Russian Navy - News and Analysis

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 rep...

TASS agency reported on February 17, 2021, that the latest vessels of Project 11711 Ivan Gren Class landing vessels will have a significant increase in displacement and carrying capacity. According to TASS agency, the vessels Vladimir Andreyev and Vasily Trushin will have a 40% increase in displacement which results in an increase of 100% in amphibious lift capacity for wheeled vehicles. The increase in both displacement and amphibious lift is achieved by increasing the dimensions, length and beam, of the vessels. Standard displacement is reported at 6.000 tons but the enlarged versions will thus have a displacement of around 8.400 tons. The machinery and power plant will be redesigned in order to cope with the additional weight. According to TASS, the new propulsion system will slightly increase the speed suggesting that these vessels will be faster then the 18 knots for the original vessels. As stated earlier, the amphibious lift capacity is increased with 100% though this is specif...

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...