The Aist class (NATO-Code; Russian ''Project 12321 Dzheyran'') was the first large assault
hovercraft
A hovercraft, also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious Craft (vehicle), craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and other surfaces.
Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the hull ...
operated by the
Soviet Navy. It was designed by the Almaz design bureau wing of the
Almaz Shipbuilding Company
The Almaz Shipbuilding Company (russian: Судостроительная фирма Алмаз) is a Russian manufacturing enterprise, specializing in military and commercial ship design, development and production.
Headquartered in St. Petersb ...
in 1964–1965. Production of the craft lasted from 1970 until 1985 at Almaz's plant in
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
.
Configuration
The Aist class was built to roughly the same size as the British
SR.N4
The SR.N4 (Saunders-Roe Nautical 4) hovercraft (also known as the ''Mountbatten'' class hovercraft) was a combined passenger and vehicle-carrying class of hovercraft. The type has the distinction of being the largest civil hovercraft to have ...
commercial channel ferry. The Russian name for this class is "maly desantny korabl na vozdushnoy podushke" meaning "small landing craft on air cushion". The Aist-class prototype was built in 1970, and the type entered production in Leningrad in 1975. It was produced there at a rate of about six every four years. By the early 1990s, twenty to twenty four had been produced.
The craft began to be withdrawn following the
fall of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
, and, by 2004, only six remained, in two levels of configuration. A modified main engine intake was installed on all
Russian Navy Aists in service with the
Baltic Sea Fleet. These intakes are believed to include special filters to reduce the ingestion of salt water, sand and dust particles into the Aists' engines and machinery, limiting the effects of salt water
corrosion
Corrosion is a natural process that converts a refined metal into a more chemically stable oxide. It is the gradual deterioration of materials (usually a metal) by chemical or electrochemical reaction with their environment. Corrosion engine ...
. The Aists have suffered from high cushion pressure, and they produce exceptionally heavy cushion spray, especially at low speeds.
Operations
Three modified Aists (700 series) are based in the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
, and the other three are in the
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...
. Craft #609 participated in the Caspian Sea exercise in 2002. The earlier engines have been upgraded to allow an increase in displacement up to 298 tons, which is up from the type's original 260 tons but at a loss of roughly half the type's original range. Some units carry two
SA-N-5
The 9K32 Strela-2 (russian: Cтрела, "arrow"; NATO reporting name SA-7 Grail) is a light-weight, shoulder-fired, surface-to-air missile (or MANPADS) system. It is designed to target aircraft at low altitudes with passive infrared homing ...
quadruple
SAM systems and
chaff
Chaff (; ) is the dry, scaly protective casing of the seeds of cereal grains or similar fine, dry, scaly plant material (such as scaly parts of flowers or finely chopped straw). Chaff is indigestible by humans, but livestock can eat it. In agri ...
launchers.
Variations
In addition to the Baltic Sea upgrades, several variants have been built, and they differ externally in fin height, overall length, superstructure details and defensive armament. In an effort to reduce accidents, an Aist combat mission simulator was produced by the former Soviet Navy to improve the ability of Aist commanders to operate the craft on the sea and over beaches.
The Aists were upgraded during the 1990s to carry 80 tons of cargo.
Registry
* #609
* #610
* #615
* #700
* MDK 89 (formerly #730)
* MDK 113 (formerly #722)
See also
*
List of ships of the Soviet Navy
This is a list of ships and classes of the Soviet Navy.
Corvettes
In the Soviet Navy these were classified as small anti-submarine ships (MPK) or small missile ships (MRK).
* (projects 122A, 122bis)
* (project 204)
* (project 1124 ''Al'bat ...
*
List of ships of Russia by project number
The list of ships of Russia by project number includes all Russian ships by assigned project numbers. Ship descriptions are Russian assigned classifications when known. (The Russian term "проект" can be translated either as the cognate "pr ...
References
* Sharpe, Richard (RN), ''Jane's Fighting Ships 1990-91'',
Air cushion small landing ships – Complete Ship List
{{Soviet and Russian ships after 1945
Amphibious warfare vessels of the Soviet Navy
Amphibious warfare vessels of the Russian Navy
Military hovercraft
Landing craft