Ivan Khurs: The new intelligence vessel will strengthen the recognition of the Black Sea Fleet

On June 25, this year, the new electromagnetic recognition vessel (SIGINT) of Project 18280 Ivan Khurs was officially admitted to service in the Russian Navy.

The ceremony of accepting the spy ship Ivan Khurs for service in the Russian Navy was held at the North Shipyard in St. Petersburg. According to information provided by the Russian Ministry of Defence, the new intelligence unit will join the Black Sea Fleet.

Deputy Commander of the Russian Navy Viktor Bursuk said that the Black Sea Fleet is currently undergoing the replenishment process, and the electromagnetic reconnaissance vessel Ivan Khurs is a "worthy" element of this venture.

The deputy commander of the Russian Navy also added that in August-September this year another warship would enter service in the Black Sea Fleet. It's the rocket frigate of the project 11356 Admiral Makarov.

The intelligence ship Ivan Khurs was launched in May 2017, and the last tests passed early this month. It is the second of four new units of this type, which were ordered in the Petersburg shipyard.

Ivan Khurs is a Yuri Ivanov ship. The unit measures 95 m long and 16 m wide. Its buoyancy is 4,000 tons. The ship takes 131 officers and sailors aboard, its range is 8,000 nautical miles.

According to the official Russian nomenclature, the 18280 project units are communication ships. They are armed with two MPTU Kal machine guns. 14.5 mm up to 2 km. These rifles are capable of firing 450 rounds per minute. The ship is also equipped with six 9K38 earth-to-air (SAM) rocket launchers. A maximum of 32 9M39 projectiles of the Needle System may be taken aboard to protect against aircraft and helicopters.

The first ship of this type – Yuri Ivanov – entered service in the Russian North Fleet in 2015.

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