Armament for the Ivan Gren class is primarily defensive and consists of two WM-18 multiple rocket launchers for clearing beach obstacles, a 76-millimeter gun, and two AK-176M close-in weapon systems.

Construction of the lead ship of the class began in 2004, but the ship was finally launched in 2012. Construction was, like many recent Russian naval programs, considered difficult. A second ship was ordered in 2014.

Six Ivan Grens are planned, likely to be distributed evenly among the Northern/Baltic, Black Sea, and Pacific Fleets. The cancellation of the Mistral sale likely means Russia will build more of the ships, which would not be subject to foreign sanction.

Kyle Mizokami is a writer based in San Francisco who has appeared in The Diplomat, Foreign Policy, War is Boring and The Daily Beast. In 2009 he cofounded the defense and security blog Japan Security Watch. This first appeared in May 2015.

Image: Wikimedia.