The new Russian “Thundering” corvette of project 20385 arrived in the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy, where it will undergo state tests. This was reported in the press service of the operational-strategic association.

“Today, the head corvette of project 20385, built at the Severnaya Verf shipyard in St. Petersburg, arrived at the White Sea Naval Base (Navy) of the Northern Fleet for state testing,” the statement reads on the official website of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

It is noted that the “Thundering” passed from the Baltic to the White Sea under difficult hydrometeorological conditions, which became a good test of the crew’s training. In the northern seas, the corvette was escorted by the rescue tug Nikolay Chiker and the forces of the White Sea Naval Forces, which will also participate in trials of the corvette in the White Sea.

At the end of October, “Thundering”, after sea trials, was at the Yantar plant in the Kaliningrad Region, at the temporary mooring site it was examined by Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

The commander of the ship, captain of the second rank, Roman Dovgailov, told the president and the head of the Ministry of Defense about the specifics of controlling the ship and its weapons. In a conversation with Vladimir Putin, the ship's commander said that the Thundering, equipped with high-precision Caliber missiles, could be equipped with the latest Zircon hypersonic missiles in the future. To which he received an affirmative answer from the head of state: “Zircon” will certainly be, ”the president assured.

Retired Colonel Viktor Litovkin, in an interview with RT, noted that equipping the Thundering with hypersonic missiles would not be difficult.

“Today, Zircon missiles are not provided for this corvette, but the launch container of the Caliber rocket, with certain modifications, may be suitable for the latest hypersonic missiles,” the expert explained.

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin during the inspection of the rattling corvette
  • RIA News
  • © Mikhail Klimentyev

“Fundamentally new technologies”

The 20385 multi-purpose corvette project was developed by the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau. “Thundering” is designed to detect and destroy enemy submarines and surface ships, to ensure landing, guard the coastal zone and escort other ships.

The corvette displacement is 2.2 thousand tons, the ship is 104 m long, 13 m wide. The “rattling” one can reach speeds of up to 27 knots (50 km / h), the cruising range is 3.5 thousand nautical miles (about 6 , 5 thousand km) with an autonomy of 15 days. The crew of 99 sailors provides the work of the ship.

In March 2018, in an interview with the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Sergei Avakyants said that in the coming years the Pacific Fleet would receive four such ships.

“In the“ Thundering ”corvette and in the subsequent“ Agile ”corvette, fundamentally new technologies and structural solutions were introduced. Among other things, these ships are the first in the Pacific Fleet carriers of the Caliber cruise missile complex ... In total, in the coming years we expect to adopt up to four corvettes with the optimal composition of weapons. The plans are to bring their total number to eight units, ”said Admiral Avakyants.

Project 20385 corvettes are armed with the A-190-01 100-mm automatic artillery mount, two 30-mm AK-630M anti-aircraft guns, Caliber-NK universal missile systems with 8 cruise missiles on board, and the Redut air defense system with a large the number of launch cells and the torpedo complex “Package-NK”.

In addition, project 20385 corvettes are equipped with a wide range of radar systems and electronic control systems for ship systems. So, the Sigma combat information and control system is installed on the Thundering Station, and the Furke-2 station detects the enemy at sea and in the air. The ship’s fire control system is paired with the Monument A guidance complex. Underwater targets are detected by Zarya and Minotaur tracking and detection stations.

Composite materials were actively used in the design of the ship, including non-combustible multilayer plastic, and the principle of reflective surfaces was used in the architecture of the main add-ons, which can significantly reduce radar and optical visibility. The same materials and principles were also applied in the design of the ship's hull, which reduces the possibility of its detection by submarines. All this significantly increases the “survivability” of the corvette, allowing the “Thundering” to identify ships of a potential enemy at great distances, while remaining outside the detection zone.

  • Corvette "Thundering"
  • © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

Unique multitasking

The tactical and technical characteristics and a wide range of weapons make the project 20385 corvettes truly multi-tasking ships compared to western ships of the same class, Viktor Litovkin notes.

“The Western sea powers have ships of this class, but they are not as armed as the Russian ones. In the United States, a variety of ships are included in strike carrier formations, so they do not need to have multifaceted weapons, such as anti-ship, anti-aircraft, anti-submarine. In Russia, almost all ships have several types of weapons in case of self-defense, ”Litovkin explained.

According to military expert Yuri Knutov, the main task of corvette class ships is to protect coastal zones.

“This ship is capable, among other things, of causing serious damage to the aircraft carrier American group, despite the fact that it is quite small in size. A corvette of this class is capable of solving the tasks of anti-submarine defense and supporting other ships, ”said the expert.

“Thundering” and other project 20385 corvettes are examples of advanced naval technology in action, Knutov added.

“These are ships that not only meet all modern requirements, but also represent the embodiment of tomorrow's technology. Moreover, they include the possibility of modernization, respectively, their launchers will subsequently be used for Zircon missiles, which will soon be put into service with the Russian army. Western maritime powers have corvettes, but Russian ships are the most modern in terms of electronics and missile weapons. The countries participating in NATO have ultramodern corvettes, but if we consider rocket weapons, then Russian ships are superior in their characteristics to their Western counterparts, ”the expert concluded.