Russia's state-owned United Shipbuilding Corporation, through its Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau, has unveiled a new class of mine countermeasures (MCM) vessels that will be marketed exclusively to export customers.
The Project 12701 MCM vessels will be variants of the existing Project 12700 ships, otherwise known as the Alexandrit-class. Each Project 12701 vessel will have a hull made from vacuum-infused FRP, which is being proposed by Almaz as lighter yet just as durable as steel.
In addition to improving each vessel's resistance to corrosion, FRP produces no magnetic field, making the vessels safe for operation in waters containing magnetic mines.
The vessels will also have the same general layout, armament, and coastal and littoral navigation capability as their Project 12700 predecessors but with features that would also permit operation in the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, and other waters in the southern hemisphere.
Almaz added that the Project 12701 vessels can also be used for training purposes.
