Project 1154 Neustrashimy class

The Neustrashimy ("Redoubtable") class frigate was designed to combat submarines and surface ships and provide defense to task forces and convoys. Project 1154 is the product of a protracted research and development process. During the design, aiming to increase the combat effectiveness, the range of tasks assigned to the ship consistently expanded and the armament was reinforced by the adoption of more sophisticated designs and larger range of weapons. This was a further development of the commercially built Project 1124.

Soviet Navy design and operation requirements were established in 1972 for a replacement of the Project 1124 small antisubmarine ship. In 1972 Zelennodol'skaya PKB was issued the development of tactical technical requirements [TTP] small antisubmarine ship of project 1154 "Skua", with a full displacement of 800 tons and a speed of 35 knots. The initial work was carried out by the Zelenodolsk Design and Development Bureau, with L.F. Fedoseev as the chief designer. During the design process the mission requirements gradually expanded.

By 1975, the ship had a displacement of 1500 tons, By 1975 the standard displacement reached 1,500 tons, and the ship was reclassified as an antisubmarine escort ship. In the 1976 detail design the displacement was 1,700 tons, and the modified detail design of 1979 called for a displacement of 2,000 tons, and 2,500 tons with a helicopter on board. [Other sources report the design displacement as 1800 tons in 1979 - 2000 tons in 1980 - 2500 tons in 1983] Finally in 1984, the detailed design stage the result was a full-fledged 4250 ton patrol boat, which was the replacement Project 1135. The lead ship of Project 11540 - "Fearless" - was built in 1990.

The total displacement was 4,250 tons, dimensions of 129.9 meters length, 15.6 meters beam, and 6 meters draft. The two gas turbines each provided 28,500 hp, for a speed of 32 knots, and cruising range of 3,000 miles (at a rate of speed of 18 knots). The autonomy was 30 days with a crew of 200 people. The armament was 4 x 4 SCRC "Hurricane", 6 PU complex PLO "Waterfall", a 100-mm AK-100, RBU-6000, 2 SPAR "Dirk", Ka-27, and 4 SAM launchers "Dagger".

In 1982 a joint Resolution of the Ministry of Shipbuilding Industry and the Navy approved the development of the Project 1135 and Project 1135.1 escort ships, based on new design and operation requirements to advanced AA/ASW, radio and radar equipment with a strike capability against surface ships. At the same time the Project 1154 class, with a similar displacement, was focused on combatting submarines and provide antisubmarine, antiship and antiaircraft defense to surface ship task forces and convoys.

The ship features a long-deck hull with a relatively high freeboard forward. The stem is raking, minimizing the possibility of damage to the nose bulb by anchors. A relatively small flare of the ship sides in the forward end reduces slamming and sea spray. The ship is fitted with ram-type fin stabilizers, enhancing the sea-keeping qualities, by ensuring an almost three-fold reduction in the roll amplitude. The ship is also provided with shoulder keels. The main propulsion unit of Project 1154 escort ship was developed from the propulsion unit which was used on the Project 1135 escort ship.

The ship is equipped with a missile and torpedo launch system capable of launching six Vodopad-NK (SS-N-16) antisubmarine missiles or torpedoes. Starting with the second ship in the series, the Neustrashimy class escort ships was planned to be armed with four Uran-type quadruple antiship missile launchers (16 anti-ship missiles), which would dramatically enhance the ship's combat capabilities.

The Uran system launches the Kh-35 antiship cruise missile which is known by the NATO designation AS-20. The A Klinok air defence missile system comprising four vertical launch modules is mounted just behind the ship's 100 mm gun. The Klinok missile carries the NATO designation SA-N-9; a Kashtan air defence gun-missile system comprising one command system with two combat modules (64 missiles and 600 rounds) mounted either side of the satellite communications dome. Each system is equipped with a 30 mm calibre twin Gatling gun, the Kashtan missile system, and a fire control radar and optronic director. The Kashtan missile is the export name for the 9M311 missile otherwise known as the Grison or the Kortik, and which carries the NATO designation SA-N-11. The missiles incorporate a laser beam guidance system.

Anti-submarine defence is provided by a RBU-6000 rocket launcher installed on the raised deck immediately behind the four Klinok missile launchers. The launcher is fitted with twelve radially arranged tubes. The RGB-60 rockets are fed from the magazine via an elevator. A 100mm AK-100 gun is also carried. The ship has a helicopter landing deck which occupies the full width of the deck at the stern, and a hangar which accommodates a single Ka-27 helicopter.

Initially intended as the successor to the numerous Krivak class, only three hulls had been laid down by the end of the Cold War. The first unit, Neustrashimy, entered service with the Russian Navy in 1993. The Neustrashimyy finished a brief overhaul at Kaliningrad in time to participate in the Russian Navy Day celebrations at the end of July 2000.

In November 1998 the Yantar Works in Kaliningrad announced that it was scrapping the incomplete second and third Neustrashimyy-class frigates to recoup some of its uncompensated investment. By 2002 the frigate Yaroslav Mudryy remained eighty per cent complete after fourteen years of construction. In 2002 work resumed at the Yantar shipyard on the Project 1154.0 ship, and as of early 2004 it was due to be delivered to the Navy in 2005.

The third hull, to have been named Tuman, was launched on 06 November 1998 only to clear space for a contract to repair Norwegian merchant ships. However, it was reported the ship was redesigned into a Project 1154.1 for exportation in the early 2000s.

A large series of these ships was assumed. From the third, the ship had to carry reinforced weapons locations. But for some reason the fleet did not like this class of ships. In keeping with the role of the ship as an SKR, the Neustrashimy does not have extensive underway replenishment facilities for the transfer of liquid and solid stores. Living accommodation is much more cramped and Spartan than in most recent Russian designs. An interesting aspect of the accommodation is that the very high proportion of officers and Warrant Officers (mishmanyii) compared with the numbers of enlisted personnel in the original design was changed to proportions more aligned to those of Western navies. The original division reflected the complex equipment mounted on board and the inability of short-term conscript crews to operate such systems. As a result of difficulties with developing its subsystems, the Project 1154 design eventually dropped some five years behind schedule. The keel of the first ship of the new class was finally laid in April 1986. Due to the delays, a brigade of seven Project 1135P SKRs had been started as an interim, but these were taken over by the KGB while still under construction. The Neustrashimy was launched in mid-1988 and started running trials in December 1989. The ship finally entered full service in January 1993. An extended trial period is quite normal for the lead ship of a new class of this complexity and the economic crisis in Russia stretched the schedule by restricting sea time. The major problem in proceeding with the more rapid construction of these ships was that the factory supplying the gas turbines is situated in the Ukraine and neither a supply of engines nor spare parts can be guaranteed. A new TTZ was issued, and on a competitive basis, as the winner, the order went SMDB "Diamond", which before that, in general, was engaged only in boats.