Russia's brand new warship heads to Arctic base

The 135 meter long frigate was on the 25th of December formally handed over to the Navy by the Northern Yard in St.Petersburg. In a ceremony attended by Russian ruler Vladimir Putin, top military representatives raised the Navy’s white and blue flag on the ship mast in a sign of the vessel’s inclusion in the fleet.

The frigate will in the near future sail towards the North, a statement from the Kremlin reads.

Also two more new ships were part of the ceremony. The small missile vessel Naro-Fominsk and mine sweeper Lev Chernavin will both serve in the Baltic Fleet.

According to ship captain Andrei Slavin, the Admiral Golovko is the most modern of Russia’s new class of frigates.  Compared to its sister ships, the Admiral Golovko has more modern equipment and improved weaponry and manoeuvring capabilities, he said in a comment in early 2023.

From before, Russia has two Gorshkov-class frigates (project 22350); the Admiral Gorshkov and the Admiral Kasatonov. The ships were commissioned in 2018 and 2020 respectively and both belong to the Northern Fleet.

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Russia plans to build another seven ships of the class.

It will not be the first voyage to the Kola Peninsula for the Admiral Golovko. Already in late March 2023, the frigate was in the region as part of its testing period.

The new frigates are among Russia’s most potent naval forces. They are designed and built for a wide range of operations, including combat with enemy surface ships and submarines, as well as coastal operations, air defence, border guarding and cooperation with marines.

The ships are equipped with several types of weapons, including Kalibr cruise missiles. They might ultimately also carry the Tsirkon hypersonic missile. In July 2021, the Admiral Gorshkov test fired the new missile.