Project 22800 "Karakurt"
Small-ship missile corvette
Project 22800 Karakurt-class missile corvettes are a Russian series of green-water multipurpose missile/artillery warships Small missile ships of the project 22800 Karakurt (Turkic languages: kara (black) and kurt (wolf), others suggest ‘Black Widow’) with cruise missiles will replace the 3,600 ton frigates of Project 11356 Krivak II class. A total of 11 of these frigates were phased out prior to 2010. The construction of frigates of project 11356 was stopped [for a while] after the 3rd vessel due to non-delivery by Ukraine of gas turbine engines for them.
MRK project 22800 was developed at the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau and is designed to perform missions in the sea zone as part of detachments and groups of warships, as well as individually. The Odintsovo MRK is equipped with the Kalibr strike system, the Pantsir-M anti-aircraft complex, modern control systems, radio-technical weapons, radio communications, navigation, electronic warfare and countermeasures, anti-sabotage weapons, and portable anti-aircraft missile systems.
The "Karakurt" MRK was developed in St. Petersburg CMMB "Almaz" as an alternative to the MRK of project 21631 "Buyan-M", created only 5 years earlier in the Zelenodolsk design bureau. It was assumed that the "Buyanov" will be 10. However, due to the certain advantage of "Karakurta", the last and ninth unit of project 21631 was laid in April 2015. After 8 months, a series of "Karakurts" was launched.
Karakurt, in addition to the standard AK-176 MA, as well as the ship’s version of the Pantsir MANPADS, carries 8 cells for Caliber-NK cruise missiles that have proven themselves so well in Syria, or anti-ship missiles from the same family Caliber". With an impressive length of 67 meters, this boat has a displacement of only 800 tons (for example, the destroyer Admiral Ushakov with a length of 100 meters has a displacement of 8,000 tons) and a draft of 4 meters. And also differs in excellent maneuverability and low visibility. And most importantly, they are relatively not expensive.
In April 2015, Russian Deputy Defence Minister Yuri Borisov announced plans of the military to order small ocean-going class of corvettes. "We will now be working on and placing contracts for smaller corvettes," Borisov said then. Chirkov also said then that the yet-to-be ordered ships would carry the same weapons as smaller missile ships. "They will be slightly different in terms of their sea worthiness parameters," Chirkov said. Speaking of the prospects for building missile ships he said that "as many as necessary for maintaining the nation’s defence will be available." He said "The development proceeds towards universal long-range missiles, capable of being used against coastal and surface targets".
"The ship’s design is to be completed by the end of the month," Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy Admiral Viktor Chirkov said on 01 July 2015, adding that the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau is engaged in the project. According to him, the new ships will be built in large series - 18 vessels as a minimum.
According to Chirkov, certain parameters of the new corvettes are already known, although the designing is not over yet. In particular, ships of Project 22800 will be equipped with Russian propulsion plants, their operating range will reach 1,000 miles and sea endurance - 30 days. They will have improved seaworthiness characteristics.
The Pella shipyard in St. Petersburg in northwest Russia laid down two new Project 22800 small missile ships for the Russian Navy on 24 December 2015. Navy Deputy Commander-in-Chief for Armament, Vice-Admiral Viktor Bursuk said on 23 December 2015 that "The ships will be codenamed Uragan and Taifun and will enter service in the Navy in 2017 and 2018 after their construction and trials are over". In the near term, various Russian shipyards will build over a dozen ships of this new Project developed by the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau, he said.
According to the admiral, the ships have a displacement of about 800 tons and are capable of developing a speed of over 30 knots and accomplishing missions at a distance of around 3,000 nautical miles from their bases. The ships will be armed with a set of high-precision missile weapons and modern artillery systems and will also receive domestic engines.
"These ships’ advantages include their high maneuverability, increased sea-going performance, and also the architecture of superstructures and the hull based on the stealth technology," the admiral said. According to Chirkov, the armament of the new Project ships will match the weapons suite of Buyan-M-class missile ships armed with Kalibr missile systems. At the same time, the new corvettes will differ "by ocean-and sea-going characteristics," he said.
Compared to the Buyan-M, the Karakut is more seaworthy and has a number of tactical and technical advantages. For instance, to protect themselves from enemy air power, the Buyans feature a 30 mm Ak-630M-2 Duet machine gun, which is adequate for use on rivers and in the Caspian. But operations at great distance from its home territory require more powerful protection. The Karakut is equipped with the Pantsir-M,” a naval version of the Pantsir-S1 combined surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery system produced by the KBP Instrument Design Bureau. It’s known that the Karakut uses the 3S13 launcher, allowing the vessel to use both the Onyx anti-ship and Calibr-NK cruise missiles.
The ships’ modular design allows for the construction of several different versions. “It is logical to assume designs including a ‘shock unit’, a patrol vessel and an anti-ship model. The order we are discussing obviously does not apply to the anti-ship modification, but is great for patrol functions, which are extremely important in the waters of the Black Sea. With a speed of 30 knots, the Karakut is a sufficiently fast ship, and will be able to cause serious problems for the enemy with the help of its P-800 Onyx medium-range anti-ship missiles. Meanwhile, the ship’s 100 mm automatic naval gun (likely to be the A-190 Burevestnik) has implications for any conflicts over water boundaries.
