Russian catamaran corvette SAMUM fires missiles

It may not be big news that Sputnik is spreading, but this twin-hulled missile corvette of the DERGACH class (Project 1239) is a real eye-catcher - and a highly interesting, technically complex type of ship!

Surface-Effect-Ship

Missile corvette SAMUM in 2019 (old camouflage livery)

Developed as a surface or ground effect ship by Almaz in St Petersburg back in the 1980s and built by the Zelenodolsk shipyard 500 kilometres east of Moscow (just before Kazan on the large southern bend of the Volga), this type of ship is still in service. The two prototypes took some time for trials and test runs in the midst of the Soviet Union's disintegration until they were put into service in the mid/end of the 1990s. However, the BORA and SAMUM corvettes stationed in Sevastopol and operating in the Black Sea are still considered the fastest ships in the Russian Federation today. At higher speeds, their camouflage-painted twin hulls accumulate an air cushion on which speeds of up to 55 knots (around 100 kilometres per hour) can be easily achieved. A powerful weapon package for the turn of the millennium with eight SS-N-22 Sunburn/Moskit sea target missiles (also nuclear-capable!), which, however, is unlikely to be upgraded to the latest generation of modern missiles of the Russian Navy.

Rocket shooting

Apparently, the SAMUM has just completed a training exercise off the island of Crimea with the SUZDALETS, a GRISHA V-class corvette (Project 1124M) that is now also in its mid-thirties. In addition to naval manoeuvres, the project also included anti-mine, air defence and sub-hunting exercises, as well as artillery and missile firing.