The Russian Navy’s first Project 11356 frigate, Admiral Grigorovich, has been floated out by the Yantar shipyard in Russia’s Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad.

RIA Novosti cited Russian Navy deputy commander rear admiral Viktor Bursuk as saying that the Project 11356 vessels are ideal for conducting missions in the Black Sea or Mediterranean, where Russia maintains a permanent naval task force.

The vessels could also be deployed for anti-piracy missions in the Gulf of Aden, between Somalia and Yemen, Bursuk added.

Under two contracts with the Russian defence ministry, a total of six frigates are scheduled to be delivered to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet between 2014 and 2017.

The Admiral Grigorovich was laid down in December 2010. Four more vessels of the same class are in various stages of construction at the shipyard.

Defence Technology