Admiral Grigorovich class frigates are very modern guided missile ships and they implement all the best Russia has in this class. The hull is constructed in such a way that the RCS is quite low for the ship of that size and that provides an upper hand when facing similar ships of the NATO countries.
The main armament consists of 8 cells for 3M54E Klub and 3M55 Oniks missiles. These missiles are rightfully feared by the fleets of the world as they are capable of multi-vector attacks at supersonic speeds and the potential aggressors have virtually nothing to intercept them due to high speed and very low flight attitude. Suffice to say that one single hit of such missile is enough to sink a destroyer or to take out the aircraft carrier from battle. Admiral Grigorovich class frigates also have on 100 mm A-190 gun for close combat with lesser targets.
Also, these frigates are able to take on enemy submarines with their 533 mm torpedoes and each ship has 4 launching tubes. Additionally, it possesses one RBU-6000 rocket launcher that is used for anti-submarine warfare as well as for the coastal bombardment.
When it comes to air defense, the Admiral Grigorovich class has the protection on 3 levels. The first and most potent defense is three VLS with 12 missiles each named Shtil 1. It is the nasalized version of the famous Buk M air defense system and with the Russian missiles (not available for export) it can intercept the targets at the distances up to 100 km. This system is extremely efficient and proven in 2008 Georgian war when it managed to shoot down several Russian planes until it got destroyed by the SU-34.
The second level of defense consists of 8 Igla-1E short range SAMs (SA-16 Grouse) and the third, final ring of defense consists of 2 Kashtan-M systems. All in all, the protection from the aerial attacks is huge with this ship even when it is outside of the battle group. When it is combined with S-300 systems on heavy cruisers of Black Sea Fleet, it becomes almost impervious to aerial attacks.
Finally, each Admiral Grigorovich class frigate carries one Ka-28 or Ka-31 helicopter which gives it an opportunity to tackle enemy submarines from the distance.
The entire ship is powered by two DS-71 gas turbines plus two DT-59 boost turbines which provide the power enough for it to go at the maximum speed of 32 knots.
The maximum mass of the fully loaded ship is 4035 tons; it is 124.8 meters long and has a crew of 190 men. It is also equipped with various electronic warfare kits and decoys.
The final judgment of this ship is that it is potent enough to dominate the Black Sea once all five ships are commissioned and that will make Russia again the supreme naval force in the region.
