Egypt's new missile corvette heads back to Russia

[Zarvan]

Egypt's new missile corvette flying the Egyptian and Russian flags while docked at the Alexandria naval base. Source: Egyptian MoD
The Russian Molnya-class missile corvette R-32 (832) was spotted transiting the Bosporus into the Black Sea on 19 August: four days after the Egyptian Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced it had taken delivery of the vessel.

While R-32 flew Russian and Egyptian flags during the opening of the Suez Canal expansion project on 6 August and in the photographs the MoD released of the vessel docked at the Alexandrian naval base, it was flying only the Russian ensign as it sailed through the Bosporus. All the sailors seen standing on deck appeared to be Russians.

The Egyptian MoD said in a 15 August statement that Russia had given the vessel to Egypt under the framework of the military co-operation that exists between the two countries in many areas. It added that the vessel had been delivered with anti-ship missiles that are the fastest of their kind in the world: an apparent reference to supersonic Moskit (SS-N-22 'Sunburn') missiles.

Photographs released by the MoD suggested the vessel is also fitted with a Positiv-E air/surface search radar, a Garpun B surface search radar, and a MR-123 fire control radar.

The MoD implied that the Egyptian Navy cannot currently operate the vessel because it had been transferred at short notice, saying that personnel will travel to Russia for the requisite technical training.

The only Project 12421 Molnya that was ever completed, R-32 was laid down at the Vympel shipyard in Rybinsk in 1994, launched in 1999, and commissioned into service in May 2000, according to Russian sources.

Russia reportedly attempted to sell it to Turkmenistan, but the deal supposedly fell through due to the complexities of the Moskit-E missiles. Turkmenistan subsequently ordered two new-build Project 12418 vessels with Uran (SS-N-25 'Switchblade') missiles and R-32 was transferred from the Caspian to the Baltic Fleet in 2013.

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Egypt's new missile corvette heads back to Russia - IHS Jane's 360