Russia’s New Helicopters Are Preparing for War

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Moscow’s landing ships and their aircraft have had a troubled history.

Dave Majumdar [2]

Russia is testing Kamov Ka-27 helicopters onboard its troubled Ivan Gren amphibious landing ship, which is currently undergoing sea trials before the vessel is delivered to the Northern Fleet in March.

“During the trials of the helicopter complex of the large amphibious assault ship Ivan Gren at the Baltic Fleet’s sea training ranges, shipborne helicopters of the Fleet’s naval aviation are performing flights around the warship and landings onto it in various weather conditions in daytime and at night,” Russian Navy spokesman Roman Martov told theTASS news agency. [3]

Ivan Gren has had a long and troubled history. The vessel was first laid down in December 2004 and launched in May 2012. Its sea trials began in June 2016 and the ship will not be ready for delivery until at least late February.

“Gren is a typical example of a badly managed naval project which exist in many navies,” Vasily Kashin, a senior fellow at the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics told The National Interest. “The design started 1998, almost 20 years ago. The problem was that the Navy changed the requirements so many times that the project ran into huge delays and the result was disliked by everyone. So as a result the Navy decided to build just two such ships (Ivan Gren and Pyotr Morgunov to be launched this year).”

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