What was supposed to be one of the largest military engineering projects of the Russian Navy is turning out to be a failure, The Moscow Times notes, referring to the first ship that Moscow dreamed of fully equipping with stealth technology, meaning little or no detection.

Russian ships leave the naval base in St. PetersburgPhoto: Volodymyr Drozdin / Alamy / Profimedia Images

The design of the Mercury corvette of project 20386 began in 2013, and three years later it moved to the construction of the ship, at least three units of which should enter the fleet of the Russian Navy by 2025, reports the Russian state agency RIA Novosti. , quoted by an independent publication.

But things didn’t go according to plan, a source familiar with the situation told a Russian news agency, who said ten years of work was not enough and the ship needed a redesign.

The decision was made because it requires additional work on a number of “innovative solutions,” an agency source explained.

Although the project is currently on hold, it is not known how long it will take or if it will start production. The decision will be made after “the effectiveness of work on the main ship will be assessed,” the source of the agency said.

In 2021, RIA Novosti reported, citing two anonymous sources in the naval industry, that “Mercury” has already been built and should be delivered within the next year, according to Reuters.

“The warship will be armed with cruise missiles, anti-aircraft missiles and artillery, as well as capable of searching for and destroying submarines,” RIA Novosti reported two years ago.

Russia has invested huge sums in the Russian Navy in recent years as part of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to modernize the military.

But sanctions imposed on Moscow after its illegal annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014 cut off the United Shipbuilding Corporation, Russia’s largest shipbuilder, from Western technology and components, and new rounds of sanctions after the invasion of Ukraine effectively paralyzed shipbuilding, including civilian ones.

According to sources close to the company cited by The Wall Street Journal, shipyards launched just four ships last year, four times less than in 2021 and 2020.

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