November 15, 2017 marks the 295th anniversary of the creation of the Caspian Naval Flotilla, one of the oldest operational formations of the Russian fleet. The Caspian Flotilla is the naval component of the Southern Military District. At present, the Caspian Flotilla is the most powerful naval formation in the Caspian, where it ensures the observance of the national and state interests of the Russian Federation. The flotilla takes part in anti-terrorist measures, protection of state interests in the zone of oil fields, protection of trade. It includes several brigades and divisions of surface ships and parts of coastal troops. Since September 2016, the flotilla has been commanded by Rear Admiral Sergei Pinchuk.
The first attempt to create a flotilla of warships in the Caspian Sea was made in Russia in the 17th century during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich. This was due to the expansion of trade relations between Russia and Persia and the need to ensure the protection of trade in the region. On November 14, 1667, in the village of Dedinovo, at the confluence of the Oka and Moscow rivers, the first Russian three-masted warship "Orel" was laid down. At the same time, a yacht, a boat and two boats were built here. The constructed ships were launched in 1669 and successfully arrived in Astrakhan, but the following year, during the uprising led by Stepan Razin, these ships were captured and later burned.
The second time Peter I returned to the creation of a military flotilla in the Caspian, this happened after the end of the Northern War with Sweden. The Persian campaign, launched in the summer of 1722, demonstrated the need for a permanent Russian fleet in the Caspian. The stay of Peter I in Astrakhan and the Persian campaign changed the attitude towards the Caspian fleet, already on November 4 (November 15 according to the new style), 1722, by order of Peter I, a naval port was founded in Astrakhan and a military flotilla was formed, it is this date that is considered the founding day of the Caspian Flotilla …
Flagship of the Caspian flotilla of the Republic of Kazakhstan "Dagestan" project 11661K
Since then, the Caspian Flotilla has come a long way, but its main base today is still Astrakhan; its bases are also Makhachkala and Kaspiysk in Dagestan and the villages of Nikolskoye and Trudfront in the Astrakhan region. The flotilla includes patrol ships of the near sea zone (2), small warships (8), combat boats (6), landing boats (8), minesweepers (7), in total about 70 combat and auxiliary vessels. The coastal troops of the flotilla are represented by the 727th separate battalion of the marines (Astrakhan), the 414th separate battalion of the marines (Kaspiysk) and the 847th separate coastal missile division (Kaspiysk), armed with the Bal coastal missile system.
In 2017, on the basis of a detachment of anti-sabotage forces and means (PDSS) of the Caspian Flotilla, the formation of a new special-purpose detachment began. The new unit is being created as part of the development of the Russian Navy, similar units have already been created as part of the Black Sea and Pacific fleets. "Coastal" special forces will be armed with high-speed patrol boats of the "Raptor" type, which are capable of carrying up to 20 paratroopers, and small unmanned aerial vehicles "Tachyon".
Over the past three years, the combat strength of the Caspian Flotilla has been seriously renewed, 18 new ships and auxiliary vessels of the fleet were accepted into its composition. In particular, the flotilla included three new small missile ships of the Buyan-M project 21631: Grad Sviyazhsk, Uglich and Veliky Ustyug, armed with the Caliber universal missile system, as well as two Project 11770 landing boats of the Chamois". Also in 2017, two new harbor tugs were accepted into the Caspian Flotilla: RB-410 (built according to project 705B by the Astrakhan branch of the Zvezdochka shipyard) and RB-937 (project 90600, built in St. Petersburg at the plant "Pella"). Also in 2017, the flotilla received and installed the newest simulator complex for training military rescuers and divers, it is located at the base of the flotilla in Kaspiysk.