The first small rocket ship (MRK) of project 22800 Mytishchi completed state tests and was handed over to the Navy on 17 December 2018. This was reported to journalists on Saturday in the press service of the Ministry of Defense. According to the Ministry of Defense, in the course of state tests in the northern latitudes, Mytishchi successfully made test rocket launches. The ship successfully tested a number of life support systems, propulsion and energy, the ship showed excellent seaworthiness while maneuvering in northern latitudes. The head MRK of the project 22800 "Mytishchi" was built at the St. Petersburg shipbuilding plant "Pella". The ships of this project have a displacement of about 800 tons, speed - over 30 knots. The main armament of the IRAs is Caliber or Onyx missiles. It is planned to build 18 ships of this project for the Navy.
Mytishchi is a mid-sized industrial city in North Moscow Oblast, which borders Moscow to the southwest. It is perhaps Moscow Oblast's principal industrial center. This class of ships were in all fleets, their units were always named after "bad weather", and tradition remained to name ships in honor of those who served with dignity and completed the task.
The Ukrainian Air Force destroyed the Russian Askold corvette in Crimea with a missile on the evening of 04 November 2023. Photos and videos of the destruction of the Russian ship showed Russian propaganda on Telegram. A Karakurt-class corvette was hit with a SCALP-EG missile at the Zatoka shipyard. The Russian occupation so-called “authorities” of Crimea stated that the Russian air defense worked in the area of the Butoma Shipbuilding Plant JSC, adding that part of the wreckage of downed missiles allegedly fell into the territory of one of the dry docks. However, judging by the photos, the Russian air defense could not stop the SCALP-EG missile that hit the ship.
The information was confirmed by the Commander of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Mykola Oleschuk in Telegram: “Another watercraft followed the “Moscow”! Once again, I would like to thank the Air Force tactical aviation pilots for the successful cruise missile strikes on the infrastructure of the Zatoka shipyard in Kerch, where one of the most modern ships of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation was stationed, the Kalibr cruise missile carrier. Well done, it’s as if they walked through SCALPel!”.
In the satellite images published by “Schem” journalists, you can see the site of the impact at the factory and the military vessel, which also has a damaged appearance. “On November 4, at the time of the explosions, there was only one ship capable of carrying Kalibr-class missiles, namely the Askold, in Kerch. I think that this ship, as we can see, was already standing at the pier and was being repaired, because it was supposed to be handed over already in December. It can be seen that it is still afloat, but the upper part of the vessel is visibly damaged,” said Andrii Ryzhenko, reserve captain of the 1st rank, deputy chief of staff of the Naval Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (2004-2020), in an interview with “Schemes”.
“Askold” is a small missile ship of the “Karakurt” type, which can carry up to 8 Kalibr missiles. The disposal of such a vessel is very important for the security of Ukraine, Ryzhenko emphasized. And the Russians do not understand how to act in the waters of the Black Sea after the attack of the Armed Forces – that is why they took an “operational pause”: they are trying to change their tactics, the Navy notes.
“The first change they made was to disperse the personnel. Perhaps now they will decide how to use other bases at all, given that Sevastopol will never be a safe base for the Russians. That’s why there is such a lull now,” Dmytro Pletenchuk, spokesman for the Naval Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said on the broadcast of the Yedyny Novyni marathon.
The nature of the damage to the Russian missile carrier “Askold” indicates that it will not soon be able to be put into operation. This was said today, 08 November 2023, on the air of FREEDOM TV channel, the spokesman of the Naval Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Dmytro Pletenchuk. Due to the termination of the supply of power plants from Ukraine in 2014, the Russian Federation was forced to return to the project of the ship “Askold” of the 90s, but due to the attack of the Armed Forces, it was not possible to transfer it to the fleet.
“He is the freshest, of course, he didn’t even get into the squad. They did not have time to accept it into the fleet, because it had not yet been transferred to the Black Sea Fleet. It hasn’t been completed, it hasn’t been finished, it hasn’t passed the test, and it looks like it won’t pass the test. And this is good news,” said Pletenchuk.
The speaker recalled that there were 8 launchers for “Calibers” on board “Askold”. “This is a universal river-sea class ship that was supposed to be used to protect the sea area… In principle, the ship is completely fresh, completely new, almost “stealth”. But, as you can see, it didn’t help him at all. And as a result, he was damaged precisely by the missiles that saw him anyway, because they probably work a little differently,” he said. Pletenchuk noted that 3 ships of this series were built at the factory in Kerch – “Cyclone”, “Askold” and “Amur”. Currently, only the “Zyklon” is in service, but in fact its main weapon – launchers with “Calibers” – do not work.
As for the “Zaliv” factory in Kerch itself, which was hit by a missile, according to the speaker, it can be restored. “It’s all recoverable, actually. Although, of course, the fleet of machine tools in the Russian Federation was also under sanctions, and similar enterprises were hit, they actually hide prospects for restoration and shipbuilding work for quite a long time,” said Pletenchuk.
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