Work Begins on 6th Missile Boat for Caspian Flotilla

(RIA Novosti) – Construction work has begun on a sixth attack missile boat for the Russian Navy’s Caspian Flotilla, a shipyard representative told RIA Novosti on Thursday.
The Zelenodolsk shipyard, based in Russia’s Tatarstan Republic, is building the series of six missile boats under a 2010 contract with the Defense Ministry. All the boats are due to enter service with the Caspian fleet.
The first two missile corvettes – the Grad Sviyazhsk and the Uglich – were floated out on June 22 and August 22, respectively. Another three – the Veliky Ustyug, the Zelyony Dol and the Serpukhov – are under construction.
The sixth boat has been named the Vyshny Volochek, a shipyard official told RIA Novosti. He did not say when the ships would be completed or what the total construction costs would be.
The Project 21631 (Buyan-M) corvette has a displacement of 949 tons and maximum speed of 25 knots. It is armed with Kalibr (SS-N-27) anti-ship missiles, 100-mm and 30-mm guns, as well as Igla-1M air defense missiles.