The Russian Navy will commission the second Admiral Grigorovich-class frigate Admiral Essen on May 27, Yantar Shipyard announced May 23.
Admiral Essen will be transferred to the Russian Navy a day before the flag-raising ceremony, Yantar added.
The Kaliningrad-based shipyard is responsible for the construction of six Project 11356 frigates for the Russian Navy. Of the six vessels, only three will be finished as gas turbine propulsion plants for the frigates were built by Ukrainian Zorya-Mashproyekt and were delivered only for the first three vessels.
Ukraine has refused to deliver the remaining three plants due to the Crimea conflict which means the other three vessels would be further delayed.
‘Admiral Essen’ was laid at the Yantar shipyard on July 8, 2011 and launched on November 7, 2014. The ship is equipped with a Kalibr-NK cruise missiles and the Shtil-1 medium-range surface-to-air missile system.
The lead ship of the project, ‘Admiral Grigorovich’, became a part of the Black Sea Fleet on March 11, 2016 , while the third vessel, Admiral Makarov started mooring tests in preparation for sea trials in June this year.
Project 11356 frigates are designed for anti-ship and anti-submarine warfare in the high seas, and anti-aircraft actions both independently and as an escort ship. Measuring 124,8 meters in length, the frigates displace 3620 tonnes.
According to the United Shipbuilding Corporation, the frigates will be embarking one Ка-28 or Ка-31 helicopter in hangar and feature the Russian-built Fregat-MAE-4k General detection and target designation radar designed for detection of air (including small-sized and flying at low altitude) and surface targets and output of target designation data to firing units.