MOSCOW, February 27. /TASS/. Russia has no plans to use the Black Sea Fleet’s advanced frigate Admiral Grigorovich on its Mediterranean voyage for striking terrorists’ positions in Syria with Kalibr cruise missiles, a source in military and diplomatic circles told TASS on Monday.
The frigate Admiral Grigorovich that has left Sevastopol on Monday will pass through the Black Sea Straits on Tuesday morning and join the Russian Navy’s Mediterranean permanent grouping in the evening of February 28, the source said.
"There are no plans for the frigate to use its Kalibr missile systems to deliver strikes against terrorists in Syria," the source said, adding that the Russian air task force in that Arab country had enough forces and resources for this goal.
The frigate Admiral Grigorovich will call at the Syrian port of Tartus during its Mediterranean voyage to replenish water, fuel and food supplies, the source said.
As the Russian Defense Ministry reported earlier, the Admiral Grigorovich has left on Monday for its third distant-waters voyage to operate within the Russian Navy’s permanent Mediterranean naval task force.
In December last year, the frigate returned from the Mediterranean Sea where it had operated for a month and a half as part of the Russian Navy’s permanent grouping. The frigate participated in Russia’s large-scale anti-terror operation, delivering strikes against militants’ positions in Syria with Kalibr cruise missiles.
The Admiral Grigorovich is the Project 11356 lead frigate delivered to the Russian Navy in March 2016.
The Project 11356 frigates have a displacement of 4,000 tons, a length of 124.8 meters, a speed of 30 knots and endurance of 30 days. They are armed with Kalibr-NK strike missile systems, Shtil-1 and Palash antiaircraft missile complexes, A-190 100mm artillery guns, torpedoes and antisubmarine warfare armament.
Each ship is also capable of carrying a helicopter on its board.