Russian universal amphibious assault ships (UDC, helicopter carriers) of Project 23900 Priboy will be able to carry on board up to 16 helicopters and four drones. A source in the shipbuilding industry told RIA Novosti about this.
According to him, it is planned to deploy helicopters developed by the Kamov Design Bureau, including the Ka-52K Alligator reconnaissance and attack helicopters and the Ka-27 anti-submarine helicopters, on the ships.
The interlocutor of the agency explained that the requirements for the appearance of the ship, spelled out in the contract, were formed for a long time by the state customer – the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. As a result, the project in terms of its functionality “has become no worse, and maybe even better than the Mistrals.”
Ships “Priboy” with a displacement of 40 thousand tons are called analogues of the French “Mistrals”, which in 2010 Moscow ordered from Paris. This idea was criticized – opponents of the purchase assured that Russia should not sit on the technological hook of one of the NATO countries, and that ships of this class should be built by ourselves. The deal was ultimately canceled in 2014, when Crimea became Russian, and the United States imposed sanctions against this background.
In July 2020, six warships were laid down in Russia at once, in particular, helicopter carriers “Ivan Rogov” and “Mitrofan Moskalenko” of project 23900 were laid down in Kerch.
