trials, therefore, increased.

Project 22160 is a large patrol ship class being constructed for the Russian Navy. The vessels are primarily intended for duties such as patrol, monitoring and protection in open and closed seas. The first ship was laid down in February 2014 and by December 2016 five ships were under construction. The first ship joined the Russian Navy in December 2018.

The class's armament includes the Kalibr-NK cruise missile and a 76,2 mm dual-purpose gun. The ship also has a helicopter deck and hangar for one Ka-27 helicopter.

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