Sovremenny-class destroyer

Sovremenny-class destroyer Osmotritelny

The project began in the late 1960s when it was becoming obvious in the Soviet Navy that naval guns still had an important role, particularly in support of amphibious landings, but existing gun cruisers and destroyers were showing their age. A new design was started, employing a new 130 mm automatic gun turret. Single and twin mounts were developed, and the twin mount was chosen for its superior rate of fire. In 1971 a go-ahead was given for the Severnaya design bureau to design "a ship capable of supporting amphibious landings".[1] At the same time, the United States Navy was constructing new large Spruance-class multi-role destroyers. To respond to this new threat, Project 956 was updated with a new air defence suite and new, powerful 3M80 anti-ship missiles. Although the Soviet Navy had largely moved to gas turbine propulsion for its new warships, steam turbines were selected instead for Project 956: partly because production of naval gas turbines would have been insufficient for the entire program. The lead ship of the class, Sovremenny was laid down in 1976 and commissioned in 1980. A total of 17 were built for the Russian Navy, but currently, only six remain in service due to a lack of funds and trained personnel. Additionally, two ships are ongoing modernization and overhaul and two are laid up in reserve (the table lists three in service, two in reserve, one being overhauled, and 11 decommissioned + four Chinese). All the ships were built by Severnaya Verf 190 in St. Petersburg.

These ships have a maximum displacement of 7,940 tons. The ships are 156 metres (511 ft 10 in) in length, with a beam of 17.3 metres (56 ft 9 in) and a draught of 6.5 metres (21 ft 4 in). They are armed with an anti-submarine helicopter, 48 air defence missiles, eight anti-ship missiles, torpedoes, mines, long-range guns and a sophisticated electronic warfare system.

There are a total of three versions of this class: the original Project 956 armed with the 3M80 version of the Moskit anti-ship missile, and its successor, the Project 956A, which is armed with the improved 3M80M version of the Moskit with longer range. The main difference between the two is that the missile launching tubes on Project 956A are longer than that of Project 956 to accommodate the increased size of the newer missile, and these launching tubes can be used to fire/store the original 3M80 as well. A third version, Project 956EM, later developed for the People's Liberation Army Navy Surface Force was the latest development of this class. Chinese media called the ship a "carrier killer".

The Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy Surface Force (PLAN) had two modified Sovremenny-class destroyers delivered in December 1999 and November 2000, designated as Project 956E,[4] with improved electronic gears.[4] In 2002, the PLAN ordered two improved versions designated Project 956EM. The first vessel was launched in late 2005, while the second was launched in 2006. All four vessels were commissioned to the East Sea Fleet.

On the improved Project Project 956EM, the aft AK-130 main gun was removed. The four AK-630 CIWS were replaced by two sets of Kashtan CIWS short-range air defence gun/missile systems. Each Kashtan system comprises a 3R86E1 command module and two 3R87E combat modules. Each 3R87E combat module has two 30 mm GSh-30k six-barrel automatic guns (range 0.5–4 km (0.31–2.49 mi)) and two SA-N-11 air defence missiles. The missile is armed with a 9 kg (20 lb) warhead and has a range of 1.5–8 km (0.93–4.97 mi). This improved 956EM version is also the first to be armed with the newer version of SS-N-22, which is reported to have a designation of 3-M80MBE and possibly funded by China (according to Russian sources), and the new missile differs from the older ones mainly in that the range is increased from 120 km (75 mi) to 200 km (120 mi). The air defense software is upgraded to accommodate the newer SA-N-12/SA-17 SAM system, but since China had already joined Russia in developing an even newer successor, it is not clear if SA-N-12/SA-17 has entered Chinese service in large numbers.

In 2006, the extra spheres (painted white in the mid-2006) added atop of the superstructures of the Chinese ships appearing in the latest photographs of the Chinese units have shown that these Chinese ships had been upgraded with the domestic HN-900 Data link (the Chinese equivalent of Link 11A/B, to be upgraded) and SATCOM (probably the SNTI-240).

From mid-2014, all four Chinese Sovremenny-class destroyers are planned to undergo a midlife upgrade program. As of 2016, Hangzhou was reported to be undergoing refit with its original components replaced with domestic systems. In addition to the replacement of electronics and sensors, armament upgrades include replacing 2x4 3M80E Moskit anti-ship missiles with 2x4 YJ-12A supersonic missiles and swapping two launchers for 48 SA-N-12 SAMs with 4 sets of 8-cell vertical launch systems totaling 32 cells for HQ-16C or Yu-8 anti-submarine missiles.[5][6]

• Project cost: 600 million US$ (mid-1990s price) was the price paid for Project 956A (two ships), and 1.4 billion US$ (early-2000s price) for Project 956EM (two ships).[7][8]

• 
  The third Sovremenny-class destroyer sold to China was delivered in December 2005.
• 
  The newest version has updated its close-defense systems.
• 
  The rear main gun has been removed from the latest version.

• List of naval ship classes in service
• List of active Russian Navy ships
• List of ships of Russia by project number

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sovremennyy-class destroyer.

• 956 Sovremenny @ Encyclopedia of Ships (in Russian)
• Sovremenny @ home19.inet.tele.dk
• All Russian Sovremenny Class Destroyers – Complete Ship List @ Russianships.info
• Project 956 (Sovremenny) @ Forecast International