The Project 22350 frigates, or Admiral Gorshkov, are the latest generation and most modern frigates and, in general, the most modern main battleships of the Russian Navy. The Admiral Gorshkov was designed by the Severnoye design bureau and all vessels will be built by the Severnaya Verf shipyard in St. Petersburg. The Russian Navy ordered ten ships in 2020 with deliveries scheduled for 2029. To date, three ships have been delivered, while five more are in various stages of construction and installation of their systems. The ten Admiral Gorshkov frigates, along with the three Admiral Grigorovich frigates (Project 11356) and the two Gepard frigates (Project 11661K), are the Russian Navy’s main effort to replace Soviet-era frigates and destroyers with ocean-going capabilities.
The ships incorporate stealth features into their design in terms of electromagnetic signature with smooth continuous lines and sloping surfaces. The hull and superstructure are joined smoothly without openings and different volumes, reducing the trace to enemy radars. The ships are 135 meters long, 16 meters wide, have an average draft of 4.5 meters and displace 4,500 tons unladen and 5,400 tons fully loaded. The ship has accommodations for 210 officers and sailors.
The ship’s main propulsion system is the M55P with a total output of 48,800kW, of the CODAG (Combined Diesel And Gas) type, consisting of two Saturn M90FR naval turbines with an output of 20,500kW each and two 10D49 diesel engines with an output of 3,900kW each. Through a speed reducer, the power of the engines is transferred through two shafts to two fixed-pitch propellers. For the production of electricity, the ship has four ADG-1000NK diesel electric motors with an output of 1000kW each. The frigate “Admiral Gorshkov” has a maximum speed of 29.5 knots. The ship’s maximum range is 4,850 nautical miles at a constant speed of 14 knots and the maximum duration of autonomous operations at sea is 30 days.
Weapons
The Admiral Gorshkov frigates, although relatively small in displacement compared to Soviet-era destroyers, are heavily armed, even by modern Western-designed frigates of similar displacement. From bow to stern, the ship is equipped with a 130 mm A-192M Amethyst/Arsenal naval gun with a rate of fire of 45 rounds per minute, a range of 23 km against surface targets and 18 against air targets, and an automatic loading system. Directly behind the gun is the Redut VLS vertical launch system with four eight-position (4×8) units for carrying and launching up to 32 9M96, 9M96M, 9M96D/9M96DM(M2) medium-long range air-to-air missiles or 128 9M100 short-range air-to-air missiles or a combination of the two. The 9M96M is the main air-to-air missile of the S-400 anti-aircraft system with a range of 150 kilometers, while the 9M100 is the main air-to-air missile of the S-350 anti-aircraft system with a range of 15 kilometers, capable of shooting down highly maneuverable aerodynamic targets as well as cruise missiles, guided bombs and drones.
Behind the vertical anti-aircraft missile launcher is the 3S14M VLS vertical launcher with two eight-position (2×8) units for carrying and launching up to 16 3M54-1 Kalibr, Oniks, Zircon or Otvet missiles. The 3M54-1 Kalibr is a supersonic (2.5 m) anti-ship/cruise missile with a range of 220-1500 km depending on the version and the ability to carry a conventional or nuclear warhead. Their length is 6.2-8.9 meters depending on the version and the weight of the warhead is 500 kg. The P-800 Oniks is a supersonic (2.9 m) anti-ship/cruise missile with a range of 600-800 km depending on the version and the ability to carry a conventional or nuclear warhead. Their length is 8.9 meters and the weight of the warhead is 200-300 kilograms. The 3M22 Zircon is a new generation hypersonic anti-ship/cruise missile with a range of 1000 kilometers. Finally, Otvet is an anti-submarine missile, like the American ASROC, carrying a light torpedo with a range of 36 kilometers.
The armament is completed by two 14.5 mm gun stations mounted left and right in the superstructure, two quadruple 330 mm torpedo launchers for Paket NK torpedoes, two Palash 30 mm anti-missile gun systems and a Ka-27 anti-submarine helicopter. The Palash CIWS consists of two six-barreled GSh-6-30 rotating guns with a rate of fire of 4,500-5,000 v.p.m., 500 shells per charge and a range of up to 4,000 meters.
Electronics
The ship’s main sensor is the 3D air-surface search radar 5P-27 Furke-4 E-band and a maximum range for air targets of 150-200 km. The second radar on the main mast is the AESA radar 5P-20K Poliment with four element antennas emitting in the S-band and a range of 150 km. In addition to detecting air targets, the radar is also responsible for guiding A/A missiles to their target. The surface radar is the 34K1 “Monolit” which is located above the bridge in a dielectric dome and is used for guiding anti-ship missiles and surface search. For navigation it uses three Pal-N radars. It is also equipped with the main fire control system Puma 5P-10 artillery radar. It has the Vigstar Centaurus-NM communication system. All electronics and weapons are integrated into the Sigma/Sigma 22350 combat management system.
For anti-submarine warfare, it has a hull sonar deployed in the bow inside the bulb and a towed sonar in the stern. The first is the Zarya M, a cylindrical device and has a range of 9.3 kilometers, and the second is the towed device with a range of 15 kilometers. The electronic warfare system is the TK-28 ESM/LWR and Prosvet-M with 2×12 PU KT-308 and 8×10 PU KT-216 countermeasure launchers. The ship also carries the Grach E/O interference system (5P-42 Filin, two systems). This device is able to suppress optical and electro-optical surveillance and targets enemy surveillance devices with high-intensity radial light, “dazzling” the enemy. This ensures the protection of ships and personnel as they carry out missions at sea or in coastal zones.
