Project 22350M Gorshkov-mod
In the State Armaments Program for 2019-2027, the Lider cruiser was not funded and, the Improved Gorshkov was supposed to replace old DDG hulls. The upgraded frigates of Project 22350 Admiral Gorshkov will receive more powerful weapons and will act as destroyers, the Military Parity reports with reference to navyrecognition.com (05 July 2017). Such a statement at the exhibition IMDS-2017 (St. Petersburg, Russia) was made by the vice-president of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), the general director of Severnaya Verf, Igor Ponomarev. Frigates differ from destroyers in their smaller displacement and, consequently, in less powerful weapons. Although these classes of ships are not too different, destroyers have advanced capabilities for electronic equipment and can coordinate the actions of the ship group.
Earlier, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that frigates of pr. 22350 ("multi-purpose frigates of the far sea zone") will become the main surface ships of the Russian fleet.
The basic Project 22350 frigates have been built at Severnaya Verf shipyard in Saint Petersburg for over a decade now. The lead ship, Admiral Gorshkov, was laid down back in 2006. Her commissioning was postponed many times, by latest reports the ship would join the navy by this year end. The project’s second and third frigates, Admiral Kasatonov and Admiral Golovko, were to be commissioned in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Another series of Project 22350 ships is not scheduled.
Project 22350M was announced in December 2014 by Admiral Viktor Chirkov, the then navy commander. According to him, the Russian Navy planned to purchase at least 15 frigates in basic and upgraded versions. Judging by his statements, the fleet expected to acquire at least 15 frigates of the base and modified versions. The beginning of the design of the Northern Design Bureau of the modernized frigates of the 22350M project was announced on July 28, 2018 by Vice Admiral Viktor Bursuk, who was then deputy commander in chief of the Russian Navy.
A spokesman of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) said that "initial development of the frigate’s layout is underway now. Defense ministry has not approved it yet, therefore, particular characteristics such as displacement and powerplant’s configuration have not been defined either". Earlier on, an insider at the Kolomna plant told Mil.Today that the company would equip the ships with its diesels. The USC’s press service declined to answer what kind of engines the frigate would have: "If the state customers decide to build the said project, all parameters would be determined during design works".
The Russian Navy plans to build a series of updated Project 22350M frigates displacing about 8,000 tons, navy’s deputy commander for armament Vice Admiral Viktor Bursuk told Mil.Today on 29 June 2017 at the International Maritime Defense Show in Saint Petersburg. Speaking about the builders for the newest frigates, Viktor Bursuk assumed that the production most likely would be divided between the Far East and the North West. He also allowed for Yantar Shipyard (Kaliningrad, Russia) to join the program.
SPKB officially began the outline design of Super-Gorshkov on December 25, 2018, when the bureau signed a corresponding contract. Certain pre-design studies were carried out earlier - in accordance with the wishes of the Navy, as well as on an initiative basis.
“The upgraded project will be partly work on the mistakes identified during the operation of the first four frigates,” explained Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine chief editor Viktor Murakhovsky. “This is an eternal story in the fleet: each subsequent series of ships is different from the previous one. You can look at the experience of other countries. they are not alike. Fleet modernization is a continuous process, and I very much hope that our defense industry will pass this test. We need at least 10-12 ships of project 22350 to effectively carry out the tasks prescribed in the new maritime doctrine. "
The Northern Design Bureau (PKB) has begun the development of design documentation for the upgraded frigates of the project 22350M, which will carry on board up to 48 Caliber cruise missiles. This was announced on 17 March 2019 by a TASS source in the military-industrial complex. "The Northern PKB has completed the outline design of the frigates of the project 22350M and now, in accordance with the customer’s tactical and technical tasks, is developing working design documentation for these ships," the agency’s source said. He specified that the displacement of the frigates of the renewed project "is planned to be increased to 7 thousand tons, and the maximum ammunition load of the Caliber cruise missiles on board will be up to 48 units."
The source added that "hypersonic Zircon missiles will also be included in the arsenal of ships. The interlocutor said that the new frigates will receive a single universal automated fire control system for all types of ship-borne weapons — artillery, anti-aircraft missile, anti-aircraft, anti-ship, anti-submarine. "This will significantly increase their combat capabilities," the source stressed. The United Shipbuilding Corporation did not comment on the TASS information provided by the source.
According to a senior naval source of the publication, November 19 at the Academy of the General Staff passedscientific and practical conference of the Navy, which once again raised the question of a critical reduction in the number of ships in the ocean zone. "In this sense, the continued construction of both Admiral Gorshkov-type frigates and larger Project 22350M ships is vital for maintaining the presence of the Russian Navy in the far sea and especially ocean zones," said Mil.Press FlotProm interlocutor.
The construction of the lead ship of the new series will take 4-5 years. Given the timing of the development of design documentation, the construction can begin no earlier than 2020. Designing works on Project 22350M frigates, a larger-sized version of Admiral Gorshkov-class ships will finish by 2022, Aleksey Rakhmanov, CEO at United Shipbuilding Corporation told Mil.Press Today at the yearend summary conference on 09 December 2019. "We hope Severnaya Verf shipyard will be the primary builder for these frigates. Anyway, such task is well within the range of Admiralteyskie Verfi and Baltiysky Zavod, too", commented Rakhmanov.
Further work on the creation of a modernized frigate of project 22350M was suspended after the development of the outline design of the ship due to the lack of a customer’s decision. This is stated in the report of Northern Design Bureau JSC (Northern Design Bureau, part of United Shipbuilding Corporation, USC), published on the company's website 18 April 2020. The document says that in December 2019, the development of a preliminary design of the ship of the ocean zone 22350M was completed. The commission, appointed by the Department of Defense for the provision of state defense orders, has accepted the draft design. On December 25, an act of the commission was submitted to the department with a proposal to accept the work performed.
Nevertheless, at the time the report was generated, there was no "subsequent decision by the Customer to start work planned for it (outline design 22350M - approx. TASS)." In December 2019, the head of the USC, Alexei Rakhmanov, told TASS that the technical design for the project 22350M ship was ready. According to him, the construction of the lead ship can begin as early as 2020, subject to adequate funding. On April 23, 2019, two frigates of the improved project 22350 were laid at the Severnaya Verf shipyard. Unlike their predecessors, they will carry not two, but three universal ship firing complexes (UKKS) for 24 missiles. It is assumed that the frigates of project 22350M will have 6 UKKS for 48 missiles.
The lead frigate of the oceanic zone of Project 22350M with increased striking power will be laid down at the Severnaya Verf shipyard in St. Petersburg in 2023. This was reported 31 July 2021 to TASS by a source in the military-industrial complex. "The laying of the lead frigate of Project 22350M at Severnaya Verf is scheduled for 2023, immediately after the commissioning of the new boathouse," he said. Severnaya Verf (part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation) did not comment on this information from a source to TASS. At that time,, the Severnaya Verf shipyard was building a series of Project 22350 frigates. Two of them - Admiral Gorshkov and Admiral Kasatonov - have been handed over to the Russian Navy. Six more buildings were at various stages of construction, including the modernized ones.
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