ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) — Russia's St. Petersburg-based Admiralty Shipyards is planning to launch the first Project 23550 multipurpose Arctic class patrol vessel Ivan Papanin in 2019 and to deliver it to the Russian navy in 2020, the company's CEO, Alexander Buzakov, said in an interview with Sputnik.
"We laid down Ivan Papanin in April. The construction is fully underway … and in 2019, we will launch it and then deliver it to the customer in 2020," Buzakov said.
"The patrol vessels of Project 23550 are multipurpose as their tasks include the protection and escort of ships, towing, transportation of special cargo, and, of course, patrols. The relevant weaponry will be installed on the vessel. The displacement of Ivan Papanin patrol vessel will total 8,500 tonnes, there are no comparable military vessels that are able to navigate in the two-meter-thick ice," Buzakov stressed.
The contract for the building of the two ships was signed between the Admiralty Shipyards and the Russian Defense Ministry in April 2016.
Ivan Papanin, expected to be 328 feet long and 65 feet wide, will be able to go through ice with thickness of about 1.5 meters (5 feet). The ship's average speed will be about 16 knots. The vessel will be equipped with a 76-mm AK-176MA automatic gun featuring high rate of fire, a helicopter launch pad and a hangar to host a helicopter and unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as two high speed Raptor motor boats.
