Leninska Kuznya to build four Gyurza artillery boats for Ukraine`s Navy

Monday, April 11, 2016 - 19:03 (EEST) Section: Latest news

Public joint stock company Plant Leninska Kuznya (Lenin`s Smithy) on April 8 held an official ceremony in Kyiv for the launch of the construction of four Gyurza-class armored artillery boats under Project 58155 for the Ukrainian Navy, according to an UaPosition correspondent.
These watercraft are being built on the Defense Ministry`s order under a state contract signed in March 2016, the Ukrainian Navy Command`s press service told UNIAN.
The official ceremony was attended by representatives of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Navy, SC Ukroboronprom, as well as management and employees of the plant.
”I think this event is very important, because there can`t be an independent country without building vessels and without rebuilding its armed forces. And this event confirms that we are moving in the right direction to step up our state`s defense capability,” NSDC`s First Deputy Secretary Oleh Hladkovsky said.
Deputy Defense Minister, Lieutenant General Ihor Pavlovsky stressed that the beginning of the vessels boats was a new stage of the construction of a series of small-sized armored artillery boats, two of which are being tested and have already proven to be meeting all technical requirements in their class.
According to Rear Admiral Andriy Tarasov, the First Deputy Navy Commander of the Ukrainian Navy and Chief of the General Staff, two well-designed small armored boats under Project 58155, which are now being tested in Odesa, have demonstrated the capability of performing tasks assigned. Tarasov thanked the plant`s employees and all those who had been involved in the creation of the boats on behalf of all navy personnel.
In his turn, Chairman of the plant`s management board Valeriy Shandra thanked the plant`s employees for fruitful work and noted the need to continue cooperation with the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.
Memo. The Project 58150 Gyurza (Desert Viper) class is a series of small armored artillery boats built for the Ukrainian Navy and the Uzbek Frontier Service. The whole class is produced by the Leninska Kuznya plant. The original and modernized classes are developed by the State Research and Design Shipbuilding Center (Mykolaiv). In 2004, there were only two vessels of Project 58150 Gyurza built for the Uzbek Border Guard. They were financed by the United States.