Matka-class missile boat


The Matka class is the NATO reporting name for a group of hydrofoil missile boats built for the Soviet Navy. The Soviet designation was Project 206MR Vikhr. Following the 1997 Partition Treaty on the Status and Conditions of the [Black Sea Fleet|Black Sea Fleet partition treaty] all Black Sea Fleet Matka class boats were passed to the Ukrainian Navy.

Design

These boats are the descendants of the and are a heavily modified version of the. There is only a single foil, the aft part of the hull hydroplanes at high speeds. They are air-conditioned and NBC-sealed. The SS-N-2 launchers are the same type as carried on the Project 61MR ("Mod-Kashin")-class destroyers. Despite initial reports that they were good seaboats, later information revealed that the Soviets regarded them as cramped inside and top-heavy. Of thirteen planned ships, one was cancelled and another started but never completed. All were built in Leningrad.
After the breakup of the USSR, Russia discarded many and five went to Ukraine, one of which was later transferred to Georgia after a complete refurbishment.

Project 206.6

R-44 serves as a developmental ship for the Black Sea Fleet, and was the first vessel anywhere to carry the Kh-35 missile, in two quad-canisters. These were removed in 2000 but re-installed in 2003. In 1998, the SP-521 combat data system was installed. R-44 also has the AK-630М1-2 Roy CIWS which is two 30 mm gatling guns superimposed on each other, in place of the AK-630. More recently, the ship has been seen with no "Drum Tilt" radar and a large deckhouse between the bridge and mast.

Combat usage

On August 10, a special forces team from the 45th Guards Spetsnaz Brigade of the Russian Airborne Forces launched a raid on the port of Poti. Most of the Georgian fleet was anchored in port, but unmanned due their crews expecting further air attacks, allowing the VDV commandos to board, mine and sink several Georgian Navy and Coast Guard vessels, including the Tbilisi.

Trivia

In Russian language, the word "matka" means literally mother. The word has also meaning "queen", which is the most likely connotation, since previous missile boat classes were named Osa and Komar, meaning "wasp" and "mosquito".

Ships

A total of 12 boats were built for the Soviet Navy. A gun boat version without hydrofoils was offered for export.
NameHull No.CommissionedServiceDecommissionedStatus
«Р-27»24131 December 1977Blt, Csp10 April 2002Scrapped
«Р-44»24230 September 1978Blt, BSe5 October 2008Since 2001 - Corsar. In 1984-85 modernised by project 2066
Scrapped
«Р-50»24330 December 1978Blt, Csp2014Since 15 August 2004 - Karachaevo-Cherkesia
Decommissioned. Opened 29 August 2015 as museum Pokrovskiy storozhevoy in the city of Engels, Saratov Oblast
«Р-221»24430 December 1978Blt16 March 1998Scrapped
«Р-254»24510 January 1979Blt5 July 1994Scrapped
«Р-260»24621 December 1979BSe, Ukraine30 November 2004Since 10 January 1996 - Uman
Scrapped
«Р-262»24712 December 1980BSe, UkraineSince 10 January 1996 - Pryluky
When part of Ukrainian Navy in December 2018 the anti-ship missile launch system «Termit» was removed. In plans to have Neptune missile system installed
«Р-265»24815 November 1980BSe, Ukraine7 November 2012Since 10 January 1996 - Kakhovka.
Scrapped
«Р-251»24915 June 1981BSe, Ukraine30 June 2001Since 10 January 1996 - Tsyurupinsk
Scrapped
«Р-15»25029 October 1981BSe, Ukraine,
Georgia		13 August 2008Since 10 January 1996 - Konotop, since 30 June 1999 - Tbilisi
Sunk by the Russian AF in the city of Poti during the 2008 war. Scrapped
«Р-25»25128 February 1983Blt, Csp2014Since 30 May 2003 - Borovsk
Decommissioned. In summer of 2017 scrapped at the Dagdisel factory in Kaspiysk
«Р-30»25230 December 1983Blt, Csp2014Since 13 May 2005 - Budyonnovsk
Decommissioned. In summer of 2017 scrapped at the Dagdisel factory in Kaspiysk

Green — Preserved as a museum

Yellow — active in Ukrainian Navy

Red — decommissioned

Black — ''sunk''