The Russian Navy will receive up to 10 new ocean-going frigates in the next 10 years, a Defense Ministry source said on Friday.
Later on Friday the first Admiral Gorshkov-class Project 22350 frigate will be floated out at the Severnaya Verf shipyard in St. Petersburg. The ship will be able to execute long-range strike, anti-submarine and escort missions in remote areas.
The next Gorshkov-class frigate, the Admiral Kasatonov, is under construction and expected to be launched in 2012.
"In the next 10 years the Russian Navy may receive up to 10 frigates of this project [22350]. There is no doubt that Severnaya Verf has sufficient capacity for this," the source said.
The Russian Navy needs between 20 and 30 such frigates, which will be the 21st century's main ocean-going surface ship.
The Admiral Gorshkov has a displacement of 4,500 tons, a speed of 29 knots, a range of 4000 nm at 14 knots, and endurance of 15 days.
MOSCOW, October 29 (RIA Novosti)
