Russia sets to improve the Ivan Gren-class

Russia recently announced that it plans to build two more Ivan Gren-class ships for its navy. Both ships are reported to be upgraded versions of the current RFS Ivan Gren, the sole ship of its class. The upgrades were not specified but are to be made in the fields of ship maneuverability, readiness during sea transit, crew habitability and the ergonomics of the ship.

RFS Ivan Gren Landing Ship Tank

Though details of the upgrades are unknown, the identified fields give us an insight of the next two Russian amphibious assault ships. First, there is no evidence to suggest that the Ivan Gren-class will undergo significant structural changes. The ship is designed to be a landing tank ship capable of carrying 13 main battle tanks or 36 armored personnel carriers and transport around 300 marines. The transport capacity and her capabilities of landing these troops (through beaching herself and opening her bow doors) are expected to remain.

The upgrades are more to be expected to be in her capabilities to maneuver and will thus involve changes in her propulsion and steering gears. At the same time, the so called ergonomics of the ships are linked to maintenance, supply and habitability of the ship. One of the current trends in the Russian Navy is a standardization of naval systems, making repair and replacement of systems more streamlined. At the same time it allows sailors and technicians with a basic understanding of these standardized systems to work on a wider variety of ships.

The RFS Ivan Gren is currently the most modern amphibious assault ship in the Russian Navy and entered military service in June 2018. Construction of the ship started however as far as December 2004 but the hull itself was completed only by the end of November 2010. The long construction period is typical for this period as Russian shipyards struggled to find and keep experienced and talented ship builders and stay in operations following the financial collapse of the Soviet Union. In recent years, Russian shipyards seem to have picked up the speed of constructions and new ships are being designed and build faster compared to the 1990-2010 period. The RFS Petr Morgunov will be the second ship in the Ivan Gren class and is expected to be the first of the upgraded version of the ship. The ship was launched in May 2018, following a three year construction period, a significant reduction from the eight years of construction on the Ivan Gren.

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