Up-to-date gun-firing ship for Russia's navy to be built in St. Petersburg

A most up-to-date gun-firing ship of 500 tons displacement will be laid down for Russia's Navy at the Almaz ship-building firm in Petersburg on Friday, January 30.

As the company's press service reported, Commander-in-Chief of Russia's Navy Vladimir Kuroyedov and representatives of all the Fleets of Russia will participate in the ceremony of laying down the ship.

The ship is designed to guard and protect Russian 200-mile economic zone. It is expected that ship is designed e will be turned over to the Caspian Flotilla in the fall of 2005. This ship will become the first one built at the shipyards for the Russian Navy in the third millennium.

She was designed by the Zelenodolskoye Proyektno-Konstruktorskoye Buro (Zelenodolsk Design Office) enterprise.

In spring 2003 Almaz participated in the competition for building the craft, announced by Russia's Navy, and won the tender.

The Almaz ship-builders have built and turned over to customers more than 1,000 motorboats and small ships during the enterprise's existence. For many years Almaz specialized in building type ships for the Navy, polishing up the advanced achievements in the sphere of military ship-building and turning orders over into quantity production.

The world's first missile motorboats and small missile-carrying ships, and a unique missile ship with an automatic hydrofoil control system were built at Sudostroitelnaya Firma Almaz (Almaz Ship-Building Firm). Quantity production of air-cushion ships, including the world's largest landing ships, has been mastered at the shipyards.