On July 1, a new corvette of project 20385 - "Fast" was laid down at the Amur Shipbuilding Plant (NPP), the press service of the Pacific Fleet (Pacific Fleet) of the Russian Federation reported.

Corvette "Fast" is being built to replenish the fleet of the Pacific Fleet.

The lead ship of this project, the Thundering corvette, has also been serving in the Pacific Fleet since 2021.

Two more representatives of the project 20385 - the corvettes "Buyny" and "Reasonable" - in varying degrees of readiness are being built at the NEA for the Pacific Fleet, ”the message says.

The commander of the Pacific Fleet, Admiral Sergei Avakyants, took part in the solemn ceremony of laying the new ship.

He inspected the construction of all ships for the Pacific Fleet, carried out at the plant: small missile ships of project 22800 "Rzhev", "Udomlya", "Ussuriysk" and "Pavlovsk", corvettes of project 20380 "Grozny" and "Brave", as well as corvettes of the project 20385 "Violent" and "Reasonable".

At the end of 2022, the Project 20380 Rezkiy corvette, also built at the Amur Shipyard, will be handed over to the Pacific Fleet.

Earlier, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that in the period from 2024 to 2028, the Pacific Fleet will receive two project 20380 corvettes and four project 20385 corvettes. 

New opportunities

Project 20385 ships were developed by Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau.

These corvettes are designed for operations in the near sea zone and are designed to detect and destroy enemy submarines and ships, escort, provide landings and protect the coastal zone.

With a displacement of 2.2 thousand tons, the project 20385 corvette is 104.5 m long and 13 m wide. According to the developer, Bystry will be able to reach speeds of up to 27 knots (50 km/h).

The cruising range will be 3.5 thousand nautical miles (about 6.4 thousand km) with an autonomy of 15 days.

The main strike weapon of "Quick" will be the universal missile system "Caliber-NK".

Anti-aircraft defense will be provided by the Redut anti-aircraft missile system.

In addition, it is planned to equip the ship with the Paket-NK torpedo system.

In addition, project 20385 corvettes are armed with a 100-mm A-190 automatic artillery mount and two 30-mm AK-630M anti-aircraft guns.

Also, the Ka-27 anti-submarine helicopter can be based on the ships of this project.

According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, composite materials were actively used in the design of ships of this project, and the principle of reflective surfaces was used in architecture.

These solutions made it possible to significantly reduce radar and optical visibility, as well as the possibility of detecting an object by enemy submarines.

In addition, project 20385 corvettes are equipped with modern ship systems control systems and a wide range of radar systems.

In an interview with RT, Igor Korotchenko, editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine, noted that there are improvements in project 20385 corvettes that give them certain advantages over other ships of this class.

  • The ceremony of launching the corvette "Thundering" project 20385

  • RIA News

  • © Alexey Danichev

“The new corvettes are based on the principle of modular architecture, which allows them to install a wide range of different weapons.

In addition, these corvettes have more advanced electronic equipment, life support systems and combat stability, ”the expert emphasized.

According to Korotchenko, the planned construction of project 20385 corvettes is designed to upgrade the capabilities of the Pacific Fleet. 

“The Pacific Fleet needs to be updated, as it still has many Soviet ships whose service life is expiring.

The main task of the planned replacement is to massively saturate the fleet with modern ships of new projects, which include the Bystry corvette, the expert said.

Combat versatility 

Chairman of the Moscow Fleet History Club Konstantin Strelbitsky, in an interview with RT, noted that now corvettes are a very popular class of ships for any modern fleet.

“These are small but well-armed ships for anti-submarine warfare.

During the Second World War in the USSR, they were actively used to combat submarines, especially when escorting transport ships.

Modern corvettes are ships of the near sea zone, but, like all ships of the Navy, they are universal: both in terms of weapons systems and in terms of the range of tasks performed, ”the expert noted.

Strelbitsky stressed that during the Cold War, ships were designed mainly to solve one specific task, but this approach is already in the past. 

“Now the ships are smaller, and in order to reduce the cost of their creation, universalization is underway for the tasks that they can perform.

A corvette like Bystry can operate independently, or it can provide air defense to other ships or launch missile attacks on enemy ships and coastal targets, ”the expert explained.

"Fast" will be equipped with advanced weapons, including strike missile weapons, the RT interlocutor added.

For example, instead of the Kh-35 Uran anti-ship missiles, more long-range and versatile Caliber-NK systems are installed on project 20385 corvettes.

At the same time, new ships are being created taking into account the fact that all the various control systems, weapons and electronic warfare must effectively interact with each other, Strelbitsky noted.

“When equipping a ship with various systems, the main thing is that they do not interfere with each other.

Interoperability between all electronic systems is required.

All this is improved during the operation of ships that are already part of the fleet, and then the experience gained is applied in new projects, in such ships as the Bystry.

There is a modernization and adjustment of various systems under real conditions.

A lot of experience, for example, was gained as part of the operation in Syria, where Russian ships launched missile attacks on ground targets, ”the expert said.

Any new ship expands the capabilities of the Russian naval forces, and they will grow even more as new corvettes enter service, Konstantin Strelbitsky added.

“Modern ships of project 20385 will also be modernized in the future, equipped with new advanced weapons and control systems,” the expert concluded.