Corvette "Sharp" project 20380, built for the Pacific Fleet, entered the factory sea trials. 

“Within a few days, the shipbuilders, together with the crew, will check the operation of navigation equipment, power plants, assess the controllability and stability of the corvette,” TASS quoted the press service of the Amur Shipbuilding Plant, which is part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation.

Also, during the tests, seaworthiness, maneuverability and driving performance will be checked and the reliability of the entire complex of equipment and mechanisms of the corvette will be evaluated, the Amur Shipyard noted.

Now the galley is working on the ship and the crew of the corvette and the employees of the plant are already living.

Previously, "Sharp" was fully prepared for the start of sea trials.

After state tests, the corvette will be transferred to the Russian Navy.

updated version

Project 20380 ships are multi-purpose corvettes of the near sea zone.

Their development was carried out in the late 1990s and early 2000s by the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau in St. Petersburg.

Corvette "Sharp" was laid down at the Amur Shipyard in 2016 on the day of the 80th anniversary of the enterprise.

He left the stocks in July 2021, and in November he was delivered to Vladivostok to prepare for testing.

These corvettes are designed to detect and destroy enemy ships and submarines in the near sea zone, ensure amphibious landings and patrol coastal waters.

In the deck hangar, the Ka-27 ship helicopter is based on the corvette.

The length of the ship is 104.5 m, width - 13 m, draft - 7.95 m. Total displacement - 2.2 thousand tons.

The main two-shaft diesel power plant of the ship consists of two DDA12000 units with a capacity of 12 thousand liters each.

with.

It provides the corvettes with a full speed of up to 27 knots (50 km/h).

When designing these ships, special attention was paid to reducing the noise level of the mechanisms of the power plant, which made it possible to reduce the visibility of the ship in the hydroacoustic range.

The range of the corvettes is up to 3.5 thousand nautical miles (about 6.4 thousand km) with a navigation autonomy of 15 days.

Crew - 99 people.

The main strike armament of the Project 20380 ships is the Uran complex with the Kh-35 cruise missile.

According to open sources, it is capable of hitting warships and transport ships with a displacement of up to 5,000 tons.

The ship is also equipped with the Redut sea-based anti-aircraft missile system.

  • Project 20380 corvette under construction

  • globallookpress.com

  • © MOD Russia

Auxiliary weapons are the A-190 artillery system of 100 mm caliber and AK-630M artillery mounts of 30 mm caliber.

In addition, the corvette is equipped with two torpedo tubes for launching Paket anti-submarine torpedoes.

Corvette "Sharp" is being built in accordance with the updated version of project 20380, which has improved capabilities for detecting and destroying air targets.

So, "Sharp" received the "Barrier" radar, capable of detecting not only aircraft and helicopters, but also more complex targets - cruise missiles, drones and artillery shells.

In the near zone

Project 20380 corvettes did not go unnoticed by the Western military expert community.

The American military-political magazine The National Interest published several materials devoted to these ships, in which they compared Russian corvettes with similar tasks to the intertidal ships of the US Navy.

Thus, in the article “The latest Russian project 20380 corvettes are a tool for demonstrating force in the Pacific,” the publication notes that the new ships of this series will significantly enhance the operational capabilities of the Russian fleet in the region.

Russia is stealthily strengthening its navy, equipping surface ships with new types of weapons and creating new corvettes, virtually invisible to radar, designed specifically for operations in the Pacific Ocean.

  • Material from The National Interest publication “The latest Russian project 20380 corvettes are a tool for demonstrating strength in the Pacific Ocean”

  • © The National Interest

The authors of The National Interest note that "Project 20380 corvettes have the qualities and weapons that allow them to perform tasks in any oceanic environment."

Military expert Alexei Leonkov, in a conversation with RT, noted that the main task of the Rezkiy corvette and other Project 20380 ships would be to protect Russia's borders and important areas in the Pacific coastal zone in the Far East.

“Their main armament is the Uran complex with X-35 guided anti-ship cruise missiles, which are designed to destroy destroyer-class ships.

These missiles have a range of 280 km, while flying along a complex trajectory in order to avoid being hit by enemy air defense systems and ensure that the target is hit.

Ships of this class usually operate as part of strike groups performing combat missions in the near sea zone, ”said the interlocutor of RT.

It is highly likely that in the future these corvettes can be equipped with universal launchers, Alexey Leonkov believes.

“In the future, all ships will be equipped with such universal installations that it will be possible to launch not only Caliber, but also Onyx missiles and Zircon hypersonic missiles.

If such installations are not mounted on them now, then this will be done in the future during the modernization, ”the military expert explained.

Corvette "Sharp" will protect other ships of the strike group from air attack, as well as suppress surface ships and submarines of a potential enemy, Alexey Leonkov added.

"Sharp" has all the necessary weapons to effectively deal with warships of a potential enemy, Konstantin Strelbitsky, chairman of the Moscow Fleet History Club, said in an interview with RT.

“Thanks to strike weapons, this corvette can cope with most of the combat missions facing the Navy in the modern maritime theater of operations,” the source said.

  • Corvette "Boikiy" project 20380

  • globallookpress.com

  • © MOD Russia

The entry of "Sharp" to the Pacific Fleet will enhance its capabilities, giving it a new combat unit that will be relevant in the coming decades, Strelbitsky explained.

“Thanks to the universalization of the Navy, any new ship is, by definition, better than a ship of previous projects.

By Soviet standards, the service life of a surface ship is 25 years, and that of a submarine is 15 years.

After that comes the so-called technical aging.

Therefore, the service life of a number of excellent Soviet ships has really come to an end.

Our fleet needs new ships, and the Rezky corvette is an indicator that the Russian military industry continues to develop.

Moreover, this is not a single experimental ship, but a serial one.

This means that the power of the Navy will grow consistently, ”the expert concluded.