ZELENODOLSK (Tatarstan), June 15. /TASS/. The Project 22100 Ocean border guard ships will reinforce Russia’s borders in the north, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Monday at a ceremony of laying down a new serial ship of the project at the Zelenodolsk shipyard in the Republic of Tatarstan.
"We are strengthening our northern borders. The struggle for the Arctic, where the main mineral resources are concentrated, is underway. The border guards have also the task to protect our Arctic development resources," said the deputy prime minister.
The new border guard ship for the Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia will be built under the JSC Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau (St. Petersburg) project. The lead ship of this project, named the Polyarnaya Zvezda (Polar Star), also built at the Zelenodolsk shipyard, is currently undergoing builder’s sea trials in the Baltic Sea.
The laid down ship will be built within a state contract worth more than 17 billion roubles ($306.59 million). The contracts provides for the construction of two ships of this class. The vessels will be delivered to the customer by 2019. The border guard ships will be in service in the polar regions.
The patrol ships of the Ocean project will have the task to protect Russia’s exclusive economic zone, as well as to support actions of special FSB forces in the fight against terrorism and piracy, combating smuggling and drug trafficking. The ship is armed with an automatic gun mount and heavy machine guns, as well as equipped with a helipad and hangar for the Kamov Ka-27 type helicopter. The vessel has newest electronic surveillance and reconnaissance systems.
The Zelenodolsk shipyard was founded in 1895. Since its establishment the shipyard has built more than 1,500 sea and river ships, including about 600 naval vessels. The company produces small antisubmarine ships, communication ships, amphibious assault hovercraft. The vessels built by the shipyard are exported to Algeria, Germany, Libya, Cuba.