This is an interesting design, and given what many navies actually do (as compared to what some staff officers might aspire to do…) is an excellent proposal. For Policing the EEZ, law enforcement and anti-piracy, some support of ground operations and general patrol duties the weapons fit is probably adequate with space to upgrade and it should offer good operating costs meaning navies might be able to afford to actually keep the things at sea on station. Most of these super corvettes are actually being used in OPV style roles, don’t actually need most of their weapons for the duties they perform and are hugely expensive considering their utilisation.

Do you know how Piracy has evolved nowadays? This thing can’t handle pirate weapons anymore, a bunch of RPGs, Kalashnikovs and other weapons will turn this thing into cheese well before they can use that silly gun onboard. I’d rather opt for some heavier weapons. Pirates in one boat is another dream, they often come in seven or more boats, too many to be handled by the helo alone. Those guys are fighting for their lives, they know they can get death penalty and if they have to sink that silly aluminium thing to survive, they will most likely do so.
If they would at least make the thing of metal, it would already help in those roles. (or just give it some armour.)
I’d also at least put a Bofors 40mm (or even better an OTO 76mm) on it, even if it is just for the looks. Pirates aren’t that stupid, they know how to distinguish what they can and can’t take.

Vympel, remember the old member Severodvinsk on this board? That’s why the bucket is called that way.
I removed the picture now and resized a bit to get the ship in a better view.
Here’s the better version:

Vympel, if you look well, you can see one of the centre TTs through the flag. In real this picture is at least twice this size, but somehow it didn’t get uploaded in that size on my photobucket.
Thanks Dnjik, plenty of Akula stuff on pg 6 or 7 of my bucket, you can actually see all the different external lay-outs on those pictures too.

I think one of the most points that benefits to the ugliness of the ship is the funnel arrangement, one in front to port, one in the back to starboard… And the shape of those funnels isn’t exactly “naval” looking either. Maybe they can build an apartment block like that in a city (and they’d probably win a prize with it).

Golle, I still have to figure out which angle that would be… One 90° on top maybe?? Or the lower angles from underwater? Damn, a thorne in my eye!

Fourth Stereguchiy is called Boikiy (used to be a Sovremenny), it’s laid down on the 70th birthday of the Amur yards in Komsomolsk-na-amur.
Another report mentioned that they have launched the Akula (Pr 971) with yard number 518 in Komsomolsk on the 24th of June.

pooh pooh pooh, anyone seen anything as ugly as this (except for Maresesti)??? Those ugly funnels and masts… YUK!
All in all probably not a bad ship if everything works.

Dmitri Donskoy, the one you’re seeing in those pics is updated as a test bed for Bulava along with several electronics updates. The other one, Severstal is the only one with missiles. The third one, Archangelsk acts as Putin’s private observation platform during exercises, but doesn’t have missiles.

Malaysia