Russian Shipyard to build three Project 21980 boats for Defense Ministry.

The Zelenodolsk Shipyard in the Volga area, part of the Ak Bars Shipbuilding Corporation, will build three Project 21980 Grachonok anti-commando boats by late 2022 under a new contract signed with Russia’s Defense Ministry, Corporation CEO Renat Mistakhov told TASS.

Project 21980 Grachonok-class boats (Picture source: Russian Ministry of Defense)

"Under the new contract, one of the Project 21980 Grachonok-class boats is planned to be commissioned in 2021 and the other two in 2022," the CEO said.

Earlier, the shipyard built ten Project 21980 boats, Mistakhov said. It was awarded a contract for another three vessels of the type from the Defense Ministry in late 2019, he added.

According to Mistakhov, it takes almost two years to build a boat of the type and the shipyard is ready to execute the contract in a short time at the customer’s request.

The Project 21980 counter-sabotage vessel features a single hull made of steel and its deckhouse is built using aluminium and magnesium alloys.

The overall length and widths of the boat are 31m and 7.4m respectively and the draught is 1.85m. With a displacement of 138t, the vessel can carry up to eight crew members.

The boat carries a remotely operated underwater vehicle to conduct mine-clearing and inspection activities in deep waters. Diving systems are provided aboard the vessel to support search and recovery, and mine clearance operations.

© Copyright 2020 TASS. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.