The Russian Black Sea Fleet commissioned the Tsiklon corvette

The Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Navy commissioned Project 22800 Karakurt, Tsiklon corvette.

Russian media reported on this.

On July 12, 2023, at the Zaliv Shipbuilding Yard in Kerch, a solemn ceremony was held to commission a Project 22800 Karakurt Tsiklon corvette into the Russian Navy. The ship was assigned to the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation.

Construction of the first series of seven ships started in 2015. It is known that to date, the Russian defense ministry has contracted 18 corvettes of this project, four of which, including the Tsiklon, have already been commissioned.

The ships of Project 22800 Karakurt are to replace similar corvettes of the previous Project 21631 Buyan-M under construction for the Russian Navy.

Project 22800 Karakurt

The Project 22800 corvette was designed by the Russian Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau, and commissioned by the Russian Ministry of Defense. The ships of this project are designed to conduct operations on the high seas.

The ship’s armament includes air defense, missile weapons, artillery system for self-defense, and an advanced detection and targeting system.

The basis of strike capabilities is Kalibr-NK family missiles, which include cruise missiles for striking surface and ground targets. Eight rocket launchers are at the rear of the superstructure behind the wheelhouse. The ship’s launcher is also capable of launching Onix and Zircon missiles.

The artillery armament of the ships of this project includes АК-176МА 76.2mm automatic dual-purpose guns, two АК-630М six-barreled 30mm guns, and two Kord 12.7mm machine guns.

The anti-aircraft defense of the ship is provided by a naval version of the Pantsir-ME anti-aircraft missile systems. The missile component of the SAM is capable of simultaneously hitting up to four targets at a distance of up to 20 km and at an altitude of up to 15 km. The artillery unit of two twin 30 mm automatic guns can fire at targets at a distance of up to 4 km and at an altitude of up to 3 km.

The ship received all the necessary equipment for the operation of the Orlan-10 type reconnaissance UAV aviation group.

The ship’s crew consists of 39 people. The ship’s autonomy at sea is 15 days.