TASS FACTBOX. On May 8, 2026, the press service of the Baltic Fleet of the Russian Navy announced that the Project 22800 Karakurt small missile corvette Burya had entered service with the Navy. TASS FACTBOX has prepared a report on the ships of this class.
Project 22800 (codename Karakurt) small missile corvettes are a Russian series of multipurpose short-range missile and artillery ships (small corvettes). The project was developed in 2015 by specialists at the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau (St. Petersburg, a subsidiary of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, USC) based on the Project 12300 Scorpion missile gunboat, developed by the same bureau in the 1990s.
By the early 2010s, the Russian Navy had only 13 Project 1234 Ovod small missile ships (out of 38 built between 1970 and 1991) and 26 Project 12411 missile boats (out of 47 built between 1979 and 2003). To replace them, a series of 12 Project 21631 Buyan-M small missile ships was laid down in 2010. Then they were replaced in the construction of the Project 22800 small missile ships. The Karakurt differs from the Buyan-M in its enhanced seaworthiness: it can safely navigate in any sea state, regardless of weather conditions. The Project 22800 small corvettes can launch strikes from both rivers and sea waters.
