Project 1155 Fregat known in the west as the Udaloy class
These ships are the work horse of the surface fleet for the Russian navy, despite their age they have proved reliable and quite versatile they are often deployed on the longer-range operations such as the Gulf of Aden and Gulf of Guinea anti piracy patrols. Built by the Yantar (Kaliningrad) and Zhdanov (St Petersburg) shipyards the first unit Udaloy was laid down in July 1977, she was launched in February 1980 and commissioned into service December 1980.
A total of 13 ships were built before the collapse of the Soviet Union out of a planned production run of 15, the final two being cancelled and the 13th unit being modified to project 1155.1 known as Udaloy II.
The Specifications
Udaloys are classified as destroyers and are slightly longer than the Arleigh burke class, an udaloy is 535ft LOA (163m) they have a beam of 63ft (19m) and a draft of 20ft (6.2m) while being sizeable the full load displacement is reasonable at 7,600tons.
Unlike their fleet mate counterparts, the sovremenny, the Udaloy is not powered by oil fired boilers they are powered instead by a COGAG (Combined Gas and Gas) turbine system.
Two 31,000Shp M-9 cruise turbines power the ship on a day-to-day basis but when they need an increase in speed and hotel load they turn to the 8,500hp M-62 supplemental gas turbine as well as the 22,500HP M8-KF turbine to deliver a top speed of over 30 knots via two shafts and two fixed pitch 5 blade screws.
It is also worth noting the Udaloys also carry a back up diesel generator for emergency use this consists of 1×200 kW ADGR-200/1500 diesel-generator
The ships while in a transit has a theoretical range of 13,000nm at 6 knots, 7,100nm at 14knots or at a 30 knot speed 2,500nm (All turbines engaged).
These ranges would be based on ideal sailing conditions with limited hotel load and also with a clean hull as well as refitted engineering systems.
A sprightly looking Udaloy 
Udaloy in dry dock
The Ships and their role
The Udaloy from the outset was designed as a primary anti submarine (ASW) destroyer with limited anti air and surface (AAW & ASuW) warfare capabilities.
During the 1960’s the Soviets had realised that one ship doing everything is not only costly but problematic thus it was envisaged that two new types of ships would be built.
The first ships were the project 956 Sarych (Sovremenny) these destroyers would be slightly smaller than the Udaloy but critically provide the much needed AAW and ASuW component the Udaloy lacked, therefore the two ships were designed to compliment each other and operate together when required.
The Udaloy is centered around two quad box launchers under the bridge, these house the RPK-3 Metel (NATO SS-N-14 Silex) and are designed to attack submarines.
There were 13 ships built between two yards construction started in 1977 and the last units of the project 1155.1 were never finished.
To give you the names and dates the table was copied from Wikipedia and hyper linked i rarely use Wikipedia as a reference but the table was accurate when cross referencing.
12 of the Udaloys are designed for the ASW role, however the Udaloy II replaces the SS-N-14 silex missile with the more powerful P-270 Moskit (SS-N-22 Sunburn) anti ship missile and you can clearly see the differences between the two layouts.
Udaloy II Udaloy I
Weapons
With the Udaloy the entire vessel is centered around the two quad box launchers under the bridge wings for the SS-N-14 missiles.
The missile itself looks very complex but in reality, it is actually very simple and crude in its employment. The Missile is realistically a torpedo strapped to a glider that is boosted to altitude by two solid rocket boosters, it then glides the rest of the way before releasing the torpedo at the end of its glide path.
The SS-N-14 has no guidance you literally have to point the ship in the direction you want to fire the missile, it also only has a range of around 30-50km and is subsonic throughout its phases of flight.
Two RBU-6000 carrying 12 rockets each also provide some extra anti submarine capability, these can be backed up by the two quad launching 533mm torpedo tubes. (Note: Udaloy II Uses two 10 rocket launch RBU 12000 and can use the SS-N-16 Stallion)
P270 Moskit (SS-N-22 Sunburn) deployed on Udaloy II
RBU 6000 SS-N-14 Silex launcher SS-N-14 Silex SS-N-16
While its main arm may seem crude the Udaloy does have other weapons at its disposal, two single turret 100mm rapid fire naval guns are positioned in the bow these can be used against surface vessels, aircraft or land bombardment they can also be independently targeted, they are also remotely controlled. (Note Udaloy II has twin 130mm main guns in a single turret)
For its principle air defense there is a 8×8 cells for a total of 64 SA-N-9 surface to air missiles, plus 45mm anti aircraft guns, for close in weapons support (CIWS) there are four AK630 6 barreled autonomous guns. (Note: The Udaloy II uses two Kashtan CIWS) The Udaloys also carry two KA27 Helix helicopters for Airborne early warning (AEW) and Anti Submarine Warfare (ASW) which are carried in a side by side hanger which has a flight control station between each helicopter, they are pulled out by a rail system to the flight deck then their rotors are unfolded.
