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Merkury is a Steregushchiy-class corvette of the Russian Navy. The original name for the corvette was Retiviy prior to 2021.[3]

Development and design

Main article: Steregushchiy-class corvette

The Steregushchiy-class corvettes have a steel hull and composite material superstructure, with a bulbous bow and nine watertight subdivisions. They have a combined bridge and command centre, and space and weight provision for eight SS-N-25 missiles. Newest physical field reduction[clarification needed] solutions were applied too. As a result, designers considerably reduced the ship's radar signature thanks to hull architecture and fire-resistant radar-absorbent fiberglass applied in tophamper's design.[5] Stealth technology was widely used during construction of the ships, as well as 21 patents and 14 new computer programs.[6]

The Kashtan CIWS on the first ship was replaced in subsequent vessels by 12 Redut VLS cells containing 9M96E medium-range SAMs of the S-350 system. SS-N-27 (Kalibr type missiles) will be fitted to a larger domestic version, Project 20385.[7]

The export version known as Project 20382 Tigr carries either eight supersonic SS-N-26 (P-800 Oniks) anti-ship missiles or sixteen subsonic SS-N-25 'Switchblade' (Kh-35E Uran). It also carries two twin-tube launchers for 533mm heavy torpedoes. The A-190E 100mm gun first used in the Talwar-class frigates is controlled by a 5P-10E system that can track four targets simultaneously. Protection from air attacks is provided by the Kashtan CIWS and eight mounts for the SA-N-10 'Grouse' (9K38 Igla) SAM.[8]

Construction and career

The ship was laid down on 20 February 2015 as Retiviy, and launched on 12 March 2020 by Severnaya Verf in Saint Petersburg.[9] In April 2020, the ship's crew was formed. The crew arrived in St. Petersburg at the beginning of May 2020 for training. The ship was originally planned to go for sea trials at the end of 2020. However, mooring trials were first initiated in October 2021.[10] While the transfer to the Black Sea Fleet was scheduled for the end of 2021,[11][12][13] as of January 2022 the vessel remained on trials.

The name of the ship was changed to Merkury in 2021.[3] The ship was reported to have started sea trials in May 2022[14] and was reported as planned for commissioning in October.[15] In October it was reported that commissioning may have been postponed into 2023.[16] The ship was commissioned on 13 May 2023.[17]

References

  1. ^ "Guard Ships - Project 20380, 20385".
  2. ^ "В МО РФ сообщили о вхождении новейшего ракетного корвета "Меркурий" в состав ВМФ" [The MoD of the RF reported on the accepted newest missile corvette "Merkury" in the part of the Navy]. TASS (in Russian). 13 March 2023. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  3. ^ a b c "Guard Ships - Project 20380, 20385".
  4. ^ "Russian forces in the Mediterranean - Wk52/2023". Russian Navy - News and Analysis. 28 December 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  5. ^ "Russian Navy to Receive Corvette Boiky by Year End". Rusnavy.com. 16 November 2012. Archived from the original on 30 December 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  6. ^ "Проворный "Меркурий" споткнулся о тщеславие".
  7. ^ "Corvette Boikiy was launched in St. Petersburg". Rusnavy.com. 19 April 2011. Archived from the original on 30 December 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  8. ^ Pyadushkin, Maxim (20 August 2007). "Russian Navy Renews Surface Fleet". Aviation Week. Retrieved 10 November 2011. [dead link]
  9. ^ "В Петербурге судостроители спустили на воду корвет "Ретивый"" [In St. Petersburg shipbuilders launched the corvette "Retivyy"]. TASS (in Russian). 12 March 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  10. ^ В Санкт-Петербурге начаты швартовные испытания корвета «Ретивый» mil.ru 4 October 2021
  11. ^ "Russia resumes construction of project 20380, 20385 corvettes". Navyrecognition.com. 9 November 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  12. ^ Shishkin, Alexander (1 August 2019). "Строительство боевых кораблей океанской и дальней морской зоны для ВМФ РФ на 01.08.2019" [Construction of warships for the Russian Navy on 1 August 2019]. Флот открытого океана: третья попытка (in Russian). Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  13. ^ Stepova, Bogdan; Ramm, Alexei (18 May 2020). "В меру "Ретивый": Черноморский флот усилят "невидимым" кораблем" [Moderately "Zealous": the Black Sea Fleet will be strengthened by an "invisible" ship]. Izvestia (in Russian). Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  14. ^ "New Russian Navy's corvette Mercury begins sea trials". 24 May 2022.
  15. ^ "Russian corvette Merkuriy will be commissioned by October 2022". 19 August 2022.
  16. ^ "Delivery of corvette Merkuriy to Russia postponed to 2023". 25 October 2022.
  17. ^ Новейший корвет «Меркурий» вошёл в состав ВМФ России mil.ru 13 May 2023
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