Pella Leningrad Shipyard in St. Petersburg, a subsidiary of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), has launched the new Russian Project 22800 (Karakurt-class) missile corvette, called Taifun.

The Taifun (№ 252) is a Karakurt-class small-size missile corvette built with stealth technology and designed for better performance in the open ocean. With a displacement of nearly 800 tons, they have a sea endurance of up to 15 days.

The Karakurt-class ships are also well protected against aerial threats. While the first two ships are equipped with the AK-630M anti-aircraft artillery system, the rest will have the Pantsir-M, a naval version of the Pantsir-S1 combined surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery system which is capable of destroying aerial targets at a distance of up to 20 kilometers.

More: Photo: Taiwan’s Tuo River class stealth missile corvette

The main advantage of the new ships is their missiles. Each of the Karakurt-class corvettes carries eight vertical launching systems for the P-800 Oniks anti-aircraft missiles and the Kalibr-NK cruise missiles, which can be used against ground targets.

Technical specifications of Karakurt-class small-size missile corvette:

• Length about 67 m
• Width approx. 11 m
• The displacement is about 800 t
• Full speed up to 30 knots
• Range up to 2500 miles

The Russian Navy expects to receive 18 Karakurt-class corvettes (project 22800) by 2020, building a small squadron with each of its fleets. The flagship, Uragan, was commissioned earlier this year, in July.