Gepard-class frigate

Frigate Ly Thai To under construction
Class overview
Name:	Gepard class (Project 1166.1)
Operators:	Russian Navy  Vietnamese People's Navy
Preceded by:	Koni class frigate
Built:	1991–
Building:	2
Planned:	6
Completed:	4
Active:	4
General characteristics
Type:	frigate
Displacement:	1,500 tons (standard) 1,930 tons (full load)
Length:	102.14 m (93.5 m waterline)
Beam:	13.09 m
Draught:	5.3 m
Propulsion:	2 shaft CODOG, 2 × gas turbines (29,300 shp each), 1 × Type 61D Diesel (8,000 bhp), 3 × 600 kW diesel alternator sets
Speed:	28 knots
Range:	4,000 nmi (7,000 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h)
Endurance:	15 days
Complement:	98
Sensors and processing systems:	Radar:Navigation radar (unknown type), Cross Dome surface & air search radar, Pop Group SA-N-4 fire control radar, Bass Stand cruise missile target designator, Bass Tilt AK-630 fire-control Sonar:Medium-frequency hull mounted, medium-frequency towed variable depth sonar
Electronic warfare & decoys:	Electronic Warfare: 2 × Bell Shroud passive intercept, 2 × Bell Squat jammers, 4 × 16-barreled Pk-16 countermeasure rocket launchers
Armament:	8 × SS-N-25 Switchblade Anti-Ship missiles (two quadruple launchers) or 8 x Kaliber NK ASM (Dagestan) 1 × Osa-M surface-to-air missile system (one twin launcher, 20 SA-N-4 Gecko missiles) 1 × 76.2 mm 59-caliber AK–176 automatic dual-purpose gun (500-round magazine) 2 × 6-barreled 30 mm AK-630 point-defense guns (2,000-round magazine for each) 4 × 533 mm torpedo tubes (two twin launchers) 1 × RBU-6000 12-barreled Anti-Submarine rocket launcher 12–20 mines

The Russian Gepard ("Cheetah") class frigates (Project 1166.1) were intended as successors to the earlier Koni, Grisha, and Parchim-class corvettes. The first unit of the class, Yastreb (Hawk), was laid down at the Zelenodol'sk Zavod shipyard at Tatarstan in 1991. She was launched in July 1993, after which she began fitting out; fitting was nearly completed by late 1995, when it was suspended due to lack of funds. Renamed Tatarstan, the ship was finally completed in July 2002, and became the flagship of the Caspian Flotilla. She has two sister ships, the Albatros (renamed Dagestan), and the Burevestnik (Storm Petrel), which was still under construction as of 2012. These vessels are capable of employing their weapons systems in conditions up to Sea State 5. The hull and superstructure are constructed primarily of steel, with some aluminum-magnesium being used in the upper superstructure. They are equipped with fin stabilizers and twin rudders, and can use either gas turbines or diesel for propulsion in a CODOG configuration.

Export models

The Gepard-class was designed from the outset as a lightweight, inexpensive export vessel. The Russians have offered five variants for foreign sale.

• Gepard 1: Helicopter platform (no hangar), VDS deleted.
• Gepard 2: Helicopter platform and hangar, VDS and SA-N-4 deleted.
• Gepard 3: Increased beam of 13.8 m., displacement increased to 2,100 tons full load, single forward-placed Kortik CIWS in place of AK-630s, helicopter hangar above VDS housing.
• Gepard 4: Unarmed version for search-and-rescue, though weapon mountings still in place.
• Gepard 5: helicopter platform (no hangar), increased range to 6,000 nmi (11,000 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h) knots, reduced speed of 23 knots (43 km/h), gas turbines replaced with 2 8,000 bhp (6,000 kW) diesels.

The Vietnam People's Navy received in March and August 2011 two Gepard 3.9 class frigates ordered in 2006, built in Russia at Tatarstan's Gorky Shipbuilding Plant. As of 2012 Vietnam was examining a purchase of two more, possibly built in Vietnam under license. ^{[1] [2]} In late 2011 Vietnam signed a contract for an additional batch of two ships in an ASW version.^[3][4]

Ships

Operator	No.	Name	Project	Builder	Laid Down	Launched	Commissioned	Fleet	Status
Russian Navy	691	Tatarstan (ex Yastreb)	11661	Zelenodolsk Factory	1993	2.7.2001	31.8.2003	Caspian	active
Russian Navy	693	Dagestan (ex Albatros)[5]	11661K	Zelenodolsk Factory	1994	01.04.2011[6]	28.11.2012[7]	Caspian	active
Vietnamese People's Navy	011	HQ-011 Dinh Tien Hoang	11661E (Gepard 3.9)	Zelenodolsk Factory	10.7.2007	12.12.2010 [8]	23.3.2011 [9][10]		active
Vietnamese People's Navy	012	HQ-012 Ly Thai To	11661E (Gepard 3.9)	Zelenodolsk Factory	27.11.2007	16.3.2011 [11]	22.8.2011 [12]		active
Vietnamese People's Navy	?	?	11661E (Gepard 3.9)	Zelenodolsk Factory	24.9.2013[13]	?	?		Under construction
Vietnamese People's Navy	?	?	11661E (Gepard 3.9)	Zelenodolsk Factory	24.9.2013	?	?		Under construction

References

External links

• Gepard Class Frigates (Naval Technology)
• Article in English from FAS
• article in Russian
• (English) All Gepard Class Frigates - Complete Ship List