MOSCOW, November 25. /TASS/. The Project 22350 first serial-produced frigate Admiral Kasatonov practiced its inter-operability with aviation during shipbuilders’ trials in the White Sea, the Pacific Fleet’s press office reported on Monday.
"Su-24 planes, Ka-27 and Ka-31 helicopters of the Northern Fleet’s Air Force and Air Defense Army were involved to provide support for the trials. They flew over the frigate. Helicopter pilots made several landings and take-offs from the ship’s deck," the press office said in a statement.
The frigate entered the shipbuilders’ sea trials on November 20. The trials will include several stages. The forces of the Northern Fleet’s Belomorsk naval base will provide support for the trials. The frigate will test its technical systems and hold test-fire at the Northern Fleet’s combat training ranges in the White Sea.
The frigate Fleet Admiral Kasatonov is the second (the first serial-produced) Project 22350 warship built at the Severnaya Shipyard (part of Russia’s United Shipbuilding Corporation). The cutting-edge frigate was laid down on November 26, 2009 and floated out on December 12, 2014. The frigate is set to be delivered to the Russian Navy this year.
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 Shipyard in St. Petersburg.
Project 22350 frigates are multirole combat ships capable of effectively fighting enemy surface, air and submarine forces and delivering strikes against ground and coastal targets at a distance of over 1,500 km. These frigates are expected to become the Russian Navy’s most advanced warships in their class. They displace 4,500 tonnes and can develop a speed of 29 knots. They are armed with Oniks and Kalibr missiles and the Poliment-Redut air defense missile systems.