Ball coastal missile system
It is planned that in the near future the Caspian flotilla will also be replenished with new Project 12061 Murena air-cushion landing craft. In addition to warships, the auxiliary fleet is being updated. In accordance with the concept of its development, the Russian shipyards of the Caspian Flotilla supplied 7 integrated rescue boats, three offshore tugs, two modular rescue tugs and a floating crane vessel. According to the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, Vladimir Korolev, by 2020 the Caspian Flotilla will be 76 percent equipped with the latest weapons and military equipment. At the same time, at the beginning of 2016, the share of new ships and boats in the flotilla was increased to 85 percent, the press service of the Russian Defense Ministry reported.
Also in 2017, at the Adanyk training ground, located in Dagestan, work began on the construction of new facilities intended for training units of the marine corps of the Caspian Flotilla. The total area of the renovated landfill will be about 40 square kilometers. It is planned that work at the landfill will be completed at the end of 2019. By the same time, it is planned to complete the first stage of construction and modernization of new locations for the ships of the flotilla (in particular, the mooring front and various ground structures in Kaspiysk).
Since 2017, the flagship of the Caspian Flotilla has been the Dagestan missile ship, built according to the project of the Project 11661K patrol ship (code "Gepard", according to NATO classification, the ship belongs to corvettes). Ships of this type are equipped with powerful artillery, anti-ship, anti-aircraft and anti-submarine weapons. These are fairly large warships with a displacement of about 2000 tons and a length of more than 102 meters, a draft of 4.5 meters. Maximum speed 28 knots. Crew - about 100 people, sailing autonomy - 15-20 days.
MRK "Uglich" project 21631 "Buyan-M"
It was the missile ship "Dagestan" that became the first ship in the Russian Navy, armed with the universal missile system "Caliber-NK" (NATO codification SS-N-27 "Sizzler", English "incinerator"), which includes several types of high-precision cruise missiles. These cruise missiles can be effectively used against both coastal and surface targets. In the bow of the ship there are 8 vertical launchers for Kalibr missiles.
The Dagestan missile ship and the small missile ships Grad Sviyazhsk, Veliky Ustyug and Uglich, built according to Project 21631 Buyan-M, are today the main striking force of the Caspian Flotilla, which has significantly increased its combat capabilities. The ships of the project 21631 "Buyan-M" are multipurpose missile and artillery ships of small displacement of the near sea zone. Full displacement - 949 tons, length - 74 meters, draft - 2, 6 meters. The maximum speed is 25 knots. Crew - 25-36 people, sailing autonomy - 10 days. Despite half the displacement compared to the patrol ships of the 11661K project, these warships carry exactly the same set of Kalibr cruise missiles (8 vertical launchers) as the flagship of the Caspian flotilla of the Republic of Kazakhstan "Dagestan".
It is worth noting that it was from the Caspian Sea on October 7, 2015 that the Kalibr cruise missiles were used against terrorists in Syria for the first time; … In total, the ships of the Caspian Flotilla fired 26 missile launches at 11 targets in Syria, located at a distance of about 1,500 kilometers. According to the Ministry of Defense of Russia, all the infrastructure facilities of the militants, which were struck by "Caliber" strikes, were destroyed. On November 20, 2015, the ships of the Caspian Flotilla carried out 18 more Kalibr missile launches at 7 terrorist targets in Syria. At the same time, Vice Admiral Viktor Bursuk noted that even specialists could not predict the high efficiency of these missiles, and foreign military experts called the naval base in Kaspiysk a "pool with" Caliber ".
The Caspian Flotilla approached its 295th anniversary with high performance in combat training. In 2017 alone, the warships of the flotilla conducted 400 exercises using missile and artillery weapons against sea, coastal and air targets. In particular, the ships of the flotilla conducted missile firing of cruise missiles, including high-precision weapons - the Caliber missile system, more than 200 artillery firing, more than 40 anti-mine exercises and practical mine laying, and about 160 anti-sabotage exercises were also performed.
At present, the Caspian Flotilla is still a powerful, combat-ready naval formation, which is not only Russia's southern outpost, but also a guarantee of the inviolability of the country's maritime borders in this region and a very important instrument of Russian foreign policy in the Caspian.
