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Russian Navy sails new spy ship into Arctic waters

Few pictures are available of the Yuri Ivanov, the new intelligence ship. Here from the construction period at the Northern Yard.

The “Yuri Ivanov” will patrol in the Arctic and keep a close eye on neighbor and NATO member Norway.

Location

It has taken Russia 11 years to complete the vessel which will become the Northern Fleet’s new key instrument in monitoring Arctic waters. The 4000 ton deadweight ship is built by the Northern Yard in Sankt Petersburg and will be based in Severomorsk, the Northern Fleet base town.

The St. Andrew’s Flag, the Russian Navy’s ensign, was raised on the vessel during a navy parade in Baltiisky, Kaliningrad Oblast, this week. The ship will now head north to take on its duties in the Northern Fleet, the Russian military informs on its website. With its high level of multi-functionality and automatization, the ship significantly exceeds the capacities of its corresponding predecessors, the Navy press services add.

As previously reported, the “Yury Ivanov” will be the Russian fleet’s largest vessel of its class. The 95 meters long, 16 meters wide ship will have a crew of 120 and be equipped with hi-tech instruments for electronic intelligence collection.

A total of four vessels of the kind (project 18280) are planned built. The construction of the second vessel, the “Ivan Kurs”, was started in 2013 and is due to be completed in 2016. Russia’s current intelligence vessels were built in the 1980s and do not meet modern technology standards.

The “Yuri Ivanov” is arriving in the north just few months ahead of Norway’s new intelligence vessel, also that built for operations in the Arctic. That vessel, named “Marjata” will be operational in 2016. According to the Norwegian Armed Forces, the ship will be “the world’s most advanced surveillance ship of its kind”.