A russian Project aimed to create a new class of "stealth corvette" (often referred to as frigate in Western sources) has been closed. Namely, Project 20386 Derzky, essentially a modernization of the existing Project 20380, was developed for more than 10 years. The ship itself was laid in 2016 with the budget for all construction works estimated at USD 450 million (or 30 billion rubles at that time).
"Further laying down of Project 20386 corvettes in their current form is not planned. Program on their construction will be closed," a defense source told russian state media outlet TASS. As noted, the ship already undergoing construction will be redesigned and later on handed to the russian Navy.
Read more: Admiral Kuznetsov is in Critical Condition, Russia Blames the Shipyard
The reason for canceling the project was, as delivered: "novelty index and the cost of Project 20386." To put it simply, russia practically admitted it cannot get a grasp on new technologies because of being backward and lacking in funds.
At the same time, the decision to shut the program down altogether contrasts with the previously announced solution to complete the works but turn it into a test subject for working on new technologies instead of commissioning it to the Navy. In other words, now all the research is put to a stop.
Now we should point out that Project 20386 Derzky had in a traditional russian way been called "one-of-a-kind" and "breakthrough" with the main features being the implementation of stealth technologies, new hybrid gas turbine engine, on-board systems digitalization, and new BIUS combat data management system.
As for transforming the ship into a "stealth corvette," the russians planned not only to apply the characteristic shapes to the hull but also radar-absorbent composite materials and paints. The russians claimed this 100-meter (330-feet) ship would look "no larger than a small boat" on enemy radars.
The new ship was planned to receive the "new" M90FR gas turbine engine, the unlicensed rip-off Ukrainian engine developed by state enterprise Zoria-Mashproekt before 2014 when russia launched its military aggression against Ukraine. Another feature of the russian corvette project was its modular design: the ship's equipment would vary depending on the task. For example, the missile launch silos could be replaced with an electronic warfare and electronic intelligence (EW & ELINT) module or a hydro-acoustic monitoring system.
Moving next to the BIUS, which verbally means Combat Information Controlling System, it became an utter failure manifesting in the Zaslon radar complex. This complex was a logical development of the problems pertaining to BIUS systems integrated into the Project 20386 direct predecessors, projects 20380 and 20385. All the early-built corvettes of the Project 20380 had radar systems called Furke-2 paired with the Monument-A targeting stations for missile guidance. This pair proved unable to guide Redut missiles at medium- to long-range distances which became a major issue.
There were six corvettes produced with this defective guidance system until eventually they were replaced by the Zaslon complex. The new system was later integrated into Project 20385 as well and was expected to find a place on the prospective Project 20386 stealth corvette, too. However, even the Zaslon complex wasn't without a hitch at all. Lawsuits registered against JSC "Zaslon" and alienation of several developments with subsequent transfer to other companies indicate something was not right with their product.
But the essence of the overall failure with the new ship looks all the more vivid if we recall the origins. Project 20380 corvettes were deemed too weak in terms of armament, the main weapon they had was the Kh-35 cruise anti-ship missile. So russia decided to modernize them, thus Project 20385 appeared: new-class ships received eight versatile silos for either Kalibr (land attack) or Oniks (anti-ship) missiles. Simultaneously, all the outdated Project 20380 ships had to be upgraded to the same level.
But with all the brand-new equipment, Project 20385 turned out to be too long, too complex, too expensive to produce. The average planned construction time from keel laying to commissioning is 5 years, in reality – 8 to 9 years.
Therefore, the next attempt called Project 20386 was tasked to become cheaper and more efficient. The result, though, is already known: the project was canceled and all the years of development were for naught. It also means there is still no solution to what to do with project 20380 and 20385 ships, with both already built and only laid ones.
The thing is common since 2001, russia laid 12 corvettes of the Project 20380, 8 of them were completed and commissioned to the Navy, plus 6 more corvettes of Project 20385, of which only one has been commissioned. These ships were supposed to play quite an important role by patrolling a 200-mile zone. But all the systematic problems with all the ships within those projects led only to a massive waste of money and time.
Read more: Russia Establishes Azov Naval District in Mariupol, Adding Karakurt Class Corvettes
