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 f