The Russian Ministry of Defense's press office announced that the Yakov Balyayev, a Project 12700 minesweeper, will be launched at a ceremony on January 24 at the Sredne-Nevsky shipyard. The event will be attended by senior officials in the Russian Navy. The Navy had noted last month that "the work of forming the hull and outfitting it with systems and mechanisms was completed aboard the ship," making it ready for launching.

The crew of the minesweeper are presently completing training at a Russian Navy facility located in St. Petersburg.

Following launching, the minesweeper will have its maritime systems installed and then begin dockside trials. It will progress from there to factory sea trials and then to state trials, after which it will be commissioned.

It is presently assumed that Yakov Balyayev will be commissioned either in late 2020 or early 2021.

Yakov Balyayev, laid down in December 2017, is the fifth minesweeper in the Project 12700 line of vessels, which are 62 meters long and displace nearly 900 tons. Three vessels have been commissioned -- the fourth, Georgiy Kurbatov, is scheduled for commissioning later this year -- and two more have been laid down, making for seven vessels in the Navy in the next few years. In a Navy press statement last month, Commander-in-Chief Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov was quoted as saying, "There are plans to build several dozen Project 12700 ships. They have no rivals in the world by their characteristics."

Source:  FlotProm
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The goal of the Mid-Life Upgrade project is to secure the service life of the vessels until 2030’s and to extend the vessels’ independent operation time. The project will also develop the Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) and the surface defense capabilities with new features

Source:  Patria
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In a statement on January 16, 2020, the Russian Defense Ministry said, "Under the state armament program, the Pskov Guards Airborne Force formation will get a battalion set of next-generation BMD-4M combat hardware in January 2020 that includes over 35 BMD-4M and BTR-MDM ‘Rakushka’ vehicles." The vehicles are to be transferred in a ceremony on January 17.

Ahead of the delivery, personnel from the Pskov regiment underwent training at a center in Omsk over a period of two months to familiarize themselves with the operation of the new vehicles.

The Defense Ministry noted that this upcoming batch "is the seventh battalion set" that has been delivered to the Airborne Force. Across the period 2018 to 2020, the service has been expected to receive 132 BMD-4Ms and 58 BTR-MDMs, state-owned media outlet TASS Russian News Agency reported.

The BMD-4M is a tracked amphibious infantry fighting vehicle that comes equipped with a 100mm gun -- which can also be used to fire anti-tank missiles -- as well as a 30mm machine gun and 7.62mm machine gun. It can reach a speed of 70 kilometers per hour. The BTR-MDM, meanwhile, is armed with a pair of machine guns.

Source:  TASS Russian News Agency
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