New destroyers for the Russian Navy?

Russian news outlets reported on Thursday May 9 the existence of plans to build a new variant of the Project 22350 Admiral Gorshkov class frigates which are currently in service in the Russian Navy. The new variant is to increase in size to a water displacement of 7.000 tons, compared to the 4.500 tons of the current Admiral Gorshkov class. At the same time, the amount of missile launchers on board of the new variant is to increase to a total of 48 Vertical Launch System (VLS) cells, a significant increase compared to the current modern frigates that Russia is building. According to Russian media outlets, a total of 12 ships of this new variant are to be constructed with the first ship entering service in 2027. A finalization of the contract is expect by the end of 2019.

Project 22350, commonly known as the Admiral Gorshkov class, is one of the few modern classes of frigates that Russia is currently building. The lead ship, RFS Admiral Gorshkov, has proven itself to be a capable frigate with ocean-going capabilities. Russia envisions constructing a total of four Gorshkov frigates, with the later two being a different variant with an increased weapon capacity. These frigates are modern vessels used to modernize the Russian surface forces as well as allowing Russian ship builders to maintain their expertise in building modern vessels. These construction programs inevitably transform the Russian Navy away from a blue water navy and change into a green water navy which can only project power in nearby maritime regions but lack the range and endurance for global power projection.
 
RFS Admiral Gorshkov

Russian shipbuilders are currently developing a new and larger variant, named Project 22350M, with a water displacement of 7.000 tons, a significant increase compared to the 4.500 tons of the current Gorshkov class frigates. With a displacement of 7.000 tons, the new ships are technically better classed as destroyers instead of frigates. The larger size of these warships allow them to carry more provisions and personnel which increases both the range and endurance of these warships compared to frigates. The larger size also allows these ships to deploy  more weapons systems, most notably in the form of launching cells for cruise missiles. The new variants are expected to be equipped with 48 VLS cells, a significant increase compared to the first two Gorshkov frigates which only have 16 VLS cells. The last two frigates of Project 22350 are planned to increase the amount of VLS cells to 24. As such, the new larger warships of Project 22350M will be able to carry two to three times more missiles compared to their smaller cousins of Project 22350.

Future blue water capacity
No final contract for the construction of Project 22350M warships is currently awarded to any Russian shipbuilder. Current plans however envision the construction of 12 Project 22350M vessels in order to strengthen the Russian Navy starting from 2027 onward. These destroyers would create a potent blue water navy capability for the Russian Navy in order to project power beyond its regional maritime zones. The construction of the Project 22350M destroyers also follow the set goals of the Russian armed forces which foresaw the replacement of its Krivak IV and Sovremenny class destroyers by vessels of the Admiral Gorshkov class. By creating destroyer –sized Gorshkov class vessels, the Russian Navy will be able to replace these aging vessels without the loss of combat capabilities or power projection capabilities.
Proposed design of Project 22350M

The project 22350M vessels will not only allow Russia to maintain its blue water navy capabilities, they also allow Russia to deploy modern missiles in sufficient numbers to maintain the naval balance of power with western forces, the exception being US, Japanese and South Korean destroyers with their larger displacements and subsequent more room for VLS cells. Russia however is taking a different approach, seeking to develop quality over quantity. The development of Kalibr and Zircon cruise missiles is more aimed to offset the numerical advantage of Russia’s maritime adversaries. By using missile with longer ranges and higher speeds, Russian warships should be able to engage their opponents from further away, staying out of the engagement range of their adversaries. The hypersonic speeds of the Zircon missiles should make interception of these missiles more difficult for US defense systems, forcing US warships to launch more missiles in defense and thus reduce the amount of missiles available for returning fire.

A systematic approach
The development of Project 22350 and the subsequent 22350M appears to follow the same pattern used by the Chines People’ Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in the development of their modern frigates and destroyers. The PLAN was known to develop several small batches of different variants, each batch including a further improvement, before constructing and operating a final design. The development of the Type 052D destroyers used by the PLAN resembles the same way Russia is currently building its frigates and develop them in more potent warships. The first two Project 22350 frigates can be considered as starting designs with improvements in weapon capacity incorporated in the following two vessels. The project is now further expanded into a larger design which allows Russian shipbuilders to maintain their current level of expertise and expand their skills in the development and construction of larger warships.

Popular posts from this blog

Russian Naval deployments during the Ukraine War

Image
March 17, 2022 At least six Russian warships were observed near Odessa. The warships maintained their distance and operated on the horizon. March 16, 2022 Several vessels entered the port of Sevastopol including the patrol vessel Vasily Bykov. The Bykov was rumored to be struck and sunk by a Ukrainian grad MLRS barrage near Odessa on March 07 dough this was never officially confirmed.  The visual confirmation of the vessel entering the port of Sevastopol undamaged indicates that if an MLRS attack took place, it did not struck the Bykov. Ropucha class landing vessel Kondopoga of the northern fleet allegedly also entered the port of Sevastopol. March 15, 2022 Several Russian warships and landing ships were spotted on commercial satellite imagery during the morning hours. The vessels were heading in the direction of Odessa.  The vessel leading the formation of landing ships appears to be minesweeper with her sweeping array deployed. During the evening, around 90 missiles were reported fir
Read more

Russian forces in the Mediterranean - Wk20/2024

Image
Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at the morning of May-18 Weekly Brief A significant reduction in combat strength took place with the departure of Northern and Baltic Fleet warships as well as the Buyan-M class corvette Orekhovo-Zuyevo. This leaves the task force reduced to a detachment of the Pacific Fleet and the frigate Admiral Grigorovich.  The departure also included the two amphibious landing vessels, thus resulting in an end to maritime weapon shipments for Russian mercenary forces stationed in Libya. Daily Events May 11 Civilian oil tanker Okeansky Prospect entered the Mediterranean during the afternoon via the Strait of Gibraltar [ 1 ]. Weapons runner Sparta IV was anchored near Malta and would stay there until May 13th. Frigate Admiral Grigorovich was observed sailing near Sparta IV [ 2 ]. May 12 Logistic support vessel Vice-Admiral Paromov was observed entering the Mediterranean via the Strait of Gibraltar at 10.45 local time [ 3 ]. Russian oil tanker Vladimir Mon
Read more

Russian forces in the Mediterranean - Wk36/2024

Image
Task Force Composition As reported by OSINT at the morning of Sep-07 Weekly Brief Fleet oiler Akademik Pashin, most likely escorted by the frigate Neustrashimy, unexpectedly departed the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal. Their destination was not reported though several Russian interests are present in the region such as Sudan, Yemen and Iran. A long term Indian Ocean deployment appears to be unlikely since these deployments are almost always handled by vessels of Russia's Pacific Fleet. Improved Kilo class submarine Novorossiysk has been closing in on the Strait of Gibraltar. The submarine and her escorts could be entering the Mediterranean in Week 37. Daily Events September 02 Fleet oiler Akademik Pashin is reported 120 to 140 nautical miles from the entrance of the Suez Canal. The vessel is escorted by an unidentified frigate [ 1 ]. September 03 Satellite imagery of the port of Tartus confirmed the presence of Improved Kilo class submarine Ufa, frigate Admiral Grigorovich, Stere
Read more