The Karakurt class, Russian designation Project 22800 ''Karakurt'' (), is a class of

Russian Navy The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloo ...

s (small missile ships) first commissioned in 2018. The class is intended as a more seaworthy, blue-water complement to the Buyan-M-class corvettes, designed for the

littoral zone The littoral zone, also called litoral or nearshore, is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely flood ...

and which serve in Russia's

Caspian Flotilla The Caspian Flotilla () is the flotilla of the Russian Navy in the Caspian Sea. Established in November 1722 by the order of Tsar Peter the Great as part of the Imperial Russian Navy, the Caspian Flotilla is the oldest flotilla in the Russian ...

Baltic Fleet The Baltic Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Baltic Sea. Established 18 May 1703, under Tsar Peter the Great as part of the Imperial Russian Navy, the Baltic Fleet is the oldest Russian fleet. In 1918, the fleet w ...

and

Black Sea Fleet The Black Sea Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean Sea. The Black Sea Fleet, along with other Russian ground and air forces on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, are subordin ...

. The ships are designed to be armed with Kalibr or Oniks anti-ship

cruise missile A cruise missile is an unmanned self-propelled guided missile that sustains flight through aerodynamic lift for most of its flight path. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large payload over long distances with high precision. Modern cru ...

s and have an endurance of 15 days. They are also to be a cheap alternative for larger

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

s, for which construction was delayed due to the suspended military cooperation with Ukraine, and because of Russia's intention to continue the modernization of its navy until all necessary tasks for construction of larger vessels domestically are solved. Delays in the supply of domestically-produced engines for the Karakurt class have held up the completion of several ships.

History

Project 22800 was first publicly presented by

Almaz The Almaz () program was a highly secret Soviet Union, Soviet military space station program, begun in the early 1960s. Three crewed military reconnaissance stations were launched between 1973 and 1976: Salyut 2, Salyut 3 and Salyut 5. To co ...

during the International Military-Technical Forum «ARMY-2015», held in

Kubinka Kubinka () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Odintsovsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Setun River, west of Moscow. Population: __TOC__ History Kubinka, founded in the 15th century, may have been named ...

. At the time, the class was presented yet as "Project 12300". During the exhibition, it was also announced 18 ships are planned for construction. The first two ships, ''Uragan'' ("hurricane", now ''Mytishchi'') and ''Taifun'' ("typhoon", now ''Sovetsk''), were laid down at the Pella Shipyard in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

on 24 December 2015. In August 2016, it was reported that a total of seven ships have been ordered from the Pella Shipyard (one of which would be built at More Shipyard, Feodosia), and that five more ships have been ordered from the Zelenodolsk Shipyard. Three of the five ordered ships, ''Tsiklon'' ("cyclone"), ''Askold'' and ''Amur'', previously planned to be built by the Zelenodolsk Shipyard, were later laid down at the Zalyv Shipbuilding yard in

Kerch Kerch, also known as Keriç or Kerich, is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of Crimea. It has a population of Founded 2,600 years ago as the Colonies in antiquity#Greek colonies, ancient Greek colony Pantik ...

, Crimea. On 29 July 2017, the lead ship of the class was launched. The Russian Defence Ministry signed a contract for several more vessels during the International ARMY-2017 Military-Technical Forum. In May 2018, it was reported ''Mytishchi'' was undergoing sea trials in

Lake Ladoga Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, in the vicinity of Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake located entirely in Europe, the second largest lake in Russia after Lake ...

and the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

. During the International Military-Technical Forum «ARMY-2018», the Russian Defence Ministry signed two contracts for construction of another six vessels. Two ships of the order would be built by the Vostochnaya Verf, Vladivostok and four ships by the Amur Shipyard, Komsomolsk-on-Amur. On 16 October 2018, ''Mytishchi'' began state tests in the

White Sea The White Sea (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; ) is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the nort ...

, and was officially accepted into service on 17 December 2018. Ukrainian forces targeted the Zalyv shipyard with cruise missiles on 4 November 2023. Russian forces stated that a ship was hit. Subsequent imagery appeared to show ''Askold'' had been badly damaged. Politico speculated that the ship was hit by a SCALP-EG air-launched cruise missile.

Design

Artillery installation of the small rocket ship Cyclone

Project 22800 derives from Project 12300 ''Skorpion'', a proposed 1990s Almaz design for a 500-ton displacement

missile boat A missile boat or missile cutter is a small, fast warship armed with anti-ship missiles. Being smaller than other warships such as destroyers and frigates, missile boats are popular with nations interested in forming a navy at lower cost. They ...

, and was also heavily influenced by Project 21631, the Buyan-M corvettes. Ships of the class have a stealth shaped

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 ...

with an integrated mast carrying four

phased array In antenna (radio), antenna theory, a phased array usually means an electronically scanned array, a computer-controlled Antenna array, array of antennas which creates a radio beam, beam of radio waves that can be electronically steered to point ...

radar panels. The primary armament consists of Kalibr cruise missiles or

P-800 Oniks The P-800 Oniks (; ), marketed in export as the Yakhont (; ), is a Soviet/Russian supersonic anti-ship cruise missile developed by NPO Mashinostroyeniya as a ramjet version of P-80 Zubr. Its GRAU designation is 3M55, the air launched Kh-61 vari ...

supersonic anti-ship missiles carried in eight UKSK VLS cells in the rear part of the superstructure, behind the bridge. The corvettes built for the Russian Navy will be equipped with a 76.2 mm AK-176MA automatic dual-purpose gun, a modernized version of the AK-176. However, at least on the first ship, the 100 mm A-190 was installed. A proposed export version may carry the Italian

OTO Melara 76 mm The OTO Melara 76 mm gun, marketed as the OTO 76/62 Gun Mount, is a naval autocannon built and designed by the Italian Defense contractor, defence company OTO Melara. It is based on the OTO Melara 76/62C and evolved toward 76/62 SR and 76/ ...

gun. For anti-missile defense, the first two ships carry a pair of AK-630M gun-based

CIWS A close-in weapon system (CIWS ) is a point-defense weapon system for detecting and destroying short-range incoming missiles and enemy aircraft which have penetrated the outer defenses, typically mounted on a naval ship. Nearly all classes of ...

and were upgraded with the Tor-M2KM which is a modular variant of the

Tor missile system The Tor (; ) is an all-weather, low-to medium-altitude, short-range surface-to-air missile system designed for destroying airplanes, helicopters, cruise missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and short-range external ballistics, ballistic threats ( ...

. Starting from the third ship, they will be equipped with Pantsir-M, a navalized version of the Pantsir surface-to-air missile system. The third vessel of the class, ''Odintsovo'', entered service in the

with the Pantsir-M system in November 2020. The project 22800 is not designed for

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations ar ...

Ships

Italics indicate estimates

Controversy

In November 2022, an arbitration court in Moscow held the first preliminary hearing for a lawsuit against

Pella Shipyard Pella () is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It served as the capital of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. Currently, it is located 1 km outside the modern town of Pella ...

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, in which the Russian Defence Ministry is seeking 1.4 billion

Ruble The ruble or rouble (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is a currency unit. Currently, currencies named ''ruble'' in circulation include the Russian ruble (RUB, ₽) in Russia and the Belarusian ruble (BYN, Rbl) in Belarus. These currencies are s ...

s (

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

23.1 million) over allegations the company was "failing to fulfill supply contracts."Russian shipyard and Defence Ministry tangle over ship price in court
DefenseNews.com, 2022-11-24

References

External links

Project 22800 Karakurt-Class Corvettes
{{Soviet and Russian ships after 1945 Corvette classes Corvettes of Russia Stealth ships