Launching and taking a new ship into the combat fleet of the Russian Fleet is always an event. The greater the displacement, the more varied the weapons system and the more impressive the seaworthiness, the brighter the coverage of the ceremony by the media. In 2014, the celebration of the Navy’s Day coincided with the delivery of two new units to the defense department, strengthening the Caspian flotilla. Small missile ships of Project 21631 Buyan-M, which received the name of the ancient Russian cities Uglich and Grad Sviyazhsk, at first glance, do not inspire such reverence as atomic cruisers and underwater missile carriers. But their role in Russia's defense capability has yet to be appreciated.
Ship for enclosed seas
The Buyan-M project was originally conceived as a type of ship intended not for oceanic expanses, but for operations in the closed sea. This is known today from open sources, but it is already clear to a ship specialist that a displacement of 950 tons with rather low sides and a small draft does not imply swimming in waters with a possible excitement of more than five points. There are only three closed seas washing the coast of the Russian Federation: the Caspian, Black and Azov. The last two water bodies, by the way, quite recently were of rather little interest in the aspect of national security. The growth of activity of the NATO fleets in the Black Sea basin has been observed only recently, after the start of the well-known events in Ukraine.
The situation in the Caspian
As for the Caspian Sea, the flotilla responsible for the stability of the marine situation in the region, of course, needed to be updated and strengthened. It was for this operational sector that the ships of project 21631 Buyan-M were intended. Moreover, not coastal states were considered as the probable adversary . The Republic of Kazakhstan is a strategic partner of Russia and pursues a friendly foreign policy. At present, Azerbaijan (also not hostile) has practically no naval potential. Turkmenistan purchases equipment from the Russian Federation and, pursuing an independent foreign policy line, is interested in mutually beneficial trade and economic relations and cooperation in the defense sphere. These countries, which in the historically recent past were republics of the Soviet Union, do not pose security threats to our borders. Only Iran remains. This Islamic state is in economic isolation, and it is also very difficult to suspect it of aggressive encroachments in relation to its great northern neighbor. As they say, there are enough of their worries.
One could conclude that there are no regional threats to Russia in the Caspian space. So why do you need a small missile ship project 21631 here? To answer this question, it is necessary to study the characteristics of its weapons systems, seaworthy data and design features.
Sea river
A project was created and a ship was built in Tatarstan. Plant them. A. M. Gorky is located in the glorious Volga city Zelenodolsk. This fact alone speaks volumes. The hull of the vessel allows him to walk not only along the seas, but also easily travel along the blue arteries of the rivers, penetrating the whole country from North to South and from West to East. River flotillas are also theoretically important for defense; they had a chance to fight during the Great Patriotic War, but since then the military doctrine has undergone major changes. MRK project 21631 "Buyan-M" is not suitable for use as a monitor (the class of ships designed to support infantry is actually a floating artillery battery). This is evidenced by a rather modest cannon armament: only two hundred-millimeter guns. In addition, such serious measures to maintain stealth are not required for actions in river channels among the islands, and the speed is too big (25 knots). And in favor of a predominantly maritime character, the composition of missile weapons eloquently speaks. The ability to river navigation of the Buyan-M ships of project 21631 implies ample opportunity to transfer these combat units to almost any likely theater of operations. If necessary, of course.
Artillery and Air Defense
The radius of combat use is relatively small. Autonomy is ten days. Project 21631 small missile ship can navigate autonomously for no more than two and a half thousand miles. In addition to the aforementioned 100-mm Universal guns (A-190M), the onboard artillery is represented by the twin Duet mount at the stern, two 14.5 mm caliber MTU machine gun mounts and three more 7.62-mm quick-fire barrels.
Ship’s air defense systems are provided by two “Bending” systems, which are based on the Igla missile systems, which are widespread in the ground forces and are effective anti-aircraft missile systems. This weapon may not be enough to repel a massive air attack; it is intended to deal with attack aircraft and attack helicopters. The main bet is made on other tricks to avoid airstrike, but more on that later.
Main caliber
RTOs of project 21631 "Buyan-M" was created to conduct rocket fire on ships and coastal bases of a potential enemy. This is what its main armament is intended for, which together constitutes the UKKS (universal naval firing complex). Eight mines are located in the hull, of which vertical launch can be carried out, both of subsonic (anti-ship 3M54, surface-to-land 3M14, anti-submarine 91RT), and supersonic (Onyx 3M55). Thus, with a very modest size and a small crew (about 35 people), the small missile cruisers Buyan-M of project 21631 can be very dangerous opponents for naval targets of a much larger tonnage.
Strategic corvette
The Caliber complex, the platform for which project 21631 missile ships can become, is equipped with cruise missiles with a combat range of 2600 km. From a geographical point of view, this means that Onyx, launched from points located in the waters of the Caspian and Black Seas, can theoretically achieve the goals located in the Persian Gulf, the Red and Mediterranean Seas, and in other metrics outlined on the map of Eurasia with the circumference of the indicated radius, including the strategically important Suez Canal.
Traditionally, corvettes, the class of which belongs to the project 21631 (code "Buyan-M"), are considered combat units of the tactical level. The weapons characteristics of the Grad Sviyazhsk and Uglich armaments currently in the arsenal of the Caspian Flotilla unobtrusively hint at their strategic nature.
Invisible ship
The outlines of a modern small missile ship, combined with its high speed, water jet and relatively small size (74 meters), give reason to expect that it will not be easy to find it in waters saturated with a variety of vessels. It is difficult to distinguish the Buyan-M project 21631 from the fishing seiner or even a large yacht on the radar screen. In addition, he, like all warships being built in Russia, is equipped with the whole complex of electronic countermeasures that can disable communication systems and radar systems of the means of destruction of a potential enemy. Absorbing high-frequency radiation coatings and inclined planes of the silhouette further reduce the likelihood of detecting this fast and maneuverable ship with powerful missile weapons.
The situation in the Black Sea
Five Buyan-M ships of project 21631 are currently in the process of construction or sea trials. These are Veliky Ustyug, Vyshny Volochek, Serpukhov, Orekhovo-Zuevo and Zeleny Dol. Initially, all of them were intended for service in the Caspian, but the rapidly changing geopolitical picture in the Black Sea region over the past year prompted the command of the Russian fleet to reconsider these intentions. Serpukhov and Zeleny Dol will be sent to Sevastopol. The naval forces of the Black Sea Fleet need to be replenished with the latest units capable of counteracting the so-called “NATO mine-sweeping group”, which is a considerable force. Of course, in the event of a military conflict, Crimea would not have remained defenseless, and in the current state of affairs, its Ball and Bastion complexes could provide its cover, capable of controlling the entire water area up to the Bosphorus Strait, but a reliable presence of military units is required to ensure reliable peace and a demonstration of their capabilities. The main burden of carrying out this task will fall on the frigates Admiral Grigorovich, Admiral Essen and RK Moscow, but there will be enough work for Buyan.
Long-Range Coastal Ships
From the history of fleets and naval battles, a thoughtful politician can conclude that there is no universal weapon suitable for all occasions and able to successfully operate in any scenario of conflict development. In some situations, powerful cruisers and battleships of large sizes are needed, in others you cannot do without aircraft carrier formations, in the third, only submarines can become the most effective means. In our turbulent age, the Buyan-M mobile missile ships of project 21631 also occupy their place in the naval system protecting the interests of Russia in the immediate vicinity of its shores, but with a distant eye.
Five more ships of this type were ordered.