SOVREMENNY CLASS (TYPE 956) DESTROYER, RUSSIA

The first-of-class Sovremenny was commissioned in 1985. A total of 18 have been built for the Russian Navy , eleven of which are in service, six are no longer operational and one more (launched in 1994) is awaiting commission. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has two Sovremenny destroyers, delivered in December 1999 and November 2000 and has ordered a further two to be delivered by the end of 2005, with an option on two more. All ships were built at the Northern Yard in Saint Petersburg.

COMMAND AND CONTROL

The ship's combat systems can use target designation data from the ship's active and passive sensors, from other ships in the fleet, from surveillance aircraft or via a communications link from the ship's helicopter. The multi-channel defence suite is capable of engaging several targets simultaneously.

MISSILES

The ship is equipped with the Raduga Moskit anti-ship missile system with two four-cell launchers installed port and starboard of the forward island and set at an angle about 15°. The ship carries a total of eight Moskit 3M80E missiles, NATO designation SS-N-22 Sunburn. The missile is a sea-skimming missile with velocity Mach 2.5 and armed with a 300kg high-explosive warhead or a nuclear 200kt warhead. The range is from 10 to 120km. The launch weight is 4,000kg.

Two Shtil surface-to-air missile systems are installed, each on the raised deck behind the two-barrelled 130mm guns. Shtil is the export name of the SA-N-7, NATO reporting name Gadfly. The system uses the ship's three dimensional circular scan radar for target tracking. Up to three missiles can be aimed simultaneously. The range is up to 25km against targets with speeds up to 830m/s. The ship carries 48 Shtil missiles.

GUNS

The ship's 130mm guns are the AK-130-MR-184 supplied by the Ametist Design Bureau and the Frunze Arsenal Design Bureau in Saint Petersburg. The system includes a computer control system with electronic and television sighting. The gun can be operated in fully automatic mode from the radar control system, under autonomous control using the turret mounted Kondensor optical sighting system and can also be laid manually. Rate of fire is between 20 and 35 rounds/min.

The ship has four six-barrel 30mm AK-630 artillery systems. The maximum rate of fire is 5,000 rounds/min. Range is up to 4,000m for low flying anti-ship missiles and 5,000m for light surface targets. The gun is equipped with radar and television detection and tracking.

ANTI-SUBMARINE SYSTEMS

The destroyer has two double 533mm torpedo tubes and two six-barrel RBU-1000 anti-submarine rocket launchers, with 48 rockets. Range is 1,000m The rocket is armed with a 55kg warhead.

HELICOPTER

The ship's helicopter pad accommodates one Kamov Ka-27 anti-submarine warfare helicopter, NATO codename Helix. The helicopter can operate in conditions up to Sea State 5 and up to 200km from the host ship.

COUNTERMEASURES

The Project 956 destroyer is fitted with an electronic countermeasures system and carries a store of 200 rockets for the two decoy dispensers, model PK-2.

SENSORS

The ship is equipped with three navigation radars, an air target acquisition radar, and fire control radars for the 130mm gun and the 30mm gun. The sonar suite includes active and passive hull mounted search and attack sonar.

PROPULSION