Third serial corvette of Buyan-M class Veliky Ustyug undergoes tests in the Caspian Sea
The Caspian Flotilla commenced builder's sea trials of the Buyan-M class missile corvette (Project 21631) Veliky Ustyug. Sea trials are scheduled for completion in December 2014, RIA Novosti reports citing the Southern Military District.
All stages of the state acceptance trials will be carried out in the Caspian Sea. The corvette is now preparing for missile and artillery fire. The commissioning team and the crew will be practicing interaction, the crew will undergo training on board the ship.
The multipurpose river-sea-going corvette was designed by in-house engineering bureau at Zelenodolsk Shipyard. The Veliky Ustyug keel was laid down on July 27, 2011. The Buyan-M class corvettes are armed with Kalibr (SS-N-27) anti-ship missiles, 100-mm and 30-mm guns and Igla-1M air defense missiles.
The Project 21631 Buyan-M class is a missile version of Project 21630 (Buyan), designed and built specifically for the Caspian Flotilla taking into account the shallow depths of the Volga River and the Caspian Sea. Some of the Buyan-M ships are expected to be handed over to the Black Sea Fleet.
Basic tactical and technical characteristics:
Full displacement - 949 tonnes,
Length overall - 75 m, breadth (max.) - 11 m,
Draft amidships - 2.5 m,
Max. speed - 25 knots ,
Range (at 12 knots) - 2500 miles,
Endurance - 10 days,
Complement - 52.
Tatarstan, Russia based OJSC Zelenodolsk Shipyard named after Maxim Gorky specializes in the construction of warships and passenger high-speed vessels.