MOSCOW, November 26. /TASS/. The cutting-edge frigate Admiral Kasatonov under construction for the Russian Navy at the St. Petersburg-based Severnaya Verf Shipyard will enter sea trials in December 2018, Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Korolyov said on Monday.

"The trials of the Project 22350 frigate Admiral Kasatonov are planned for December this year. Next year, the trials of the most advanced large amphibious assault ship Pyotr Morgunov [Project 11711] are scheduled to begin. We are planning to accept precisely these ocean-class ships for service shortly," the Navy chief said in an interview with the Russian Defense Ministry’s newspaper Krasnyaya Zvezda published on Monday.

This year, the Russian Navy will accept for service the frigates Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov and Admiral Makarov, the large amphibious assault ship Ivan Gren, the ice breaker Ilya Muromets and the sea-going logistics support vessel Elbrus, the Navy chief said.

The frigate Admiral Kasatonov is the second (the first serial-produced) Project 22350 warship. The Project was developed by the Severnoye Design Bureau. The lead warship of this series, the Admiral Gorshkov, was delivered to the Navy in the summer of 2018 and the construction of two more frigates (the Admiral Golovko and the Admiral Isakov) continues at the slipways of the Severnaya Verf Shipyard in St. Petersburg.

Project 22350 frigates are the Russian Navy’s most advanced warships in their class. These frigates displace about 5,000 tonnes and can develop a speed of 29 knots. They are armed with Oniks and Kalibr missiles and the Poliment-Redut air defense missile system.

The large amphibious assault ship Pyotr Morgunov was laid down at the Yantar Shipyard on the Baltic coast on June 11, 2015 and floated out on May 25 this year. By the Navy’s decision, this series will consist of only two warships: the lead ship Ivan Gren, which has been under construction for over 20 years due to the Project’s numerous adjustments and the first serial-produced (the second-built) large amphibious assault ship Pyotr Morgunov.

Project 11711 warships displace about 6,000 tonnes and are the largest surface combatants built to date. The previous Project 1171 ‘Tapir’ large amphibious assault ship displaces 4,300 tonnes and the most numerous ships of this class in the Russian Navy (Project 775) have a displacement of 4,400 tonnes.