Hello everyone, welcome back again with us at Military TV.
For today we will discuss another episode about Udaloy II class of anti-submarine destroyers
from Soviet Union. The Udaloy class, Russian designations Project
1155 Fregat and Project 11551 Fregat-M, are anti-submarine destroyers were built for the
Russian Navy between 1980 and 1999. As of 2010, eight destroyers were in service. Two
vessels Project 1155 Fregat I (Udaloy I) and Project 1155.1 Fregat II (Udaloy II) were
designed by Russian state-owned company Severnoye Design Bureau. They complement the Sovremennyy-class
destroyers in anti-aircraft and anti-surface warfare operations. The codename Udaloy comes
from an archaic Russian adjective, meaning daring or bold.
The Udaloy II is a modified version of Udaloy I. Twelve Udaloy I and one Udaloy II-class
vessels were built at Severnaya Verf and Yantar Shipyards. The Udaloy I-class ships were commissioned
between 1980 and 1991 while the first ship in the Udaloy II class, Admiral Chabanenko
(BPK 650), was commissioned in 1999. The second, Admiral Basisty, was scrapped during construction.
The Udaloy II Class is designed to balance the anti-submarine and anti-ship capabilities.
Only eight Udaloys are in service today, but they still give Russia a capable anti-submarine
platform. The Project 1155 dates to the 1970s when it
was concluded that it was too costly to build large-displacement, multi-role combatants.
The concept of a specialized surface ship was developed by Soviet designers. Two different
types of warships were laid down which were designed by the Severnoye Design Bureau: Project
956 destroyer and Project 1155 large anti-submarine ship. The Udaloy class are generally considered
the Soviet equivalent of the American Spruance-class destroyers. There are variations in SAM and
air search radar among units of the class. Based on the Krivak class, the emphasis on
anti-submarine warfare (ASW) left these ships with limited anti-surface and anti-air capabilities.
In 2015, the Russian Navy initially announced that five out of the eight Project 1155 ships
will be refurbished and upgraded as part of the Navy modernization program by 2022. In
2020 it was suggested that a total of eight Project 1155/1155.1 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. Upgrades will include replacing the Rastrub-B
Silex missiles with 3S-24 angling launchers fitted with four 3S-34 containers using the
3M-24/SS-N-25 Switchblade anti-ship missile, and two 3S-14-1155 universal VLS with 16 cells
for Kalibr land attack, anti-ship, and anti-submarine cruise missiles in place of one of the AK-100
guns. The destroyer has an overall length of 163m,
a beam of 19.3m and a draught of 6.2m. The displacement of the ship is 7,570 tons full
load, it has a maximum speed of 35 knots and a range of 10,500 nautical miles at 14kt.
Now let's have a look at its armament. The destroyers are armed with eight SS-N-14
anti-submarine missiles and Kinzhal vertical launchers for SA-N-9 surface-to-air missiles,
where SA-N-9 missile can intercept aerial targets within a range of 12km. It is also
equipped with eight SS-N-22 Sunburn anti-ship missiles. A twin-barrel 100mm naval gun and
four 30mm Gatling guns are mounted on the vessel. The ship has an Altair CADS-N-1 Kashtan
CIWS to defend anti-ship missiles, anti-radar missiles and guided bombs. There are also
two RBU-6000 213mm-calibre anti-submarine rocket launchers fitted on the ship. The Udaloy
II is armed with a twin 130mm gun and SAM CIWS /Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-6-30 30mm cannons.
About the ship's torpedoes, the Udaloy I Class is fitted with two 553mm torpedo tubes launching
eight Type-53 anti-submarine torpedoes. These tubes have been retained in the Udaloy II,
and can be used to fire SS-N-15 missiles. The UDAV-1 anti-torpedo weapon system on board
the Udaloy II provides a multi-layer defence against torpedoes. In addition, the ship has
an aft flight deck and two helicopter hangars to support the operations of two Ka-27 Helix-A
ASW helicopters. The hangar doors serve as a ramp to the flight deck.
Whereas its propulsion, the Udaloy is equipped with a combined gas and gas propulsion system.
Two M62 cruise gas turbines and two M8KF boost gas turbines drive two propellers through
two independent shafts. These turbines deliver a total of 60,000 shaft horsepower.
For the sensors and radars, the Udaloy II also equipped with more capable sonars, an
integrated air defense fire control system, and a number of digital electronic systems
based on state-of-the-art circuitry. The original MGK-355 Polinom integrated sonar system (with
NATO reporting names Horse Jaw and Horse Tail respectively for the hull mounted and towed
portions) on Udaloy-I ships is replaced by its successor, a newly designed Zvezda M-2
sonar system that has a range in excess of 100 kilometers in the 2nd convergence zone.
The Zvezda sonar system is considered by its designers to be the equivalent in terms of
overall performance of the AN/SQS-53 on US destroyers, though much bulkier and heavier
than its American counterpart: the length of the hull mounted portion is nearly 30 meters.
The torpedo approaching warning function of the Polinom sonar system is retained and further
improved by its successor. Radars include a MR-760MA Fregat-MA / Top Plate 3-D air search
radar and a MR-320M Topaz-V / Strut Pair air / surface search radar.
In short, Modernizing the Udaloy class destroyers is a very sincere project for the Russian
Navy in order to maintain their blue water navy capabilities. New modern weapon systems
and sensors will aid the Russian Navy in the field of logistics as the Udaloy's can benefit
from the ongoing standardization within the Russian Navy. The new VLS cells will redesignate
these vessels as multi-purpose vessels, rather than pure anti-submarine platforms.
The biggest challenge to the entire project are the state of the power plants and the
lack of spare plants and possibilities for a complete replacement. Repairs will keep
the Udaloy's running but it will only last them so far. As for now, it appears that modernizing
the Udaloy's is a temporary solution to keep the blue water navy capabilities until the
shipyards are done building corvettes and frigates and are ready for building new destroyers.
This will most likely be achieved in the 2030-2035 timeframe.
Thanks for watching and see you in another episode of destroyer ship.