This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(January 2013) |
SSV-535 Kareliya (foreground) and USS Texas in 1988 | |
Class overview | |
---|---|
Builders | Stocznia Północna, Gdańsk, Poland |
Operators | |
Preceded by | Balzam class |
Succeeded by | Yury Ivanov class |
In commission | 1985–present |
Planned | 7 |
Completed | 7 |
Active | 7 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Intelligence collection ship |
Displacement | 3,470 tons full load |
Length | 91.5 m (300 ft 2 in) |
Beam | 14.6 m (47 ft 11 in) |
Draught | 4.5 m (14 ft 9 in) |
Propulsion | 2 shafts, 2x Zgoda Sulzer 12AV 25/30 diesel engines, 4,400 bhp (3,300 kW) |
Speed | 16 knots |
Complement | 146 (= 6 passengers) |
Sensors and processing systems | Radar: [1] MR-212/201 (Palm Frond) Sonar: MG-349, MGP-303 |
Electronic warfare & decoys | Various intercept arrays and radio direction finding equipment |
Armament |
|
The Vishnya class (NATO reporting name) (also known as the Meridian class), [2] Soviet designation Project 864, [2] are a group of intelligence collection ships built for the Soviet Navy in the 1980s. The ships continue in service with the Russian Navy. [3] The Russian Navy operates seven of these ships. [2]
These ships are large, purpose built ships designed for signals intelligence gathering via an extensive array of sensors. [4] The data could be transmitted to shore via satellite link antennas housed in two large radomes. The ships are armed with two AK-630 close-in weapon systems and SA-N-8 surface-to-air missile (SAM) launchers, for last resort self-defense.
On September 23, 2012, SSV Viktor Leonov was at dock in Havana. [5] [6] Other ships visited in 2013. [7]
On February 27, 2014, SSV Viktor Leonov docked in Havana’s cruise ship area, the same day Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that Russia would establish permanent bases in Cuba, Vietnam, Nicaragua, Singapore, and the Seychelle islands. [8] [9] [6] [10] [11]
Vasily Tatishchev was deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean Sea on 5 October 2015 to monitor the conflict in Syria. [12]
On January 20, 2015, SSV Viktor Leonov was at dock in Havana. [13]
On February 15, 2017, CNN reported that SSV Viktor Leonov, [14] [5] a Russian spy ship was sitting 30 miles (48 km) off the coast of Connecticut. [15] This is the farthest north the Russian spy vessel has ever ventured, according to US defense officials. CNN later reported that Viktor Leonov, which conducted similar patrols in 2014 and 2015, [16] was off the coast of Delaware, but typically she only travels as far north as Virginia. [17] [18] The ship is based with Russia's Northern Fleet but had stopped over in Cuba before conducting her patrol along the Atlantic Coast and is expected to return there following her latest mission. She was spotted operating off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia in December 2019. The United States Coast Guard at the time published a MSIB alleging unsafe operations being performed in that area, including running without navigation lights, and failing to respond to hails. The ship is outfitted with a variety of high-tech interception equipment and is designed to intercept signals intelligence. The official said that the US Navy was "keeping a close eye on it.". [19]
Name | Hull No. | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Fleet | Status | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fedor Golovin (ex-Meridian) | 520 | 14 November 1985 | Baltic Fleet | Active | |||
Kareliya | 535 | 5 July 1986 | Pacific Fleet | Active | Active in 2021–2022 off Hawaii [20] [21] [22] [23] | ||
Tavriya | 169 | 17 January 1987 | Northern Fleet | In reserve | Part donor for Viktor Leonov [24] | ||
Priazovye | 201 | 12 June 1987 | Black Sea Fleet | Active | In 2020–2021 deployed to the Mediterranean Sea [25] | ||
Kurily | 208 | 16 October 1987 | Pacific Fleet | Active | |||
Vasiliy Tatishchev (ex-Pelengator) | 231 | 27 November 1987 | 23 July 1988 | Baltic Fleet | Active | In 2021 deployed to the Red Sea, [26] in July 2022 to the Adriatic Sea [27] | |
Viktor Leonov (ex-Odograf) | 175 | 1988 | Northern Fleet | Active | In 2019–2020 active off U.S. and U.K., docks in Havana [28] |
Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov is an aircraft carrier serving as the flagship of the Russian Navy. It was built by the Black Sea Shipyard, the sole manufacturer of Soviet aircraft carriers, in Nikolayev within the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and launched in 1985, becoming fully operational in the Russian Navy in 1995. The initial name of the ship was Riga; it was launched as Leonid Brezhnev, embarked on sea trials as Tbilisi, and was finally named Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov after Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Nikolay Gerasimovich Kuznetsov.
The Russian navy is the naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696; its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
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The Project 775, NATO reporting name Ropucha class, is a class of landing ship built in Poland for the Soviet Navy. The ships were built in the Stocznia Północna shipyards in Gdańsk, Poland. They were designed for beach landings, and can carry a 450-ton cargo. The ships have both bow- and stern-doors for loading and unloading vehicles, and the 630 square metres (6,800 sq ft) of vehicle deck stretches the length of the hull. Up to 25 armored personnel carriers can be embarked.
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USS Georgetown (AGTR-2/AG-165), was an Oxford-class technical research ship acquired by the U.S. Navy to provide a seaborne platform for global eavesdropping on behalf of the National Security Agency. Her designation as a "technical research" ship was her cover story.
USS Oxford (AGTR-1/AG-159) was an Oxford-class technical research ship, acquired by the U.S. Navy in 1960 and converted for the task of conducting "research in the reception of electromagnetic propagations". She was originally built during World War II as a Liberty-type cargo ship originally named the Samuel R. Aitken.
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Yantar (Янтарь) is a special purpose intelligence collection ship built for the Russian Navy. The ship has been operated by the Russian Navy's Main Directorate of Underwater Research (GUGI) since 2015 and is reportedly a spy ship. The vessel's home port is Severomorsk, where it is attached to the Northern Fleet. It is the lead ship of its class, with two sister ships. Almaz was launched in 2019 and was intended to serve with the Pacific Fleet, and Burilichev was laid down in 2021.
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Ship Photos and Ship Tracker
Russian spy ship Viktor Leonov at the port in Havana, January 20, 2015.