Neustrashimy-class frigate
The Neustrashimy class, Soviet designation Project 11540 Yastreb, is a series of large frigates built for the Soviet Navy and currently in service with the Russian Navy. Seven ships were planned for the Soviet Navy, but the fall of the Soviet Union disrupted those plans. Two ships were completed, both currently in active service with the Russian Baltic Fleet.
Design and construction
The class was designed as a general purpose anti-submarine warfare (ASW) frigate to follow on from the s. The ship is equipped with a newly designed Zvezda-1 integrated sonar system as its primary ASW sensor.The program started in 1986 and seven ships were originally planned. After the collapse of the Soviet Union the project was frozen and only one ship, Neustrashimy, was in active service with the Russian Baltic Fleet by the mid-1990s. On 24 February 2009 the second ship in the class, Yaroslav Mudry, left the Yantar shipyard in Russia's Kaliningrad for its first sea trials. As of 2010, both Neustrashimy and Yaroslav Mudry are operational with the Baltic Fleet.
The ships were built by Yantar Yard, Kaliningrad. Only Neustrashimy was completed by the time the Soviet Union collapsed. Two further ships were incomplete. Yaroslav Mudry and Tuman. As of 2009, the frigate Yaroslav Mudry began sea trials and entered service.
Service history
2008–2009 deployment to Somalia
In late September 2008, Neustrashimy left the Baltic Fleet and was sent to the Gulf of Aden waters off the Somali coast to fight piracy in the region. Russian navy spokesman Captain Igor Dygalo told the Associated Press that the missile frigate Neustrashimy had left the Baltic Sea port of Baltiysk a day before the hijacking to cooperate with other unspecified countries in anti-piracy efforts. As of 27 October, the frigate was operating independently in the vicinity of a group of NATO warships near the Somali coast. On 11 November, Neustrashimy helped capture suspected pirates along with Royal Marines from ; the suspected pirates had been attempting to board the merchant vessel. On 16 November 2008, the frigate prevented pirates from capturing the Saudi Arabian ship.Further deployment
In June 2016 Yaroslav Mudry was part of a maritime incident between Russian and United States navies in which the ship came in close proximity to in the Mediterranean, though both sides claim the other was at fault for the encounter. The American destroyer came within of the Russian vessel.In April 2018, Yaroslav Mudry and Uda-class oiler Lena were escorted by the Royal Navy frigate as they were passing through the English Channel en route to the Mediterranean Sea.
Yaroslav Mudry was again seen passing the English Channel on 1 November 2018.
On 1 October 2019, Yaroslav Mudry, tanker Yelnya, and tug Viktor Konetsky embarked on the INDRA-2019 exercise. On 21 October, the frigate under the command of Captain 2nd rank Mikhail Navolotsky paid a visit to the Cypriot port of Limassol and, in early December, patrolled the Gulf of Aden. On 10 December, the ships arrived to Mormugao, India and have been participating in the exercises till 19 December. On 27 December, the ships arrived at the Iranian port of Chakhbehar and participated in joint naval exercise. Between 4-7 January 2020, the ship detachment visited the Omani port of Salalah and afterwards started patrolling the Gulf of Aden again. Between 10-18 February, Yaroslav Mudry paid another visit to Salalah, Oman and between 4-6 March Colombo, Sri Lanka. On 4 May 2020, the ships returned to Baltiysk.
From 2014 Neustrashimy was in overhaul with the deadline for the completion of her refit having passed on several occasions, partly due to the problem of acquiring parts for her Ukrainian-made engines. However, the ship completed her refit in December 2021 and is scheduled to return to the fleet in April 2022. Post-refit sea trials were underway as of February 2022. In July, Neustrashimy was reported to have fired the SA-N-9 air defence missile during its tests at sea.