SEVEROMORSK /Murmansk Region/, April 7. /TASS/. The Project 22350 first serial-produced frigate Admiral Kasatonov is transiting the Norwegian Sea on its way to the Baltic Sea after wrapping up the program of its state trials in the Northern Fleet, the Fleet’s press office reported on Tuesday.

"The ship is currently in the southern part of the Norwegian Sea and in several days the Fleet Admiral Kasatonov will start passing through the straits area and will enter the Baltic Sea," the press office said in a statement.

As the Fleet’s press office specified for TASS, the straits area is the system of natural waterways connecting the Baltic and North Seas, which is in close proximity to the European coast before entry into the Baltic Sea. This is the main sea route for civil and combat ships from European ports to the ports of the World Ocean.

As the press office specified, the frigate is sailing at an economical speed while the crew continues sharpening its naval skills.

The trials of the frigate Fleet Admiral Kasatonov at the Northern Fleet’s sea ranges were held in several stages from November 20. At first, the frigate’s missile armament was tested in the White Sea with the ship’s crew firing a Kalibr cruise missile against a coastal target located at the Chizha combat range in the Arkhangelsk Region and Kalibr and Oniks cruise missiles against sea targets, the press office said.

In the Barents Sea, the frigate performed artillery firings against a sea and a coastal target, delivered torpedo fire against an underwater target and practiced inter-operability with aircraft and logistics vessels (refueling on the move and towing) and some other elements of the program of state trials, the press office specified.

After the program of the state trials is over, the warship is set to enter service with Russia’s Northern Fleet, the press office said.

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.

In October, the warship made an inter-fleet transit from the Baltic to the White Sea to complete shipbuilders’ and state trials and in early December — an inter-base passage from Severodvinsk to Severomorsk in Russia’s northwest.

Project 22350 frigates are expected to become the Russian Navy’s most advanced warships in their class. These frigates displace 4,500 tonnes and can develop a speed of 29 knots. They are armed with Oniks and Kalibr missiles and Poliment-Redut air defense missile systems.

The Project 22350 lead frigate Admiral Gorshkov entered service with the Russian Navy in July 2018. The Project’s first serial-produced frigate Admiral Kasatonov was put afloat in 2014. The Project 22350 frigate Admiral Golovko was laid down on February 1, 2012. Four more frigates of this Project are at various stages of their construction at the Severnaya Shipyard.