In 2023, the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation will receive three small missile ships (MRKs) of the 22800 Karakurt project, the commander of this operational-strategic association, Vice Admiral Viktor Sokolov, said in an interview with the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper.

"In 2023, it is planned to accept into the fleet three of the latest RTOs of the Karakurt series, armed with high-precision missile weapons, as well as a new patrol ship," the military commander said.

Sokolov did not specify which ship he was talking about, but experts believe that the commander of the Black Sea Fleet was referring to the patrol ship of the 22160 project.

"This is definitely a project 22160 vessel. Four such patrol ships are already in service and are serving in the Black Sea Fleet. In total, the Black Sea Fleet should receive six such "patrolmen". Thus, by the end of the year, the St. Andrew's flag will rise on the fifth ship of the 22160 project, "said Dmitry Zhavoronkov, a fleet historian and executive director of the Mechanical Engineering News portal, in an interview with RT.

According to information from open sources, earlier the Black Sea Fleet received four ships of the 22160 series: Vasily Bykov, Dmitry Rogachev, Pavel Derzhavin and Sergey Kotov. It is expected that the next will be "Victor the Great".

According to Dmitry Zhavoronkov, these patrol ships were conceived to work in the near sea zone.

"Their task is to patrol, escort and guard. The project is distinguished by a number of innovations and the application of the principle of modularity. The latter is very important in the context of the possible modernization of the ship and increasing its strike capabilities, "the analyst emphasized.

  • Commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral Viktor Sokolov
  • © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

In an interview with Krasnaya Zvezda, Viktor Sokolov added that the ships of the Black Sea Fleet take part in a special military operation, perform combat and special tasks. In particular, during the NMD, Kalibr sea-based missiles attacked more than 180 important enemy targets.

"Frigates, small missile ships and submarines of the Black Sea Fleet, armed with Kalibr missile systems, attacked more than 180 critical enemy targets. The main targets were radar stations of air defense systems, points of temporary deployment of units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, warehouses of missile and artillery weapons, oil depots, fuel depots, air bases, railway stations, "said the commander of the Black Sea Fleet.

From "Mytishchi" to "Ussuriysk"

Recall that the 22800 project was developed by specialists from the St. Petersburg Central Marine Design Bureau (CMDB) "Almaz". At one time, military expert Alexander Mozgovoy on the air of the Zvezda TV channel noted that the Karakurts were designed to replace the Soviet missile boats of the 12411 Molniya project, the 12341 Gadfly RTOs and the patrol frigates of the 11356 Petrel project.

As noted on the website of the Central Design Bureau, the ships of the 22800 series are designed to destroy critical enemy targets in the coastal zone, destroy combat surface ships, ships and boats independently and in cooperation with other forces, as well as to destroy artificial stationary and floating enemy targets. In addition, the Karakurts can repel air attack weapons.

According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the superstructures and hull of these ships are made using technologies of reduced reflectivity, which reduces the radar visibility of RTOs.

  • Small rocket ship "Odintsovo" project 22800 "Karakurt"
  • RIA Novosti
  • © Ilya Pitalev

The length of the small rocket ship reaches 67 m, width - 11 m. Displacement in various versions ranges from 860 to 900 tons The ship can reach a maximum speed of up to 35 knots (65 km / h). The cruising range ranges from 2,5 thousand to 2,8 thousand miles. The crew size is 39 people.

According to analysts, the main weapon of these RTOs is the 3S14 universal shipborne rifle complex, designed for eight Kalibr sea-based cruise missiles. Alternatively, the ships can be equipped with a similar number of Onyx anti-ship missiles.

In addition to missile armament, the ships of the 22800 series are equipped with AK-176MA artillery mounts. Also, the Karakurts have two naval pedestal machine gun mounts of 14,5 mm caliber and the Pantsir-ME and Igla-S air defense systems. In addition, the ship can be equipped with anti-aircraft missile and artillery systems "Kashtan-M" and "Palma".

It is worth noting that these ships can also be produced in the export version of the 22800E "Karakurt-E". In this modification, other weapons can be installed, including Russian-Indian BrahMos cruise missiles or Yakhont anti-ship missiles (export version of Onyx).

"Karakurts" are produced at several enterprises: the Pella shipyard (Leningrad Region), the Zelenodolsk plant named after A.M. Gorky (Tatarstan), the Amur Shipyard (Khabarovsk Territory) and the Zaliv shipyard (Crimea).

The first two RTOs of this series - "Mytishchi" and "Sovetsk" - were laid down on December 24, 2015 at the Pella plant. The ships were transferred to the Ministry of Defense in 2018 and 2019. Later, the construction of RTOs "Odintsovo", "Kozelsk", "Okhotsk", "Whirlwind" and "Storm" began at this enterprise. The ships produced by the Pella plant are intended for the Baltic Fleet.

For the Black Sea Fleet, ships are being built by the Zelenodolsk Shipyard named after A.M. Gorky and the Kerch Shipyard named after B.E. Butoma. In 2022, it was reported about the start of state tests of the Cyclone ship intended for the Black Sea Fleet. At different stages of construction are "Askold", "Amur", "Cloud" and "Typhoon".

In turn, the Amur Shipyard builds ships for the Pacific Fleet. According to the plans, the company will supply the Pacific Fleet with four RTOs in the coming years: Rzhev, Udomlya, Pavlovsk and Ussuriysk.

  • Project 22160 patrol ship "Dmitry Rogachev"
  • RIA Novosti
  • © Vitaliy Tymkiv

"The main striking force"

According to Dmitry Zhavoronkov, "Karakurts" with relatively small dimensions have serious combat capabilities.

"In the arsenal of these RTOs there are eight vertical launch installations with Caliber or Onyx. In total, it is planned to build more than 20 ships of this type, which will significantly increase the strike potential of the Navy in the near sea zone, "the expert noted.

Zhavoronkov also drew attention to the fact that all the key components of Karakurt are produced in Russia.

"Power plants, ship equipment and other elements are produced at domestic enterprises. I would also like to note that the Karakurts are relatively inexpensive vessels. At the same time, they are being built quickly enough, and at several shipyards, "the specialist explained.

In turn, the chairman of the Moscow Club of Fleet History, Konstantin Strelbitsky, believes that "small missile ships will be the main striking force of the Russian Navy."

"These ships are armed with missile weapons, which are already being used by the Black Sea Fleet as part of the NWO. This is the special value of RTOs data, "the analyst said in an interview with RT.

The replenishment of the fleet with new ships in the conditions of the NWO is of particular importance, experts say.

"The total total salvo that three new Karakurt missiles can produce is 24 missiles. This increases the strike potential of the fleet, which is extremely important in the conditions of ongoing hostilities. The new "patrolman", in turn, will strengthen the ability to escort ships and vessels, as well as to protect the state border, "concluded Dmitry Zhavoronkov.