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Further Reading

Project 1230.0 (Scorpion)
Missile Boat

The missile boat of Project 1230.0 (Scorpion) is a new-generation ship. In late 1999 the St. Petersburg-based Central Maritime Design Office in St Petersburg said it would start building the new Skorpion patrol ship in the year 2000. Its export is scheduled for 2002 - 2003. The Skorpion is intended to replace the renowned 1241 RE missile-carrying launch ("Tarantula-1" in NATO parlance), which has been exported to numerous countries in the past. It will use stealth technology that will help it elude radar. In terms of combat capabilities and performance characteristics, the missile boat of Project 1230.0 is claimed to surpass all missile boats and corvettes of a similar displacement.

The new corvette has gunnery and missile systems that are unique to a ship of its class. The Skorpion is equipped with four vertical transport and launch pods with the Yakhont supersonic anti-ship missile, having a range of up to 300 km. These missiles, like those of the Moskit-E system, have no analogs in the world. The boat is the world's first to be armed with a 100 mm A-190E lightweight gun mount, and two Kashtan-1 gunnery systems for self-defence against close-range attacks from anti-ship missiles or air power.

The Skorpion has a displacement of 470 tons. The Skorpion has a top speed of 40 knots and a range of 2,000 nautical miles. To improve its seaworthiness, the boat is equipped with a set of automatically controlled interceptors capable of reducing rolling motions by a factor of 2 or 3. The boat will feature many other innovations which will enhance the boat's survivability, habitability, and weapon control automation.

Russian Navy orders for the Scorpion Project 1230.0 475-ton fast patrol craft signaled a recovery for domestic naval business. Construction is underway on the first hulls for this class, with the first Scorpion patrol craft due for commissioning in 2003. Russia would like to build 12 of the fast patrol craft if funding continues is available.

A similar corvette is also being designed for the Russian navy, but the prototype will be made a little later than the export equivalent.