According to the plans announced on January 10, the new Sovershenny corvette (project 20380) – the newest ship of this class in the Russian Navy – will be commissioned the in the first half of 2017 to join the Pacific Fleet. The Steregushchy-class ship was laid down at the Amur shipbuilding yards in the Far East of Russia back in 2006 and launched in 2015. At present it is going through sea trials.

The Navy plans to have least 20 project 20380 corvettes for all four major fleets. Four ships of this class have already joined the Baltic Fleet.

The main missions include protection of territorial waters, exclusive economic zone, continental shelf, offshore areas, naval bases and ports. The Steregushchy class can be deployed in coastal patrol, escort and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations, as well as to support amphibious assaults. The corvette can engage surface ships, submarines, aircraft and shore-based targets.

The ship is not an upgrade. The project has been developed practically from scratch by the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau with over 21 inventions patented and 14 certificates issued for registration of computer programs.

It uses stealth technology. The Steregushchiy-class corvettes have a steel hull and composite material superstructure. The ship's radar signature is reduced thanks to hull architecture and fire-resistant radar-absorbent fiberglass applied in tophamper's design.

The modular design allows for space-efficient integration of weapon systems and/or replacement by alternative weapon systems.

The corvette has the following characteristics:

– displacement: standard: 1,800 tons, full: 2,200 tons;

– length: 104.5 m (343 ft), beam: 11.6 m (38 ft), draught: 3.7 m (12 ft);

– speed: 27 kn (50 km/h; 31 mph);

– range: 3,800 nmi (7,000 km; 4,400 mi) at 14 kn (26 km/h; 16 mph);

– endurance: 15 days;

– complement: 100, including the helicopter’s maintenance team.

The ship features an aft hangar and flight deck for a single Ka-27 ASW helicopter.

The Sigma combat information management system collects data from the radars and sensors to provide real-time situational awareness. It allows exchanging information with a group of ships.

The Steregushchy class corvettes are powered by a combined diesel and diesel (CODAD) propulsion system, which provides a maximum speed of 27 kn and a cruising range of 4000 mi at 14 kn speed. The four 16D49 diesel engines develop a total power output of 23, 320 hp. The engines are installed on damped platforms and the diesel generating sets are hooked to the second deck to reduce noise. The four diesel sets generate 2,520kW electricity for shipboard lighting.

The armament includes the Kh-35 subsonic anti-ship missile with a range of 260 km (161, 5 mi). The missile flies at the altitude of a few meters over the surface – 10-15 m en route and about 4 m at terminal phase at the speed of Mach 0.8 (609 mph; 980 km/h). It has inertial guidance and ARGS-35E X-band terminal active radar homing.

A combination of gyro-static, GPS/GLONASS and combined active-passive radar subsystems protects the missile from jamming. The 145 kg (320 lb) warhead is powerful enough to sink a destroyer or severely damage a cruiser size ship. The missile can be upgraded. A bigger fuel tank can increase the operational range.

The Kh-35 features a normal aerodynamic configuration with cruciform wings and fins and a semisubmerged air duct intake. The propulsion unit is a turbofan engine. The missile is guided to its target at the final leg of the trajectory by commands fed from the active radar homing head and the radio altimeter.

The Kh-35 can be employed in fair and adverse weather conditions at sea states up to 5-6, by day and night, under enemy fire and electronic countermeasures. The missile has low signatures thanks to its small dimensions, sea-skimming capability and a special guidance algorithm ensuring highly secure operational modes of the active radar seeker.

The missile guidance radar is installed in the foresail under the radome transparent to radar or radio waves.

The Redut air defense system is a navalized version of the land-based Vityaz medium-range air defense system build around the 9M96 highly maneuverable missile family originally developed for the S-400 long-range air defense system. Four phased array antennas that are able to track 16 targets at the same time.

The system consists of four or eight vertical launch systems that launch three types of missiles. The 9M100 is the short-range missile, with a range of up to 15km. The 9M96M is the medium-range missile, with a range of 40-50km. Finally, the 9M96 long-range missile is supposed to have a range of up to 150km.

The main gun fitted forward is an Arsenal A-190 100 mm naval gun, with a range of over 20 km and a rate of fire up to 80 rpm. Two 30mm six-barreled AK-630M automatic gun mounts are also installed on the vessel. The AK-630M can fire up to 5,000 rounds a minute for a maximum range of 5,000 m.

The countermeasures equipment includes a TK-25E-5 ECM system and PK-10E decoy system. The TK-25E-5 can tap emissions of air and surface target acquisition radars, fire control radars and ASM radar seekers. PK-10E is equipped with a KT-216-E launch system, firing AZ-SO-50/AZ-SOM-50 rounds to deceive radar and optically guided incoming missiles.

This is the first ship to be equipped with two quadruple torpedo tubes for Paket-E/NK antitorpedo missile. The 330 mm missiles destroy the incoming torpedoes within the radius of 1.400 meters. Steregushchy is fitted with the Zarya-M bulbous bow mounted sonar suite that employs the Vinyetka low frequency active/passive towed array.Steregushchy Class has a stern helicopter deck and hangar, to support the operations of a Ka-27 helicopter for use in reconnaissance and anti-submarine missions.Steregushchy Class has a stern helicopter deck and hangar, to support the operations of a Ka-27 helicopter for use in reconnaissance and anti-submarine missions.Steregushchy Class has a stern helicopter deck and hangar, to support the operations of a Ka-27 helicopter for use in reconnaissance and anti-submarine missions.Steregushchy Class has a stern helicopter deck and hangar, to support the operations of a Ka-27 helicopter for use in reconnaissance and anti-submarine missions.

Given their lower cost and the firepower of their state-of-the-art cruise missiles, corvettes are likely to form the core of Russian naval power in the coming years. Small and agile, but still bigger than standard coastal patrol boats, the Steregushchy-class ships play a significant role in Russia’s naval strategy. With the coastal defense mission first and foremost, these ships are quite capable of out-of-area operations. Naval Technology lists the ship among the best corvettes in the world. The serial production of the cutting edge corvettes reflects the growing capacity of Russian shipbuilding industry.