Article Posted on : - May 01, 2014

Missile corvette Uglich. A Zelenodolsk shipyard photo

MOSCOW (BNS): Russian Navy's Caspian flotilla will add two new missile corvettes by July this year.

The two warships -- the Grad Sviyazhsk and the Uglich -- will be the first Buyan-M-class corvettes to join the Russian Navy.

The warships have successfully undergone navy sea trials and will be assigned to the Caspian flotilla by July, a spokesman for the Southern Military District said.

"The two ships are due to join the Russian navy at the end of the first half of 2014. Most likely, they will be assigned to the Caspian flotilla by July 1," the spokesman was quoted as saying by Ria Novosti.

A total of nine Project 21631 (Buyan-M) corvettes have been ordered by the Russian defence ministry for the Navy, six of which would be assigned to the Caspian flotilla.

The Navy is expecting the third corvette, Veliky Ustyug, by late this year and six more warships of the same class by 2020, the official said.

The Buyan-M class warships have a displacement of 950 tons and a maximum speed of 25 knots. They are armed with Kalibr (SS-N-27) anti-ship missiles, 100-mm and 30-mm guns, as well as Igla-1M air defence missiles.

The Caspian flotilla is the maritime element of Russia's Southern Military District, stationed at Astrakhan. The flotilla consists of several brigades and divisions of surface ships and units of coastal troops.