The Lider class (), also referred to as Shkval class (), Russian designation Project 23560 ''Lider'' for domestic use and Project 23560E ''Shkval'' for export, is a combined

stealth Stealth may refer to: Military *Stealth technology, technology used to conceal ships, aircraft, and missiles **Stealth aircraft, aircraft which use stealth technology ** Stealth ground vehicle, ground vehicles which use stealth technology ** Ste ...

nuclear-powered Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

guided-missile destroyer A guided-missile destroyer (DDG) is a destroyer whose primary armament is guided missiles so they can provide anti-aircraft warfare screening for the fleet. The NATO standard designation for these vessels is DDG, while destroyers which have a pr ...

and

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to sea ...

, under consideration for the

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 ...

. Detailed design phase began in 2016–2017, with construction expected to commence after 2020. In April 2020, the ''Lider'' project was reported suspended but in July 2020 was reported to still be moving ahead.

History

Project approval was given in 2013, and in 2015, Severnoye Design Bureau was awarded with a contract for the creation of a smaller non-nuclear and heavier nuclear-powered variant of the future destroyer. In 2016, the Krylov State Scientific Center handed the preliminary design of the destroyer to the Russian Navy. Initially, twelve ships were planned to be built and split between Russia's Northern and

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fleets. Later, construction of eight vessels was mentioned. A May 2017 report indicated that the Lider-class destroyer had been dropped from the Russia's State Armament Programme for 2018–2027 due to financing reductions, however in June 2017,

United Shipbuilding Corporation JSC United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC; , ОСК) is an open joint stock company in Russia which unites shipbuilding, repair and maintenance subsidiaries in western and northern Russia, and in the country's Far East, to streamline civilian ship ...

announced the Russian Defense Ministry had approved the preliminary design of the Lider class destroyer. In February 2019, a decision was made to build the 19,000 ton nuclear-powered variant of the destroyer, instead of the proposed 12–13,000 ton variant equipped with a gas-turbine powerplant. Two vessels should be built by end of the 2020s at a cost of RUB100 billion per vessel. It is believed the construction of the lead vessel could begin as soon as 2023. On April 18, 2020, Russian newspaper ''Interfax'' reported that the Severnoye Design Bureau had suspended development on the ''Lider''. However, in June, Alexei Rakhmanov, head of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, reported that the project was still moving forward. In an interview on 15 August 2022, Rakhmanov reaffirmed that the project has not been cancelled, and is still under development. However, he also emphasised that the Russian Ministry of Defence will only choose one large warship project for construction, and that they favour the Project 22350M ''Super Gorshkov'' frigate due to the favourable performance of the class.

Design

According to Advisor to the General Director of the Krylov State Research Center Valeriy Polovinki, that worked out the destroyer's preliminary design, "The Lider will be a universal ship, triple-hatted as a destroyer, large ASW ship and guided missile cruiser while being smaller than Project 1144 ships and carrying far more weaponry," as reported in The Defence Talk. He further reported the new destroyer "is meant to replace the s, the main anti-surface warships of the Russian Navy, as well as the s and the anti-submarine destroyers." The ships will be about long with a beam of , and a maximum speed of . The vessels are estimated to displace up to 19,000 tons. In total, they should carry a combination of at least 200 missiles of different variants.

References

External links

Project 23560E Shkval
{{Soviet and Russian ships after 1945 Destroyers of the Russian Navy Proposed ships Destroyer classes

History

Design

See also

References

External links