Skerries to you: what response to the alliance is being prepared on Lake Ladoga
A military-technical response to NATO expansion is being prepared on Lake Ladoga. It could become a launch site for small missile ships (SMRVs). The Ministry of Defense has carried out comprehensive work to study the possibilities of basing ships and performing combat missions in this water area, sources in the military department told Izvestia. Based on the results of research that took several months, it was recognized that RTOs can operate effectively in Lake Ladoga. Experts note that this is an adequate measure after NATO expansion in the northwest: from here ships can keep Finland at gunpoint.
Work to study the possibilities of basing and carrying out combat missions by small missile ships in Lake Ladoga was carried out this year by the Russian Ministry of Defense , sources in the military department told Izvestia. As a result , the lake was recognized as suitable for RTOs of project 22800 “Karakurt” and 21631 “Buyan-M”. But so far the final decision on the permanent deployment of ships on Lake Ladoga has not been made.
As the publication's interlocutors said, the research work took several months. Hydrographic information was studied, and possible threats to small missile ships from a potential enemy were analyzed. The most important stage was the voyage of two small missile ships of Project 22800 "Karakurt" from the Baltic Fleet. RTOs checked the routes and performed maneuvers.
“This is a completely sound military-technical response to the entry of Finland and Sweden into NATO ,” military historian Dmitry Boltenkov told Izvestia. — Lake Ladoga is quite large. During the Great Patriotic War, the Ladoga Flotilla operated there, and after the war various forces were stationed. It is a good idea to ensure that Buyans and Karakurts fire at NATO targets. In addition, this area is not as well known to alliance intelligence as the Baltic bases. Karakurts are effective platforms for deploying various types of weapons; in the future, they may receive Zircon hypersonic missiles. And in the northwest we have many reservoirs, rivers, and canals.
The potential deployment of RTOs in Lake Ladoga is especially concerning for Finland, which is located in this direction , believes military expert, captain 1st rank Vasily Dandykin.
“The MRK of the Buyan-M project belongs to the river-sea class,” he explained to Izvestia. — But “Karakurt” also passes river systems normally. And Lake Ladoga is deeper than the Baltic Sea. At the same time, the weapons of small missile ships have a significant range. At one time, ships of the Caspian Flotilla fired at terrorist targets in Syria.
Earlier in October, the commander of the Sovetsk MRK of Project 22800 stated that they were the first of the formation’s ships to master the new navigation theater - Lake Ladoga. The crews of these ships sailed the Neva without tugboats, despite the fact that Project 22800 Karakurt ships are less suitable for river voyages than Project 21360 Buyan MRKs - the latter are specially designed for movement on inland waterways.
The Sovetsk commander said that the sailors were based at an old Soviet base, closed in 2004: it was necessary to assess the capabilities of the Leningrad naval base in terms of providing ships. In addition, it was necessary to test how ship hulls would behave in fresh water.
The test results were considered successful. Now, if necessary, RTOs of the Buyan-M and Karakurt projects can be relocated from the Baltic Sea to Lake Ladoga along the rivers and launch missiles. From the lake - 40 km to the border with Finland . The flight range of the Kalibr cruise missiles that the Karakurts are armed with is over 1.5 thousand km. At the same time, in Lake Ladoga, Russian ships will be relatively safe from the navies of NATO countries based in the Baltic.
Small but powerful: “Karakurt” and “Buyan-M”
"Karakurt" should become the most massive project of attack ships for our fleet. Today, there are three representatives of the series in the Russian Navy - “Mytishchi”, “Sovetsk” and “Odintsovo” . They are part of the 6th Red Banner Order of Nakhimov, 1st class, missile boat brigade of the Baltic Fleet. In total, it is planned to build 18 such ships. They are simultaneously produced at shipyards in St. Petersburg, Zelenodolsk, Crimea and the Far East. It is expected that by the mid-2020s the Baltic, Black Sea and Pacific fleets will have their own Karakurt formation.Graphic arts
Small missile ships of Project 22800 are relatively small, their displacement is 870 tons. However, despite their modest size, they carry a rather impressive arsenal. It includes the 3S14 firing system for eight Kalibr cruise missiles or supersonic anti-ship Onyx missiles, as well as the 76.2-mm AK-176MA artillery mount. Starting with the third ship of the series, Odintsovo, the Karakurt is equipped with a naval version of the Pantsir-M missile and gun system, which seriously increases the capabilities of combating air targets and anti-ship missiles.
The ship's contours and the use of radio-absorbing materials in the design make the Karakurts less noticeable to enemy radars than previous generations of small missiles. At the same time, they are equipped with modern radar stations (radars) and navigation equipment, as well as combat control, detection, target designation and communications systems.
MRKs of the Buyan-M project are small ships with a displacement of 850 tons. Initially, they were designed to protect the maritime economic zone of Russia. However, then their functionality was revised. In October 2015, three missiles of Project 21631 - Uglich, Grad Sviyazhsk and Veliky Ustyug - launched a strike with Caliber cruise missiles on terrorist targets in Syria. The launches were carried out from the Caspian Sea. In 2016, two other representatives of the series - “Green Dol” and “Serpukhov” - launched a strike against extremists in Syria from firing positions in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Today, ten representatives of the series are in service - three each in the Baltic Fleet and the Caspian Flotilla and four in the Black Sea.
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