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Barzan-class fast attack craft

By September 2020 preparations were underway for President Zelensky's visit to the UK, from where, if a final agreement was reached, he would bring to Ukraine a program to update the Navy's fleet. The UK was rumored to be able to provide 8 Barzan-class fast attack boats to Ukraine, according to an information on Sept. 18, 2020 published by the Save the Royal Navy website. This related to the multinational training that Britain launched in August 2020 to improve the Ukrainian Navy from the threat of the East.

The British were ready to equip the Ukrainian Armed Forces with modern missile boats, which are already compatible with NATO standards and will be able to cover this need in the Black and Azov Seas. Moreover, most of these ships will be produced in Ukraine, which will additionally reduce their cost and support our shipbuilders. Moreover, London will provide Ukraine with a "long" loan, which will also equip and modernize two naval bases. In a word, this event may become a turning point for Ukrainian naval sailors.

In a written response to a request from the EP, the British Embassy in Ukraine acknowledged that it was about a fleet renewal program, namely, "support for shipbuilding capacities" in Ukraine. "Ukraine will have the opportunity to observe and learn during the construction of the first ships in Britain, in parallel with the modernization of its own shipbuilding," the diplomatic mission's press department said in a commentary. The first two hulls will be manufactured at a British shipyard with the participation of specialists from a Ukrainian manufacturer (it must be determined by the government). In the future, all production - from assembling hulls to equipping ships with weapons - will be carried out in Ukraine, at a shipyard that the government will choose and agree with the British side.

The available capacity in Odessa is not enough to accommodate all the ships that Ukraine must build to provide minimal protection. Therefore, Ukraine is now building a base in Ochakov, on the Black Sea, and in Berdyansk, on the Azov. And it makes sense from the very beginning to develop the bases in such a way that they meet NATO standards, are able to receive ships of allies, are ready to exchange data with allies, etc.

Captain First Rank Andriy Ryzhenko, in the past - Deputy Chief of Staff of the Ukrainian Navy for European Integration, and until the spring of 2020 - Advisor to the Minister of Defense, in a commentary to the EP confirmed this information. "There should be three types of boats. The first is those that provide patrolling, protection and escorting of ships. At least 6-8 such boats should provide protection for ports, Zmeiny Island and the Dzharylgach area. The second type is fast amphibious attack boats capable of responding to the ability to land DRGs, operate on sand spits and deliver 15-20 infantry to the required area. 16 of them are needed. The third type is missile boats that can prevent a possible landing. They need about 8 units, each with up to 8 missiles ", - says Ryzhenko. On 7 October 2020 President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy started an official visit to the United Kingdom. "An important strategic document, we will be at the naval base, we will sign this memorandum worth 1.25 billion pounds. We all believed that the navy would reappear in Ukraine," Zelensky said.

The Barzan-class is a fast attack craft designed by British shipbuilder Vosper Thornycroft for the Qatar Emiri Navy. The Qatari navy guided-missile patrol boats were ordered in 1992. The class has a steel hull and aluminum superstructure. The design is based on Vosper-Thornycroft (56-m) patrol craft built for Kenya and Oman in the 1980s. Modifications include a redesigned internal arrangement and superstructure to provide a second deck at tank level. Hull changes include increased freeboard amidships and flaring the topside to widen the beam at the weatherdeck.

Their length will be 50 meters, displacement is 400 tons, speed is 45 knots, The main armament consists of eight anti-ship missiles. At the same time, the possibility of installing on boats not western, but Ukrainian anti-ship missiles "Neptune" is being considered - after the naval version of this complex is ready (so far only the coastal one has been adopted). As for the production of boats in Ukraine, according to the source of the Dumskaya publication in the Ministry of Defense, with a high degree of probability it will be occupied by the Nikolaev shipbuilding and ship-repair plant "Nibulon", which recently more and more often fulfills orders of the Ukrainian power structures. In particular, patrol boats for the Ministry of Internal Affairs are built on it within the framework of the Ukrainian-French contract . Representatives of the British side recently visited the enterprise and were satisfied with what they saw.