The Tarantul-class corvette, Soviet designation Project 1241 Molniya (Russian: Молния||Lightning) are a class of Russian missile corvettes (large missile cutters in Soviet classification).
They have the NATO reporting name Tarantul (not to be confused with the, whose official Soviet name is also Project 205P Tarantul). These ships were designed to replace the Project 205M Tsunami missile cutter (NATO:).
In the late 1970s, the Soviets realised the need for a larger, more seaworthy craft with better gun armament and higher positioned air search radars. In the Tarantul class, both the single main gun and the two Gatling-type guns are used for air defence, together with a comprehensive electronic warfare suite. The boats are built by the Petrovsky yard (St. Petersburg), Rybinsk and Ulis yard (Vladivostok). A version of these ships for coastal anti-submarine warfare and patrol was developed as the or Project 1241.2. The Indian Navy paid approximately $30 million each to license-produce Tarantul-I in the early 1990s. With over 30 sales on the export market the Tarantul has been a relative success for the Russian shipbuilding industry.
The naming convention for NATO reporting name Tarantul was a special case here. NATO called the first version of the class as Tarantul-II, given that they had a better sensor suite/equipment than the ships of the following class Tarantul-I, which was produced exclusively for export.
A first version was based on the Pauk-class hull, though with significantly increased weight. Equipped with four SS-N-2 'Styx' anti-ship missiles (either the range P-15 'Termit' missile or the later P-20 variant with range) and the associated 'Plank Shave' radar targeting system (range in active mode of surveillance, range in passive mode, with an added air surveillance capability). One AK–176 76.2 mm main gun and two AK-630 30 mm six-barreled Gatling guns, the latter CIWS system supported by the 'Bass Tilt' targeting radar. Furthermore, there is a Fasta-N SA-N-5 quadruple MANPADS launcher and two PK-16 decoy launchers.
Propulsion is a COGOG system (COmbined Gas Or Gas) consisting of two M70 at high power gas turbines with a combined output for full power and two cruise gas turbines type M75 with a combined output of . Top speed is 38kn.
Between 1979 and 1984, 13 ships of the type were built. Another ship, R-55, was rebuilt after its completion as a test vessel for the 'Kortik' short-range defense system for Project 1241.7.
To clarify, by NATO's definition, Project 1241.RE (NATO: Tarantul-I) was an export version of Project 1241.1 (NATO: Tarantul-II).
This class of ships could be distinguished by the lack of fire control radar on the roof of the bridge. Instead, the fire control radar, X-band "Garpun-Bal" (NATO: "Plank Shave"), built for the anti-ship missiles, was installed on the top of the mast. Other equipment included a small navigation radar type "Kivach-2" on the bridge roof (or MR-312 "Pechera-1" on the ships of Poland), and the gun-fire control radar MR-123 Vympel (NATO: "Bass Tilt") at the foot of the mast. Two PK-16 decoy launchers were also installed. The model of the missiles in the KT-138 launch containers were P-20 (NATO: SS-N-2B), basically they were P-15 updated with the new guidance system but with the original 40 km range.
Between 1977 and 1979, 22 ships of this class were produced exclusively for export. Only one of these ships, R-26, was retained by the Soviet Navy for training purposes. India bought five of these ships as s, and would later produce eight ships of the same class domestically. Vietnam also bought four Project 1241.RE ships from various sources over the years.
Retaining the main armament and basic hull form of the 1241.RE (NATO: Tarantul-I) class, 1241.1M (NATO: Tarantul-III) received important upgrades. Apart from a modest but useful internal redesign, the Tarantul-III had a new type of propulsion—a CODAG (COmbined Diesel And Gas) system. Two M-70 gas turbines (rated at 12,000 hp each) and two M510 (rated at 4,000 hp each) diesel engines were used, being a big improvement over the earlier COGOG system both in terms of serviceability (the two cruise diesels being almost something of a Soviet 'classic'), fuel efficiency and, most importantly, service life expectancy compared to the older NK-12Ms. The maximum speed reached .
The superstructures were redesigned and the angled mast of the previous projects has been replaced by a narrow, straight lattice. The sensor position remained almost the same as the Project 1241.1. The "Pechera" navigation radar was off the roof of the bridge, with the MR-123 "Vympel" fire control radar installed. Two jamming system (NATO: "Wine Glass") were installed on both sides at the foot of the mast. The reason for this was the installation of four SS-N-22 'Sunburn' supersonic ship-to-ship missiles with a range of at least 100 km. The associated radar system is the L-band 'Band Stand' radar, with a 120 km active and passive range and the capability to track 15 different targets. The missiles can also receive third party guidance through the 'Light Bulb' uplink (from other ships, helicopters or long range patrol aircraft). Cannon armament is retained, as were the PK-16 launchers, although Soviet Navy ships benefited from the improved SA-N-8 quadruple MANPADS launcher. At least one ship had an SA-N-11 Kashtan gun and missile CIWS installed instead of the AK-630s.
The Tarantul-III, built from 1987 on, received an improved electronic countermeasures suite, consisting of two 'Half Hat' and two 'Foot Ball' jamming systems, coupled to four improved PK-10 decoy launchers. At least 24 of these ships were built for the Soviet Navy before production ended in 1992.
Between 1985 and 2001, 34 ships of this class were built. After the construction of first batch of 11 ships, the anti-ship missiles were changed from the P-80 "Moskit" to the more modern model P-270 "Moskit-M", therefore the following 23 boats had a new ID: Project 1241.1MR.
The guided missile corvette R-60 was further modernized in 2005, having the two AK-630M CIWS removed, and replaced with "Palash" CIWS.
Project 1242.1 and project 1241.8 Molniya ("Lightning") are further developments of the Tarantul family of ships. The two projects has been modified and rearmed with modern missile systems like the Uran-E and are more capable ships than the Tarantul types. The ships are built by the Russian Vympel Shipyard.[1] Russia received at least one boat for trials in the 1990s and in 1999 Vietnam ordered two vessels. Vietnam is currently the main user of the Molniya class, with two Russian-made ships and six locally built ships. Vietnam started its own production line of 1241.8 Molniya ships with the assistance of Almaz Central Design Bureau in Russia. The first two locally built ships were delivered in July 2014, two more in June 2015, and the last two in October 2017.[2] [3] The Vietnamese warships are armed with a AK-176 76 mm gun, 16 Uran-E anti-ship missiles, four Igla-M air-defence missiles and two AK-630 close-in-weapon systems. The Vietnamese ships are also larger at in length and a maximum displacement of 563 tons. They have a range of with 44 crew members on board. The Indian Navy ordered four further modified 1241.8 Tarantuls, this order was later reduced to two. These last two ships of the Veer class are armed with 16 SS-N-25 'Switchblade' / URAN E missiles, a OTO Melara 76 mm gun instead of the AK-176, and MR 352 Positiv-E (NATO: Cross Dome) radar.[4] [5] In 2009 Libya ordered three ships, however, the civil war in 2011 put a stop to any acquisitions. Shortly afterwards Turkmenistan acquired three Type 1241.8 vessels, possibly those that had been ordered by Libya but not delivered.[6]
The Russian Navy received two upgraded Molniya-class missile boats in early 2019; they were initially built for a foreign customer, but the contract was cancelled, so the Russian Navy acquired them. The boats replaced the Moskit with eight Kh-35U anti-ship missiles and MANPADS launcher with the Pantsir-M gun/missile system. They also had a modern radar phased antenna array. One boat was expected to operate in the Black Sea and the other in the Caspian Sea.[7]
