During the Cold War, the great powers stepped up the arms race
and the mysterious submarines lurking under the water were quite a scary thing for the enemy
American submarines posed a clear threat to the Soviet Kiev-class aircraft carriers and Kirov-class battlecruisers
In response, the Soviet Union designed a class that could find and destroy NATO submarines
Udaloy-class destroyer was born.
It has a number of abilities that can give nightmares to enemy submarines
And to this day, the Udaloy class is still active in the Russian Navy, and is a formidable threat to the West
The Udaloy class anti-submarine guided missile destroyers, Russian designations Project 1155 Fregat and Project 11551 Fregat-M
Twelve ships were built between 1980 and 1991, while the thirteenth ship built to a modified design, known as Udaloy II class, followed in 1999
They complement the Sovremenny-class destroyers in anti-aircraft and anti-surface warfare operations
The ship has a full load displacement of 7,570 tons
an overall length of 163m (534.77 ft), a beam of 19.3m (63.3 ft) and a draft of 6.2m (20.34 ft).
The ship’s hull is made of steel, has an elongated forecastle, a large camber of frames in the bow and a double bottom along its entire length
The internal premises of the hull are separated by refractory bulkheads, non-combustible materials are widely used inside the ship
In the middle and aft parts of the hull of the ship are 3 groups of superstructures
aluminum-magnesium alloys are widely used
In the aft superstructure there are two helicopter hangars
The ship is equipped with a combined gas and gas propulsion system feeding 2 shafts 4 gas turbines, providing total of 120,000 horsepower
The use of the combined gas and gas propulsion system
allows the ship to have a smaller footprint and also better fuel efficiency at cruise speed than other propulsion systems
The ship can reach a maximum speed of 35 knots, the range can reach 10,500 nauticalmiles at 14 knots, the standard crew is 300 sailors
The Udaloy class was based on the Krivak-class anti-submarine vessel, with its unevenly massive superstructure blocks and relatively low profile mast works
Right in front of the deck was two 100mm AK-100 gunships
The AK-100 is a Russian-built 100mm naval cannon, with a maximum rate of fire of 60 rounds per minute
firing a 26.8 kg munition in high explosive fragmentation
The Udaloy-class is equipped with eight SS-N-14 anti-submarine missiles, which can be used against surface ships as well as anti-submarines
These missiles have an effective range of 5 to 50 km and are located in 2 launchers on either side of the bridge
SA-N-9 surface-to-air missiles are mounted in vertical launch systems to cope with aerial threats
It also carries two quad launchers for 533mm torpedoes which can hit targets 15 to 20km away
RBU-6000 anti submarine rockets are used for self defense against torpedoes and frogmen while being the last weapon to be fired at a submarine
The vessel was supplemented by 4 Ak-630 close-in weapon system
The stern on the other hand can support 2 helicopters in 2 hangars along with a heli-pad
Helicopters are essential for long range sub-hunting and the primary Soviet sub-hunting helicopter was the Ka-27
It is equipped with sono-buoys and dipping sonar to hunt for subs and medium torpedoes to kill them
The Udaloy class is equipped with MR-760MA Fregat-MA 3-D air search radar and MR-320M Topaz-V surface search radar
In addition, the ship is also equipped with Horse Tail LF VDS sonar and Horse Jaw bow mounted LF sonar
The fire control system includes 2 MR-360 Podkat, 2 3P37 SA-N-11 SAM control, Garpun-BAL SSM targeting
Electronic warfare & decoys includes Bell Squat jammer, Bell Shroud intercept, Bell Crown intercept
This system includes decoy launchers, decoding missiles, control panels and radars
It deceives anti-ship missiles by distributing electronic and optical lures
The ship was fitted with 2 PK-2 decoy RL
In 2020 it was suggested that a total of eight Project 1155 vessels would be upgraded to the same standard
though work on the remaining three units would extend beyond 2022
In addition to overhauling their radio-electronic warfare and life support systems
they will receive modern missile complexes to fire P-800 Oniks and Kalibr cruise missiles
The ships are to have their service life extended by 30 years until sufficient numbers of Admiral Gorshkov-class frigates are commissioned