AK100 AK130 AK630 Kashtan SA-N-9 Leaving the silo SA-N-9 aerial view showing two Ka-27 Helix A helicopters stowed in their hangars. Deck view of the hangers note flight control in the center
Electronic Systems
Being a dedicated anti submarine ship the Udaloy possesses one of the most powerfullest bow mounted active passive sonar systems, this is called the MGK-355 Polinom with the Horse Jaw low frequency array, this system sits in a large bulb at the bow of the ship, it is supplemented by its counterpart the Palina or Horse Tail which is a low frequency variable depth towed array sonar.
(Note: Udaloy II and modernised versions of Udaloy now use the improved Zvesda M-2 system instead of the Polinom system)
What is also interesting about the Udaloy is that they also employ a self checking sonar system called the MG-7 Braslet and can communicate underwater using the MG-35 Shtil-2 underwater communication system.
Horse Jaw Sonar Unit on display
For air and surface search the udaloy employs several radar systems, the MR-760MA Fregat-MA / Top Plate 3D air search is the primary air search radar used by the udaloys (Note: Udaloy II (as of 2016) and others will have this replaced with 5P-30N Fregat N Air search radar in future).
For targeting they use the MR360 radar system, the Udaloys also use the MR-320M Topaz V (strut pair) air and surface search radar, for navigation they use the Volga navigation radar, they can detect other radar systems by using the MP-401S, MP-407S ESM systems.
Fire control is centralized in the Lesorub-1155 combat information control system, Tayfun-2S or R-782-5 Buran-5 communication complex, or the updated Kristall communication complex.
Local fire control for the 100mm AK-100 main guns is provided by the MR-184, Lev-218 (Kite Screech), while the CIWS AK630 uses the MR-123 Vympel-A (Bass Tilt)
5P30N Fregat N air search RADAR MR360 Front view MR360 Side view MR760 Fregat-MA MP401S MP407 MR123 MR320 MR360 Dish close up MR184
Modernization and the future
While there will be no more udaloys built there is a program to upgrade the older ones to bring them more into a multi purpose role.
With the Lider class being suspended at the moment and, the Sovremenny class being unreliable, the Udaloys will remain the main destroyer type of the Russian navy well into the 2030’s and for that reason we have seen some new developments.
Recently emerging from the ship yard the Marshal Shaposhnikov has had one of her turrets removed and in place a 16 cell 3S14 VLS for the Kalibr missiles, she has also had her two large quad box launchers replaced with the smaller quad launcher for the KH-35 Uran missiles.
Two more Udaloys are currently undergoing modernization and over haul with the Admiral Vinogradov to sport a 32 cell USKS VLS system while, Admiral Levchenko will be upgraded to the Marshall Shaposhnikov standard.
Proposed Lider class Admiral Chabenko Udaloy II Project 1155M Admiral Shaposhnikov Admiral Shaposhnikov firing KH35 Uran missile
My own thoughts
I don’t normally put this in an article but in my own personal thoughts with regards to the Udaloy I can see these units being stretched well beyond their life spans.
Many are already closing in on or exceeded the 30 year mark, they are heavily used units they do have a high operational tempo and I do think we will see these units dwindle in the coming years.
Currently there are 8 units that are in various states of operation or ready reserve / refit this number I do think will drop to around 6 by 2026/7 and by 2032 there may only be 3 or 4 serviceable.
Overall the replacement program has stalled and I also do not think that the Lider class is the right design to replace the Udaloy.
My own opinion is that the Russian navy would be far better off starting from scratch and developing a decent multi role destroyer of similar size to the Udaloy and deploying them to the fleet.
With the likely withdrawal in the coming years of the older Sovremenny class there is definitely a major gap in the Russian navy for a heavy surface unit able to operate as part of a task group or independent sailing, a good number of multi role destroyers for the Russian navy in my opinion would be 16 split with 6 in the pacific and northern fleets and 2 in the black sea and Baltic fleets, it would allow for a decent rotation and the ability to keep at least 4 or 5 on operation or transit at any one time.
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