The Admiral Gorshkov, lead ship of the new Project 22350 series of frigates, will be commissioned
in August, with Admiral-series vessels expected to become the backbone of the Russian Navy’s
ocean-going presence over the next decades.
The Admiral Gorshkov began its construction at Russia's Severnaya Verf shipyard in St.
Petersburg all the way back in 2006.
At that time, it was the first large surface vessel to begin construction since the collapse
of the Soviet Union, an event which temporarily threw Russian shipbuilders and the military
industry as a whole into disarray.
Project 22350 gave Russian shipbuilders the challenging task of developing a fundamentally
new frigate, fitted with the latest 21st century technologies, many of them never used by the
Navy before.
In this video, Defense Updates analyzes WHY RUSSIAN ADMIRAL GORSHKOV CLASS FRIGATES CAN
EVEN TAKE OUT MUCH BIGGER DESTROYERS OF RIVALS?
Project 22350 is the successor of the Krivak class.
Unlike their Soviet-era predecessors the new ships are designed to perform multiple roles.
Military observers Andrei Kotz and Viktor Murakhovsky outline what capabilities the
advanced vessels will offer.
As RIA Novosti military observer Andrei Kotz recalled, the Admiral Gorshkov was designed
with universality in mind, with the “capability to combat surface ships and submarines with
equal effectiveness, attack land-based targets with high-precision weapons, resist aircraft
of the probable enemy, carry out reconnaissance by taking advantage of its low visibility
characteristics, and much more."
Russian Navy command remains confident about the promising vessels and their capabilities.
In 2016, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu confirmed that the Russian Navy would commission six
Project 22350 frigates by 2025.
Before that, the Navy said it hoped to receive over a dozen of the Admiral-series vessels
in the near future for service in the Arctic, the Atlantic, and the Mediterranean.
Speaking to RIA Novosti, Viktor Murakhovsky, editor-in-chief of Arsenal of the Fatherland
magazine, said that the Admiral Gorshkov is presently the most technologically sophisticated,
modern and impregnable surface ship in Russia’s arsenal.
The ship "effectively serves as a research institute," the observer noted.
“Since 2006, the Admiral Gorshkov has seen the testing of virtually all of the Navy's
latest technologies, from electronic equipment to anti-aircraft missile systems and artillery mounts."
Admiral Gorshkov has a length of 135 m and has a displacement of 5,400 tons when fully loaded.
It is powered by 2 10D49 cruise diesel engines.
The Admiral Gorshkov class are relatively fast ships, traveling up to 30 knots per hour,
with a range of close to 4,850 nmi (8,980 km) at 14 knots p/h cruising speed.
In autonomous navigation, the vessel’s 180-210 sailors and officers can remain at sea for
about a month before needing to resupply.
It has Furke-4 5P-27 main radar for Detection, tracking and targeting of air and surface
target.
the main radar is supplemented by Poliment 5P-20K 4 faced active phased array search,
tracking and guidance/management radar.
Moonlit 34K1 surface search radar is present for detect surface combatants.
Zaria M and Vinyetka towed array sonar are available to identify submarines.
The well equipped sensors provide the vessel will 360 degree view of its surrounding.
To date, 4 Project 22350 ships, including the Admiral Gorshkov, the Admiral Kasatonov,
the Admiral Golovko and the Admiral Isakov, are under different stages of development
. The first of the 3 have been launched and are undergoing trials, fitting out or the
final stages of construction work, and all are expected to be delivered before 2020.
At least 4 more ships have been ordered.
The Russian Navy has set a requirement for 20-30 such ships.
Admiral Gorshkov class vessels are designed to be nimble, relatively compact in size with
stealth characteristics aimed at making then hard to target.
The important aspect is that these have the ability to punch above their weight.
The Admiral Gorshkov’s main strike power is provided by its 16 vertical launch system
Kalibr or Oniks cruise missile-equipped cell launchers, with air defense assured via 32
Polimet-Redut seaborne missile complex cells.
Close-quarters defense consists of two Palash close-in support guns.
ASW defense is covered by four Packet-NK torpedo tubes.
Finally, a 130mm A-192M naval gun firing 45 rounds per minute provides shore bombardment support.
The ship’s weapons systems will be controlled by a new digital onboard information and control
system, complemented by cutting edge radio-electronic systems to keep tabs on approaching surface
ships and submarines.
It also has deck space for 1 Ka-27 series helicopter
The lethal offensive assets are the Oniks or Kalibr cruise missiles.
The P-800 Oniks is a Russian supersonic anti-ship cruise missile developed by NPO Mashinostroyeniya.
The missiles can carry nuclear or conventional warheads and can travel at distances up to
185 miles with the ability to skim along less than 30 feet above the ocean’s surface at
speeds of Mach 2.6.
The missile includes an inertial, active-passive radar seeker head which makes the missile
essentially autonomous once it’s launched.
It even has onboard EW countermeasures to resist jamming.
Kalibr missile has many variants.
3M54T (or 3M5431) is the anti-shipping variant is deployed by the Russian Navy, in a surface ship with
a VLS launched system . It has thrust vectoring booster enabling it
to have a range is 440–660 km (270–410 mi).
It is a Sea-skimmer with supersonic terminal speed of Mach 2.9 and a flight altitude of
just 4.6 meters (15 ft) at its final stage.
A simultaneous attack with 3 to 4 either P-800 Oniks or 3M54T (or 3M5431) Kalibr missiles could in all
probability penetrate the Anti Missile Defense systems of world’s best destroyers including
those of the American Aleigh Burke class destroyer as well as those of aircraft carriers like Nimitz class.
These relatively cost effective vessels , if build good numbers could provide Russia with
an effective surface fleet.