Russia launches another Project 20380 stealth corvette

Russia’s Amur Shipbuilding Plant has launched Project 20380 corvette Gromkiy in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, five years after the ship’s construction officially started.

The corvette’s launch comes eight days after the Russian Navy commissioned sister-ship Sovershenny into the Pacific Fleet.

In a ceremony attended by Russian Navy and defense ministry officials and representatives of the Khabarovsk Krai district administration, Gromkiy was transferred from the ship hall into the water for further outfitting work and subsequent factory trials.

Gromkiy is the sixth corvette in the Steregushchiy-class and is expected to be delivered to the navy in 2018.

The ships are designed by the Almaz Central Marine Design bureau, and started entering service with the Russian Navy in 2007 when the first vessel in the class, the Steregushchy was commissioned.  Steregushchy-class corvettes served as the basis for the design of improved Gremyashchy-class and Project 2038.6 corvettes.

The corvettes displace 2,200 tons at full load and reach speeds of up to 27 knots. They are equipped with the Redut air defense system and the Uran anti-ship missile system, which is a ship-launched version of the Zvezda KH-35U subsonic cruise missile. The corvettes also feature a hangar and flight deck for the Ka-27 naval helicopter.