Russia launches second Project 18280 intelligence-gathering ship

Russian Navy’s second Project 18280 intelligence-gathering ship Ivan Khurs was launched during a ceremony held at St. Petersburg’s Severnaya Verf Shipyard on May 16.

Ivan Khurs is the second of overall four planned vessels in the Yury Ivanov-class.

Ivan Khurs is set to start mooring trials by the end of this month while the crew is expected to board the ship by July.

According to Severnaya Verf Shipyard, builder’s sea trials are expected to start in September with delivery to the Russian Navy before the end of the year.

Speaking at the launching ceremony, the shipyard’s general director noted the Russian Navy was expecting to receive four Admiral Gorskov-class frigates from the shipyard by 2025.

Named after Russian Vice-Admiral Ivan Khurs, the vessel is 95 meters long and displaces 4000 tons. It has a cruising range of 8000 nautical miles and is crewed by 131 sailors.

Project 18280 ships are used for signals intelligence (SIGINT) and electronic warfare in addition to fleet management roles. Leadship Yury Ivanov was launched in September 2013 and entered service with the Northern Fleet in July 2015.