Russia tests rocket ship that may return to Vietnam

The head of the Russian Navy's Shipbuilding Department, Rear Admiral Vladimir Tryapichnikov, personally said that the manufacturer will cooperate with the country's navy to test the Project 22800 ship at Hadoga Lake in May 2018.

After testing at Lake Hadoga, the ship will be brought to the Baltiysk region in western Russia in the coming time and continue to undergo tests there, Vladimir Tryapichnikov added.

When talking about the plan to export this type of ship, Russian military sources said that the potential for Vietnam to buy is very large because currently, the Vietnamese Navy is approaching a number of Russian Kalibr missile-carrying warships, including Project 22800 warships.

If technology is transferred, Vietnam can quickly use the experience gained from the construction of 6 Project 1241.8 Molniya-class missile boats to build these warships, increasing the number of extremely powerful fast attack missile boats.

In addition, this type of ship has a small displacement so it can be built in shipyards that are not among the largest, thus helping to save money seriously and increasing the number of shipyards with access to modern technology.

So what is special about the power of Project 22800? According to the press office of Thong Nhat OSK Shipbuilding Corporation, Project 22800 missile boats have a maximum displacement of 800 tons, a length of 60m, a width of 10m, and a draft of 4m.

The ship has a maximum speed of 30 knots and a cruising range of up to 2,500 - 3,000 nautical miles, with a continuous sea journey time of about 15 days and nights. In addition, the geometric structure and the use of radar-absorbent materials should make Karakurt virtually invisible to enemy radar.

Meanwhile, the Russian ship is equipped with modern radar and the most advanced navigation equipment. In terms of weapons, the ship is equipped with a vertical launch system of Kalibr-NK cruise missiles (8 missiles) with 2 types of missiles: 3M-14T (land-attack cruise version, with a launch range of 2,500 km) and 3M-54T (anti-ship cruise version, with a launch range of 660 km). The ship is also equipped with a 100mm gun.

However, the new highlight of Karakurt's weapons is the Pantsir-M air defense complex (a naval variant of the Pantsir-S ground-based air defense missile-gun complex), which has now undergone state testing.

It is designed to destroy air targets at distances from several tens of meters to 20 kilometers. The combat module is equipped with high-speed missiles with radio guidance and two 30mm six-barreled cannons.

In terms of appearance, it can be seen that in addition to being slightly larger in size and different in the vertical launch system, the ship has an appearance relatively similar to the design of the Molniya-class Project 1241.8 "Lightning" missile ship that Vietnam is currently building under technical transfer from Russia.