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On December 13th, Russia’s 2nd project 11711 large landing ship Petr Morgunov began its sea trials, the United Shipbuilding Corporation JSC announced.
“The Petr Morgunov sailed out to the Baltic Sea for running trials which are combined with acceptance trials. The crew and the trial team will test all systems and mechanisms,” the statement said.
The Petr Morgunov is the first serial ship of project 11711. The Ivan Gren lead ship has been operational since June 2018. Yantar Shipyard is building the Vladimir Andreev and the Vasily Trushin ships of the project.
The contract by the Russian Ministry of Defense for the construction of the second BDK of project 11711 was awarded to the Yantar Shipyard on September 1st, 2014.
The official ceremony of laying the large landing ship Petr Morgunov took place at the Yantar Shipyard on June 11th, 2015.
In fact, the hull work on the construction of the ship was started at the plant even before the signing of this contract, and the groundwork for the hull was prepared in the mid-2000s.
The launching ceremony of the large landing ship Petr Morgunov was held on May 25th, 2018 (the actual launch from the floating dock of the PD-8 plant took place on May 26th, 2018). The contract deadline for the large landing shipPetr Morgunov was 2018, but it was clearly delayed.
The lead Project 11711 large landing ship Ivan Gren was built at the Yantar Shipyard under a contract issued by the Russian Ministry of Defense on April 1st, 2004.
The warship was laid at the Yantar Shipyard on December 23rd, 2004. It was planned for it to be transferred to the Russian Navy in 2008 and for it to be the first in a series of five or six units.
However, the construction suffered long delays due to to long-term insufficient funding and the uncertainty of the Navy’s views on whether it even required such a warship.
After 2010, the project underwent several significant adjustments, including cost reduction and simplification, including the abandonment of a significant part of the planned initial weapons and electronic facilities.
The ship was launched on May 18th, 2012 and went to factory sea trials on June 25th, 2016. State trials were launched in November 2017. It was accepted on June 2nd, 2018.
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Project 11711 large landing ships are designed for landing operations on hostile territory, hardware and equipment transportation. In peacetime they engage in humanitarian operations. The ro-ro ship has a bow to stern through passage for armor. It has a displacement of 5,000 tons, a length of 120 meters and a width of 16.5 meters.
The speed is 18 knots, the cruising capacity is 30 days and the crew comprises a hundred men.
It has a two-island superstructure and a hangar in the stern for one helicopter. The extendable construction makes the hangar fit for two helicopters. The hull and superstructure are made of steel.
The ship can carry 18 tanks, or 36 armored personnel carriers. It can carry approximately 380 troops. In addition, instead of the landing force, it can carry up to 1,500 tons of cargo.
It can carry 1 or 2 Ka-29 or Ka-52K helicopters.
Artillery arms include one 30mm AK-630M-2 Duet and two 30mm AK-630M.
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In 2019, on December 3rd, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that in 2019, the Russian Navy received 23 new surface vessels, including service and supply ships, 2 new submarines, 3 aircraft, 4 coastal missile complexes and 400 units of various missile and torpedo weapons.
In addition, the Navy received 480 different kinds of new kinds of armament and equipment.
In comparison, the US commissioned 8 new combat surface vessels, including 6 littoral combat ships, and 2 destroyers. It commissioned 1 new attack submarine – the USS South Dakota. The information provided by the US Navy doesn’t include how many support or supply ships were delivered. There is furthermore, no concise information on how many new aircraft, coastal defense or missiles the US Navy received.
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With 5000 tons it is hardly a medium size landing ship. Nevertheless Russia needs more offensive ships to conquer whole Baltic in future conflict…