Project 775
Ropucha class
Tank Landing ship

The Project 775 Ropucha Large Landing Ship (Bol'shoy Desatnyy Korabl' BDK) is a beachable, general-purpose LST-type design with bow and stern ramps for unloading vehicles. A slightly smaller successor to the Alligator class, they were all built in Poland three distinct production runs. The last three units were an improved version with some variations in detail. Many have been retired, and remaining units may be in reserve, given the Russian Navy's decreased emphasis on amphibious operations.

Given the designation Large Landing Ship, the Ropucha class of tank landing ship was produced in Poland for the Soviet Navy. Designed for roll-on, roll-off operations, the Ropucha design has both bow and stern doors, and the 630 square metres of vehicle deck stretches the length of the hull. The multi level supersturcture is designed to house two companies of naval infantry for extended periods. This, together with a 450 ton cargo capacity and the ability to carry 24 armoured vehicles, allowed the Soviet navy to employ the vessels on distant ocean operations. The collapse of the Soviet Union meant that capability was unlikely to be needed by Russia and the Ukraine, which inherited most of the ships of this class.

Until 1977, it qualified as medium landing ships. Length - 112.5 m, width - 15 m, draft - 4.26 m, full displacement - 4 th. Tons. Full speed - 17.6 knots. Cruising range - up to 4 thousand. Miles (about 7.4 thousand. Km). The power plant - diesel, two units Zgoda-Sulzer ("Zgoda-Sulzer") with a capacity of 9.6 thousand. Horsepower. Armament, depending on the version: 2 artillery pieces caliber 57 mm caliber gun mount 76.2 mm, setting multiple launch rocket systems "Grad-M ', two or four launchers of anti-aircraft missile systems" Strela "and" Igla ".

Desantovmestimost 10 medium tanks and 340 commandos, or 12 units of armored heavy vehicles (AFV) and 340 paratroopers or 500 tons of cargo. The crew, depending on the version: from 98 to 87 people (from 17 to 8 officers).

The class is not particularly well-characterized in the literature, and while all indicated names and numbers have been reported, the association of designations with the construction chronology is entirely conjectural, apart from the three Project 775M units. Although only 22 units have been identified through names or hull numbers, the production shipyard is quite specific that a total of 28 were produced.

According to open sources, by 2015 the ranks of the Navy of the Russian Federation consists of 15 BDK 775 project.

The crew of the large landing ship (BDK) "Caesar Kunikov" and specialists of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "Shipyard 13 of the Black Sea Fleet" of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation were reported 10 January 2022 to have eliminated the identified malfunction on the ship's steering system. Maintenance and repair work was carried out directly at the ship's basing point without docking the ship at the ship repair enterprise. The ship has restored its technical readiness and is fully ready to carry out the tasks for its intended purpose in accordance with the plan of the Black Sea Fleet. The commander of the large landing ship of the Black Sea Fleet "Caesar Kunikov" Alexander Chirva died during a special operation in Ukraine, Mikhail Razvozhaev, the governor of Sevastopol , said 18 April 2022. "Commander of the large landing ship "Caesar Kunikov" of the 197th brigade of landing ships of the Black Sea Fleet, captain of the 3rd rank. Alexander Grigorievich was born in Sevastopol. Graduated from the branch of the VUNTS of the Navy "Naval Academy" of the Naval Institute of Radio Electronics. A.S. Popova. In 2015 and 2016, he participated in a special operation on the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic. Oleksandr Chirva died from wounds received in battle with neo-Nazis in Ukraine. His courage, professionalism and experience saved the lives of the crew members." BDK-64 was named in honor of the Hero of the Soviet Union Caesar Lvovich Kunikov. The Caesar Kunikov was docked at Berdiansk very near to the Saratov when Saratov exploded.