Shipyard in Volga area lays down two Grachonok-class anti-saboteur ships

Alex Guikalov

Shipyard in Volga area lays down two Grachonok-class anti-saboteur ships - Military & Defense - TASS: 

They are designated to protect the water area of Russian naval bases, according to the project’s developer

Project 21980 Grachonok-class anti-saboteur boat Roman Pimenov/TASS

ZELENODOLSK /Republic of Tatarstan/, August 7. /TASS/. The Zelenodolsk Shipyard in the Republic of Tatarstan laid down the hulls of the Project 21980 Grachonok-class eleventh and twelfth serial-produced anti-saboteur boats, a TASS correspondent reported from the scene.

"Despite their small displacement compared to cruisers and aircraft carriers, the ships of this class have demonstrated their ability to cope with their assigned missions in very complex conditions and situations, including in the Syrian Arab Republic, providing for the security of the grouping of the Russian Navy’s ships staying there," Navy Deputy Commander-in-Chief for Armament Igor Mukhametshin said at the keel-laying ceremony.

Project 21980 special-purpose boats are designated to protect the water area of Russian naval bases, the press office cited the data of the Design Bureau Vympel (the project’s developer).

Grachonok-class boats are outfitted with the radio-electronic equipment (the Anapa sonar for detecting underwater saboteur forces and capabilities, the MR-231 navigation radar and the MTK-201 M3 opto-electronic close air and surface acquisition system) and the facilities for spotting underwater targets (the Kalmar detection complex).

Project 21980 Class Counter-Sabotage Boat: Details