The corvette that is built on the BSF is Frigate according to the international classification

On the program of building ships of corvette class was told at a briefing in Kiev on January 31, by the Director of Development and procurement of weapons and military equipment of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Andrey Artyushenko, reported by the press service of the Ministry of Defence.

He recalled that the state target program of defense shipbuilding in Nikolaev Ukraine of the Corvette Class was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers late last year, and its funding in 2012 is provided at 433.63 mln UAH. Now, according to A.Artyuschenko, the development of design documentation started and at the same time the ship construction is carried out.

- Due to the refinement of weapons and equipment of the ship, minimization of the ship's armament purchases of foreign production, we have optimized the financial resources of the program of building the ship of the corvette class from 20.5 to 16.2 bln.UAH, - Said Andrey Artyushenko.

According to him, the domestic corvette will have a displacement of 2.5 thousand tons.
- By international standards, it is - a frigate, but, given the tasks it will perform in the Black Sea, the ship will be able to perform tasks outside of the inland closed waters, - said Andrey Artyushenko.

The Director of Department of development and procurement of weapons and military equipment of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine elaborated on the combat capabilities of the ship. Corvette is capable of providing autonomous air defense system, affecting aircraft and cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles, to attack the coastal infrastructure, while striking water surface targets, create an active anti-noise complexes of enemy air defense systems and laser-guided artillery, to use guided munitions to allow to engage both air and surface targets and missiles. The ship will have the perfect equipment for the organization of anti-submarine warfare.

- We have attracted the most of the domestic enterprises of the military-industrial complex to the design, construction and equipping of corvette. Their share is 62%. The remaining 38% - are companies that are part of international cooperation. Attracting foreign companies was carried out in the direction of naval weapons systems procurement, development of which in Ukraine is economically inefficient, it is technically difficult and we have none - the director of the department informed.
The major foreign project participants are 10 companies from France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, South Africa and the USA.

- The ship will be modern in its class, armed with modern weapons, with the most modern technology. Corvette will surely perform certain tasks in the economic zone of the Black Sea. It will also be extremely useful in terms of its access to international markets of weapons, - said Andrey Artyushenko.