The Matka class is the NATO reporting name for a group of hydrofoil missile boats built for the Soviet Navy (Baltic Fleet and Black Sea Fleet). The Soviet designation was Project 206MR Vikhr. Following the 1997 Black Sea Fleet partition treaty all Black Sea Fleet Matka class boats were passed to the Ukrainian Navy.
These boats are the descendants of the and are a heavily modified version of the . There is only a single foil, the aft part of the hull hydroplanes at high speeds. They are air-conditioned and NBC-sealed. The SS-N-2 launchers are the same type as carried on the Project 61MR ("Mod-Kashin")-class destroyers. Despite initial reports that they were good seaboats, later information revealed that the Soviets regarded them as cramped inside and top-heavy. Of thirteen planned ships, one was cancelled and another started but never completed. All were built in Leningrad.
After the breakup of the USSR, Russia discarded many and five went to Ukraine, one of which was later transferred to Georgia after a complete refurbishment.
R-44 serves as a developmental ship for the Black Sea Fleet, and was the first vessel anywhere to carry the SS-N-25 "Switchblade" missile, in two quad-canisters. These were removed in 2000 but re-installed in 2003. In 1998, the SP-521 combat data system was installed. R-44 also has the AK-630М1-2 Roy CIWS which is two 30 mm gatling guns superimposed on each other, in place of the AK-630. More recently, the ship has been seen with no "Drum Tilt" radar and a large deckhouse between the bridge and mast.
On 9 August 2008 during the 2008 South Ossetia war, several media outlets reported that Tbilisi had been sunk in a nighttime action, either by a SS-N-9 "Siren" (likely from a ship) or a SS-N-12 "Sandbox" (from the) fired by the Russian navy, which was moving a flotilla into position to enforce a 50nmi Total Exclusion Zone (TEZ) around the Georgian Navy's main homeport of Poti.
Tbilisi was in fact destroyed by Russian Airborne Troops on 8 August 2008 while in port at Poti. The ship lost at sea was most likely the P-21 Giorgi Toreli. This would have appeared very similar on radar to a Matka-class vessel, having essentially the same hull and superstructure but different armament.
In Russian language, the word "matka" (NATO given name) means literally mother. The word has also meaning "queen" (of insect hive), which is the most likely connotation, since previous missile boat classes were named Osa and Komar, meaning "wasp" and "mosquito".
A total of 12 boats were built for the Soviet Navy. A gun boat version without hydrofoils was offered for export.
| Name | Hull No. | width=12% | Commissioned | width=10% | Service | Decommissioned | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| «Р-27» | 241 | 31 December 1977 | 10 April 2002 | Scrapped | |||
| «Р-44» | 242 | 30 September 1978 | 5 October 2008 | Since 2001 - Corsar («Корсар»). In 1984-85 modernised by project 2066 Scrapped | |||
| «Р-50» | 243 | 30 December 1978 | 2014 | Since 15 August 2004 - Karachaevo-Cherkesia («Карачаево-Черкесия») Decommissioned. Opened 29 August 2015 as museum Pokrovskiy storozhevoy («Покровский сторожевой») in the city of Engels, Saratov Oblast | |||
| «Р-221» | 244 | 30 December 1978 | 16 March 1998 | Scrapped | |||
| «Р-254» | 245 | 10 January 1979 | 5 July 1994 | Scrapped | |||
| «Р-260» | 246 | 21 December 1979 | 30 November 2004 | Since 10 January 1996 - Uman («Умань») Scrapped | |||
| «Р-262» | 247 | 12 December 1980 | Since 10 January 1996 - Pryluky («Прилуки») When part of Ukrainian Navy in December 2018 the anti-ship missile launch system «Termit» was removed. In plans to have Neptune missile system installed[1] | ||||
| «Р-265» | 248 | 15 November 1980 | 7 November 2012 | Since 10 January 1996 - Kakhovka («Каховка»). Scrapped | |||
| «Р-251» | 249 | 15 June 1981 | 30 June 2001 | Since 10 January 1996 - Tsyurupinsk («Цюрупінськ») Scrapped | |||
| «Р-15» | 250 | 29 October 1981 | 13 August 2008 | Since 10 January 1996 - Konotop («Конотоп»), since 30 June 1999 - Tbilisi («Тбилиси») Sunk by the Russian AF in the city of Poti during the 2008 war. Scrapped | |||
| «Р-25» | 251 | 28 February 1983 | 2014 | Since 30 May 2003 - Borovsk («Боровск») Decommissioned. In summer of 2017 scrapped at the Dagdisel factory in Kaspiysk | |||
| «Р-30» | 252 | 30 December 1983 | 2014 | Since 13 May 2005 - Budyonnovsk («Будённовск») Decommissioned. In summer of 2017 scrapped at the Dagdisel factory in Kaspiysk |
Book: Gardiner. Robert . Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. 1995. Conway Maritime. London. 0851776051. 34284130. Also published as Book: Gardiner, Robert. Chumbley, Stephen . Budzbon, Przemysław. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. 1995. Naval Institute Press. Annapolis, MD. 1557501327. 34267261.