The Russian Gepard-class frigates, Russian designation Project 11661, is a class of frigates that were intended as successors to the earlier s and , and corvettes. The first unit of the class, ''Yastreb'' (''Hawk''), was laid down at the Zelenodol'sk Zavod

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance ...

Tatarstan The Republic of Tatarstan (russian: Республика Татарстан, Respublika Tatarstan, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə tətɐrˈstan; tt-Cyrl, Татарстан Республикасы), or simply Tatarstan (russian: Татарстан, tt ...

in 1991. She was launched in July 1993, after which she began fitting out; fitting was nearly completed by late 1995, when it was suspended due to lack of funds. Renamed ''Tatarstan'', the ship was finally completed in July 2002, and became the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the f ...

of the Caspian Flotilla. She has two sister ships, ''Albatross'' (renamed ''Dagestan''), and ''Burevestnik'' (''Storm Petrel''), which was still under construction . The foreign customer

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

is the main operator of the class when its navy has commissioned at least 4 frigates - twice the size of Russia's Project 11661 frigates - while having plans to order at least 2 more.

Design

These vessels are capable of employing their weapons systems in conditions up to

Sea State In oceanography, sea state is the general condition of the free surface on a large body of water—with respect to wind waves and swell—at a certain location and moment. A sea state is characterized by statistics, including the wave height ...

5. The

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

and

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

are constructed primarily of steel, with some

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in AmE, American and CanE, Canadian English) is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately o ...

magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic ...

being used in the upper

. They are equipped with fin stabilizers and twin

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw a ...

s, and can use either

gas turbine A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the directio ...

s or diesel for propulsion in a CODOG configuration. ''Gepard'' is Russian for

cheetah The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...

Service history

In October 2015, ''Dagestan'', in company with three other Russian Navy ships serving with the Caspian Flotilla, launched cruise missiles at targets in Syria. The missiles flew nearly over

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

and

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

and struck targets in

Raqqa Raqqa ( ar, ٱلرَّقَّة, ar-Raqqah, also and ) (Kurdish: Reqa/ ڕەقە) is a city in Syria on the northeast bank of the Euphrates River, about east of Aleppo. It is located east of the Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. The Hellenistic, Rom ...

and Aleppo provinces (controlled by the

Islamic State An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

) as well as

Idlib ar, إدلبي, Idlibi , coordinates = , elevation_m = 500 , area_code = 23 , geocode = C3871 , blank_name = Climate , blank_info ...

province (controlled by the

al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

-linked Nusra Front). Peshmerga forces (Kurdish armed forces located in northern Iraq) published a video allegedly depicting two cruise missiles mid-flight en route to Syria.

Export

The Gepard-class was designed from the outset as a lightweight, inexpensive export vessel. Russia offers three variants of the class to the market: *Gepard 3.9: designed to search, track and fight against surface, underwater and air enemy independently and within task force, plant mine fields, provide protection and patrol of maritime state border and exclusive economic zone, perform combat missions, patrol service. Powered by

gas-turbine A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the directi ...

engines with CODOG configuration. Fitted with two inclined quadruple launchers for eight

Kh-35 The Zvezda Kh-35 (russian: Х-35 , AS-20 'Kayak') is a Soviet turbojet subsonic cruise anti-ship missile. The missile can be launched from helicopters, surface ships and coastal defence batteries with the help of a rocket booster, in which ca ...

anti-ship missiles with alternative options to be featured with VLS systems such as UKSK (for cruise missiles such as Club-N and

Yakhont The P-800 Oniks (russian: П-800 Оникс; en, Onyx), also known in export markets as Yakhont (russian: Яхонт; en, ruby), is a Soviet / Russian supersonic anti-ship cruise missile developed by NPO Mashinostroyeniya as a ramjet version of ...

) and

Shtil-1 The Buk (russian: link=no, "Бук"; "beech" (tree), ) is a family of self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon, self-propelled, medium-range surface-to-air missile systems developed by the Soviet Union and its successor state, the Russian Federation ...

air-defense system. Being the only exported variant with

being its first and only operator. *Gepard 5.1: configured as a ocean-going patrol ship. Intended for patrolling territorial waters, helping in distress on the sea, environment protection, support to marine missions and flag demonstration in areas being of state interest. Can be featured with "heavier" weapons if necessary. Powered entirely by diesel engines with a two-shaft CODAD propulsion plant. *Gepard 5.3: designed to search, track and fight against surface, underwater and air enemy independently and within task force, carry out convoy missions and patrol duty, guard maritime state border and economic zone. Featured with four quadruple launchers for sixteen

anti-ship missiles. Powered by a two-shaft CODAD propulsion plant.

Vietnam

In March and August of 2011, the

Vietnam People's Navy The Vietnam People's Navy (VPN; vi, Hải quân nhân dân Việt Nam), or the Naval Service (), also known as the Vietnamese People's Navy or simply Vietnam/Vietnamese Navy (), is the naval branch of the Vietnam People's Army and is respons ...

received two Gepard 3.9-class frigates ordered in 2006, built in Russia at Tatarstan's Gorky Shipbuilding Plant. In late 2011, Vietnam signed a contract for an additional batch of two ships in an anti-submarine configuration. A further two ships are being considered to bring the total order up to six vessels, and that potential acquisition is likely being stalled due to sanctions towards Russia as a result of the Ukrainian conflicts.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

began talks for the credit purchase of a Gepard 5.1 frigate in 2017 and the Sri Lankan cabinet approved the proposal by President

Maithripala Sirisena Maithripala Yapa Sirisena ( si, පල්ලෙවත්‍ත ගමරාළලාගේ මෛත්‍රීපාල යාපා සිරිසේන; ta, பல்லேவத்த கமராளலாகே மைத்திரி� ...

for the purchase of the ship in September 2017.

Ships

File:Caspian Frigate Tatarstan.jpg, Russian frigate 691 ''Tatarstan'' File:Caspian Frigate Dagestan.jpg, Russian frigate 693 ''Dagestan'' File:HQ 011 converted.jpg, Vietnam People Navy ship no. 011 ''Đinh Tiên Hoàng''

References

External links

Project 11661 Gepard Class Frigates
@ Zelenodolsk Plant named after A.M. Gorky
Project 11661 Gepard-3.9 Class Frigates
@ Zelenodolsk Plant named after A.M. Gorky
Project 11661 Gepard Class Frigates
@ Naval Technology

@ FAS
1166.1 Gepard
@ Encyclopedia of Ships

@ RussianShips {{Soviet and Russian ships after 1945 Frigate classes