Russia completes hull of first warship equipped with state-of-the-art stealth tech, will be given to navy in 2022 – RIA Novosti

Russian shipbuilders have almost completed building the Mercury naval corvette, the country’s first warship completely designed around stealth. It will be handed over to Russia’s navy next year, six years after construction began.

That’s according to news agency RIA Novosti, which revealed the hull of the Mercury has already been built, citing two sources in the industry.

While some elements of stealth technology have been used on Russian-made ships in the past, the new Mercury corvette will be the first fully-fledged stealth ship. According to RIA, it will be the only vessel to be painted entirely in radio absorption coating, which will enable the huge warship to appear like a tiny boat to radar.

In addition to the paint, the ship also has a specially designed shape, which minimizes the number of protrusions.

The Mercury, built as part of Project 20386, is a new generation ship designed to go unnoticed when carrying out missions. It will be able to hit enemy surface ships with cruise missiles, provide air defense with a sophisticated anti-aircraft missile system, and will have the capability to search for and destroy submarines, RIA said.

In the last few years, Russia has invested heavily in boosting the capability of its armed forces. Last year, at the annual Navy Day celebrations in Saint Petersburg, President Vladimir Putin revealed that Russia would get 37 brand new vessels in 2020, on top of six already completed prior to the festivities.

“An increase in the navy's combat capabilities will be achieved through the widespread introduction of advanced digital technologies that have no match in the world, of hypersonic strike systems, unmanned underwater vehicles, and the most effective means of defense,” he said.

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