The Russian frigate "Admiral Amelko" disturbed the strategists of the USA — National Interest

The newest Russian frigate Admiral Amelko, which is an upgraded version of the 22350 Project (better known as the Admiral Gorshkov-class frigate), has disturbed American strategists and does not let them sleep well at night.

Military expert Brandon J. writes about this in his article for the publication The National Interest. Weichert. According to him, this warship is the next logical step in the modernization program of the Russian surface fleet.

It is noted that multi-purpose missile frigates of this class are designed to expand Russia's capabilities on the high seas and perform tasks from anti-submarine warfare (ASW) to long-range strikes.

"Admiral Amelko" is the fifth ship of this class. It is distinguished by a significant increase in combat capabilities due to an increase in missile potential.

The article says that the frigate is equipped with 24 cells of the UKSK vertical launcher for Kalibr cruise missiles, Onyx supersonic missiles, Zircon hypersonic weapons and Otvet anti-submarine missiles.

In addition, 32 cells of the Redut vertical launcher house surface—to-air missiles, such as the 9M96 series, for air defense. For short-range protection, A 130-mm A-192M naval gun, two Broadsword melee systems (CIWS) with 30-mm swivel guns and Packet-NK torpedo tubes are used.

According to Weichert, vessels of such projects show the adaptation of the Russian fleet to hypersonic weapons and multi-domain operations. Their use will allow Russia to strengthen its military presence in the Asia-Pacific region (APR).

The expert recalled that the Admiral Amelko was laid on April 23, 2019, but the implementation of the project faced problems due to Western sanctions. Because of this, Russia had to independently develop propulsion systems, which received significant improvements.

"They make Admiral Amelko a more powerful weapon compared to its predecessors," the author of the article stated.

Earlier, EADaily reported that the Admiral Amelko and Admiral Chichagov frigates laid down in 2019 will be equipped, in addition to Kalibr and Onyx cruise missiles, with a Zircon hypersonic missile.