| Introducing the RFS Astrakhan 2010-03-14 by: badanov What got my attention about this vessel was the fact its armament represented the heaviest yet outfitted to a modern Russian corvette. The Photo shows the main gun turret forward with a 100mm naval gun. Amidships are a pair of 30mm point defense artillery autocannon AK-630 and aft is a navalized Grad-M 122mm MLR.A-215 22 Tubes on a single pivot. The boat also has a navalized SA-18 SAM launcher. Russians like to have a 76mm autocannon AK-176 aboard its corvettes as a point defense weapon and as naval artillery. The Astrakhan is classified as a stealth ship and has been deployed to the Caspian Flotilla. Two more ships of this class have been built, but have been mothballed. I can guess at its mission being providing naval fire support against terrorist targets and in support of anti-terrorist operations. A speculative list of Caspian Flotilla surface combatants are found here. Obviously, the Astrakhan would be a fine addition except it would require escorts to protect it from Iranian light missile boats. You would not want this boat caught in the middle of the Caspian Sea with no escort and/or no air support overhead. While the naval gunnery is formidable for a boat of this class, it would be outclassed by any missile patrol boats the Iranians currently use. -----------------------------------------COMMENTS---------------------------------------- |