MOSCOW -- A new Russian missile boat is entering state sea trials.
Speaking to Krasnaya Zvezda, the military's newspaper, Navy commander-in-chief Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov said, "The small missile ship Odintsovo is the first corvette armed with the Pantsir system. On June 30, its state trials began at the Baltic Fleet’s naval ranges." Odintsovo, of Project 22800, should be commissioned later this year into the Baltic Fleet.
Odintsovo is the first corvette to utilize the Pantsir-M, a naval version of the mobile ground-based air-defense system. The Baltic Fleet will receive another three missile boats from the class armed with the Pantsir-M, in addition to Sovetsk and Mytishchi, which have already been commissioned into service but do not have the air-defense system.
Project 22800 corvettes also feature the Kalibr-NK cruise missile and AK-176MA 76.2mm artillery weapons.
Separately, Admiral Yevmenov noted that the next frigate in Project 22350, named Admiral Kasatonov, should be commissioned into service later this month. He stated that the class would service as the basis for the Navy's ocean-going vessels in years to come, and confirmed that the warship design "will be further developed relative to some shipborne systems and armament."
Admiral Kasatonov is the second frigate of the class, behind Admiral Gorshkov. Several more are under construction.
The Pacific Fleet should soon receive its first Project 636.3 submarine, Admiral Yevmenov told Krasnaya Zvezda. The Pacific Fleet has six on order and the first, Volkhov, is nearly finished with testing. Its trials should conclude later this month.