The mine defense ship “Petr Ilyichev”, being built for the Russian Navy, was launched at the Sredne-Nevsky shipyard on Wednesday, April 28.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, Nikolai Evmenov, noted at the launching ceremony that the ships of Project 12700 performed well at sea.
“They are well managed, they have great vitality. The series will continue. <...> I hope that the ships will be delivered on time with high quality, “RIA Novosti quotes him.
The ship “Petr Ilyichev” was laid down in July 2018 and became the sixth in the line of Project 12700 “Alexandrite”. It is designed to search for and destroy mines in the waters of naval bases at a safe distance for the minesweeper.
The ship is equipped with the latest mine search facilities, has high maneuverability and seaworthiness. This is a unique minesweeper with the world’s largest monolithic fiberglass hull, which is more durable than steel.
In the future, the ships of the new generation of mine defense will form the basis of the mine-sweeping forces of the fleets of the Russian Navy.
Earlier, Business Insider stated that Russia has a modern and constantly growing navy that poses a threat to NATO forces.
The true strength of the Navy, according to the author of the material, is hidden under water. Thus, the Russian fleet has 59 submarines, including 12 nuclear submarines with ballistic missiles, as well as nine nuclear submarines with cruise missiles, the article says.