The Admiral Essen is a modern guided-missile stealth frigate of the modern Russian Navy. The warship was named after Nikolai Ottovich Essen (1860-1915), a career Russian navy-man (of the Russian Empire era), and built by the Yantar, Kalingrad shipyard. Her keel was laid down on July 8th, 2011 and she was launched to sea on November 7th, 2014. Followed the requisite systems and weapons trials, she was formally commissioned for service in the Navy on June 7th, 2016 and retains an active presence in the Black Sea Fleet as of this writing (2017).
As built, Admiral Essen exhibits modern qualities of the "new-look" Russian Navy - much thought has been given to keeping the warship "stealthy" and this through utilization of special coatings about its surfaces and in reduction of the number of protrusions present. As such, the superstructure is well-formed into the deck line creating a very sleek-looking warship. Slab-sides are used where possible including at the forward deck turret, bridge superstructure / hangar structure and at the smoke funnel. The smoke funnel is of a low-profile design and the various masts are enclosed.
The warship is crewed by some 200 men. It features an overall length of 409 feet with a beam measuring 50 feet and a draught of 14 feet. This rather shallow draught allows the ship to operate somewhat close-to-shore in support of amphibious-minded operations though she is completely free to operate in "Blue Water" as needed - either with the main fleet or independently.
Aboard there are a plethora of modern and advanced processing systems and sensors. Air-search functionality is through the "Fregat" M2EM system and surface-search is provided for by various installations working in conjunction. Fire Control is similarly handled by multiple networked systems and the Electronic Warfare (EW) suite is the TK-25E-5 series. Countermeasures includes the KT-216 series launcher.
At the heart of this guided-missile frigate is its armament fir. The Admiral Essen carries both conventional projectile and missile types. Over the forecastle is a single 100mm turreted gun and there are 2 x "Kashtan" digitally-controlled Close-In Weapon Systems (CIWSs). 2 x 533m twin-tubed torpedo launchers are also installed as is an RBU-6000 Anti-Submarine ROCket (ASROC) launcher. The missile fit includes two Vertical Launching Systems (VLSs), one as the 8-cell bank (supporting Kalibr and 3M55 Oniks missiles) and another as a 12-cell bank supporting the 3S90M "Shtil-1" missile family. Additionally there are 8 x "Igla-1E" (SA-16) launchers which serve as Anti-Aircraft (AA) weapons for short-ranged encounters.
Beyond this the vessel also supports a single Kamov "Helix" class navy helicopter (or similar) from its stern-based flightdeck and hangar. The hangar provides complete repair and support facilities for the aircraft which, in turn, allows the helicopter to provide the warship maritime patrol, anti-ship / anti-submarine and Over-the-Horizon capabilities. The helicopter can also be featured in the Search And Rescue (SAR) role when needed.
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(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)
✓Offshore Bombardment
Offshore bombardment / attack of surface targets / areas primarily through onboard ballistic weaponry.
✓Land-Attack
Offshore strike of surface targets primarily through onboard missile / rocket weaponry.
✓Maritime Patrol
Active patroling of vital waterways and maritime areas; can also serve as local deterrence against airborne and seaborne threats.
✓Airspace Denial / Deterrence
Neutralization or deterrence of airborne elements through onboard ballistic of missile weaponry.
✓Fleet Support
Serving in support (either firepower or material) of the main surface fleet in Blue Water environments.
Length
409.0 ft 124.66 m
Beam
50.0 ft 15.24 m
Draught
14.0 ft 4.27 m
Displacement
3,620 tons
Installed Power:
2 x DT-59 gas turbines developing 22,000 horsepower with 2 x DS-71 gas turbines developing 8,450 horsepower and driving 2 x shafts under stern in a COmbined Gas And Gas (COGAG) arrangement.
Surface Speed
30.0 kts (34.5 mph)
Range
4,849 nm (5,580 mi | 8,980 km)
kts = knots | mph = miles-per-hour | nm = nautical miles | mi = miles | km = kilometers
1 kts = 1.15 mph | 1 nm = 1.15 mi | 1 nm = 1.85 km
1 x 100mm A-190 Arsenal turreted deck gun.
1 x 8-shot UKSK 3S14 Vertical Launching System (VLS) (Kalibr, Oniks and Zircon missiles).
2 x 12-shot 3S90M "Shtil-1" missiles in VLS.
8 x Igla-1 (SA-16) short-ranged Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) launchers.
2 x 533mm Twin-tubed torpedo launchers.
2 x Kashtan Close-In Weapon Systems (CIWSs).
1 x RBU-6000 Anti-Submarine ROCket (ASROC) launcher.
Supported Types
(Not all weapon types may be represented in the showcase above)
1 x Kamov Ka-27PL OR Kamov Ka-31 "Helix" navy helicopter.
Ribbon graphics not necessarily indicative of actual historical campaign ribbons. Ribbons are clickable to their respective naval campaigns / operations / periods.
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