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​Laid Down in 2013, russian Admiral Isakov Frigate Still Cannot Reach the Water

Illustrative photo: Project 22350 Admiral Kasatanov destroyer is being ceremoniously lauched into water / Archive photo
Illustrative photo: Project 22350 Admiral Kasatanov destroyer is being ceremoniously lauched into water / Archive photo

A year ago, chief of the Severnaya Verf shipyard promised the new frigate for the russian fleet would be launched in early 2024 but it didn't happen

Project 22350 frigate Admiral Isakov will be launched into water in September 2024, Kremlin-affiliated media report citing anonymous sources in russian defense industry. The plans have not been officially announced yet.

Admiral Isakov is one of the russian multirole frigates, designed to replace Project 956 class destroyers and Project 1155 large anti-submarine ships. The base ship of the project, the Admiral Gorshkov, was laid down in February 2006, floated out in October 2010, and commissioned into service eight years later, in 2018.

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Illustrative photo: the Admiral Gorshkov frigate / Defense Express / Laid Down in 2013, russian Admiral Isakov Frigate Still Cannot Reach the Water
Illustrative photo: the Admiral Gorshkov frigate. Traditionally, its name became the name of the entire Project 22350 class / Open-source illustrative photo

Keels for the next two ships of this series, Admiral Kasatanov and Admiral Golovko, were laid in 2009 and 2012, respectively, the vessels were launched in 2014 and 2020, then commissioned in 2020 and 2023.

Returning to the main topic, Admiral Isakov was supposed to become the fourth unit in the family. Laid down in November 2013, it has been under construction for more than 10 and a half years already, yet still not christened.

During the Army-2023 forum in russia, Igor Orlov, the head of the Severnaya Verf, declared that Admiral Isakov would be launched in the early weeks of 2024 in the same manner, so seeing the deadlines wavering repeatedly, the actual ceremony might shift toward 2025, meaning the scheduled commissioning would delay as well.

Currently, Admiral Isakov is expected to be fully operational by 2025 but in practice, there's usually a three-year lag between the launch and acceptance into service, as was the case for the other frigates of the same class.

A brief reminder, while the Kremlin managed to buy power plants for their ships from the Ukraine-based manufacturer Zorya-Mashproekt before 2014, Moscow had to find another supplier afterward, because of the wave of sanctions imposed after the illegal annexation of Crimea.

Zorya-Mashproekt / Defense Express / Laid Down in 2013, russian Admiral Isakov Frigate Still Cannot Reach the Water
Zorya-Mashproekt is a gas turbine–making company in Mykolaiv, Ukraine. Prior to 2014, it used to supply engines to russia / Archive photo credit: Zorya-Mashproekt

In 2021, a russian state-owned shipbuilding company announced it was able to create "import-substitute" power plants for this series of frigates.

Speaking of Admiral Isakov, during the Army-2023 forum in russia, the head of "Northern Shipyard" Igor Orlov claimed that this frigate is planned to be launched in early 2024. So it is not excluded that in the end these terms may be shifted to 2025 - according to preliminary plans, the commissioning of this ship is also planned for next year, although if we take the experience of previous machines, then this usually happened with a "lag" of at least three years.

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