“The vessel is designed to provide communication and control of fleet forces, conduct electronic warfare, radio and electronic intelligence, tagging of surveillance components of the US missile defense system and naval SAM components,” Anatoly Shlemov, the head of the Defense Procurement and Acquisition department of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, told RIA Novosti earlier this month.
The construction of the second ship of this series — the intel-gathering ship Ivan Khurs — is nearing completion at the Northern Shipyard (Severnaya Verf) in St. Petersburg. The ship's seagoing tests are slated for Autumn 2016.
The Admiral Yuri Ivanov has a displacement of over 4,000 tons and a cruising range of 8,000 nautical miles.
Project 18280 ships are designed to provide communications and fleet management, as well as SIGINT and electronic warfare.
They also boast vast pre-designed potential for further modernization of its onboard electronic equipment.
