On December 23, Kaliningrad hosted an admission ceremony for the newest large landing ship (BDK) of project 11711 "Pyotr Morgunov" to the Russian Navy.

This is reported by the Russian Ministry of Defense.

“During the ceremony, the order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy (Admiral Nikolai Evmenov. -

RT

)

was read out

on the ship's admission to the Navy.

Admiral Nikolay Evmenov presented the St. Andrew's flag to the commander of the large landing craft "Pyotr Morgunov" to the captain of the 2nd rank Vyacheslav Solovyov, which was then consecrated by the rector of the Cathedral of St. George, Archimandrite Sophronius, and raised on the ship's flagpole, "the message says.

As Evmenov stated at the ceremony, the Pyotr Morgunov large landing craft is "even more advanced than its predecessor, the large landing ship Ivan Gren, in a number of characteristics."

“We keep up with the times and with scientific and technological progress.

Each subsequent ship of this project, and currently two more ships are being built on the stocks of the Yantar plant, will embody new, innovative solutions.

Admission to the BDK "Pyotr Morgunov" once again testifies to the fact that we have successfully launched the construction of ships of large displacement of the ocean zone and the process of equipping the Russian fleet with these ships is underway, "Evmenov said.

According to the commander-in-chief, the construction of Project 11711 large amphibious ships "allows us to speak of a tangible increase in the capabilities of the Navy's amphibious landing craft."

“The large landing ship“ Pyotr Morgunov ”will significantly enhance the surface component of the Northern Fleet and the effectiveness of the tasks assigned.

This is especially important in connection with the receipt of a new status by the Northern Fleet.

The crew at a high level of professionalism ensured all stages of testing of their ship and is ready to perform their duties as part of the fleet, ”emphasized Evmenov.

He also said that "Pyotr Morgunov" in 2021 "will make the transition to the place of permanent deployment - to the Northern Fleet." 

According to the Ministry of Defense, the ship is named in honor of the first Chevalier of the Order of Nakhimov I degree - the chief of the coastal defense of the Black Sea Fleet during the Great Patriotic War, Lieutenant General Pyotr Morgunov.

The ship was developed by OJSC "Nevskoe Design Bureau", and built by the Baltic shipyard "Yantar".

"Pyotr Morgunov" has a displacement of 5 thousand tons, it is equipped with modern crane equipment designed for loading equipment onto a ship.

In addition, the transportation of technical equipment can be carried out through the ramp (platform for landing troops ashore).

The ship will be able to take on board 13 tanks or more than 30 armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles.

In addition, there is the possibility of loading a reinforced marine battalion.

  • Solemn ceremony of admission to the Russian Navy of the newest large landing ship of project 11711 "Pyotr Morgunov"

  • © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

The vessel's cruising range is up to 4 thousand miles, which "will allow it to carry out tasks in the far sea zone."

Various types of shipborne helicopters can also be temporarily based on board the "Petr Morgunov".

Recall that in November, during state tests, the crew of this landing ship "completed the task of destroying a floating mine."

This was reported by the Russian Ministry of Defense.

“In the sea ranges of the Baltic Fleet, the ship's crew, together with industry representatives, fired from a 30-mm AK-630M artillery system at a simulated floating mine.

As a result of the shooting, the mock-up of a floating mine was successfully destroyed by small-caliber artillery fire, ”the department noted.

According to the Defense Ministry, at the previous stages of testing, the ships and vessels of the Baltic Fleet "provided artillery firing of the BDK at sea targets, and the aircraft and helicopters of the naval aviation of the fleet flew around the ship, imitating the actions of the air conditional enemy at different speeds, altitudes and distances.

These maneuvers were needed, among other things, to check the radio-technical armament of the ship and radar stations of the air defense systems, as well as to carry out firing at air targets, the Ministry of Defense said.

Landing project

It is worth noting that "Pyotr Morgunov" is the second ship of Project 11711, which, as the Ministry of Defense noted, became "the latest development of Project 1171, according to which PSZ Yantar built a series of 14 ships in the 1960s-1970s."

The lead large landing ship of Project 11711 is Ivan Gren.

This vessel was included in the Russian Navy in June 2018.

As the Ministry of Defense reported at the time, the ship demonstrated "good seaworthiness and well-coordinated work of all life support systems" during her outings and interbase transitions.

"The result of the tests was confirmation of the full compliance of its tactical and technical characteristics with the specification data of the technical project," the ministry said in a statement.

In April last year, within the framework of Project 11711, the laying of the next two large landing ships of Project 11711 - Vasily Trushin and Vladimir Andreev - took place at the Yantar shipyard in Kaliningrad.

As the Ministry of Defense reported, all Project 11711 landing ships "are intended for the landing of troops, transportation of equipment and machinery."

“They can accommodate 13 main tanks, 36 armored personnel carriers or infantry fighting vehicles, or 300 airborne troops.

In service are six-barreled automatic cannons of 30 mm caliber.

The length of the ship is 120 m, the width is 16.5 meters, ”the ministry said in a statement.

"Flexible tool"

As military expert Alexei Leonkov noted in a commentary on RT, the acceptance of "Petr Morgunov" into the Navy is an indicator that "Russia is successfully updating its fleet of amphibious ships, and the military is carrying out a fleet rearmament program."

“Such a vessel will help to solve extremely important tasks.

Ships of this kind are necessary, since the requirements for air strike groups are currently changing: mobility, modern weapons are needed, so that they can carry out missions to capture bridgeheads.

And this requires modern landing ships, such as "Pyotr Morgunov", "Ivan Gren" - they carry out these installations, "- said the analyst.

As Vladimir Prokhvatilov, an expert from the Academy of Military Sciences, said in a conversation with RT, the newest large amphibious ships are needed "to project military force into remote areas."

  • Military of the Russian Navy and members of the Yunarmiya movement

  • globallookpress.com

  • © MOD Russia

“I highly appreciate the efforts of the Russian military in this direction.

We build what we need.

Russia, of course, needs a balanced navy, and large landing ships are one of the most important parts of such a fleet, ”he said.

The newest amphibious assault ships of Project 11711 are designed to perform tasks that will be assigned to the expeditionary forces of the Russian Navy, Leonkov explained.

“This takes into account various kinds of scenarios.

But the main thing for these ships is not just to land a landing force, but also to provide them with fire support.

It is clear that the expeditionary forces will include not only ships of Project 11711, but also other modern corvettes and frigates, which are now being used by the Russian Navy, ”the analyst said.

Ivan Konovalov, a military expert, development director of the 21st Century Technology Assistance Fund, in turn, said that the ships of Project 11711 are "what the Russian fleet now needs."

“It is very gratifying to see how our naval forces are developing.

"Pyotr Morgunov" and other ships of the project will become indispensable in combat operations in remote theaters of military operations, "he said.

Leonkov added that an extremely important feature of the Project 11711 ships is the possibility of their further modernization.

“Russia will not just create a ship with fixed functions for decades to go with the same configuration.

The goal is to change this configuration based on the current combat missions.

Thus, these ships will become a flexible tool in the hands of Russian military leaders, which will be able to solve problems in the near and far sea zone, ”the analyst concluded.