# Krivak-class frigate
The **Krivak-class frigate** is a series of Soviet and Russian guided-missile frigates built under the designation Project 1135 Burevestnik (Буревестник, "storm petrel") and its derivatives, primarily for anti-submarine warfare, from 1970 onward. NATO assigned the reporting name Krivak and divided the class into four sub-classes.[1](https://naval-encyclopedia.com/cold-war/ussr/krivak-class-frigates.php?amp=1) Thirty-two Krivak I and II ships were completed for the [Soviet Navy](https://www.edgepedia.org/soviet-navy) between 1970 and 1982, and the design line continued through the Krivak III border-guard ships and the export Talwar class built for India.[2](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVPUB-D201-PURL-LPS106117/pdf/GOVPUB-D201-PURL-LPS106117.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Soviet designation | Project 1135 Burevestnik; developed 1964–1966 at the Northern Design Bureau as a reduced-displacement successor to the Riga class[1](https://naval-encyclopedia.com/cold-war/ussr/krivak-class-frigates.php?amp=1) |
| Numbers built | 21 Krivak I (Project 1135), 11 Krivak II (Project 1135M), 8 Krivak III (Project 1135.1/1135.5 Nerey) for the KGB Maritime Border Guard[3](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/1135.htm) |
| Size and speed | Standard/full-load displacement 2,835/3,190 tons; 123 m long; 32 knots; range 4,000 nmi at 14 knots[4](https://www.kchf.ru/eng/ship/frigates/bezzavetny.htm) |
| Main armament | Quadruple URK-5 Rastrub-B launcher (SS-N-14 Silex) anti-submarine/anti-ship missiles forward; two twin 76 mm guns (Krivak I) or two single 100 mm guns (Krivak II)[4](https://www.kchf.ru/eng/ship/frigates/bezzavetny.htm) |
| Air defense | Two retractable Zif-122 launchers for the 4K33 Osa-M system (SA-N-4 Gecko), 40 9M33 missiles; no area-defense SAM[4](https://www.kchf.ru/eng/ship/frigates/bezzavetny.htm) |
| Propulsion | Four gas turbines, two cruising (24,000 shp) and two boost (48,000 shp), two shafts[4](https://www.kchf.ru/eng/ship/frigates/bezzavetny.htm) |
| Notable events | The 1975 Storozhevoy mutiny; the 1988 ramming of USS Yorktown by Bezzavetny[3](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/1135.htm) • [4](https://www.kchf.ru/eng/ship/frigates/bezzavetny.htm) |
| Living descendants | Talwar class (Project 1135.6) for India; INS Tamal, the eighth Project 11356 frigate, commissioned 1 July 2025[5](https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2141361&lang=2®=48) |
## Design and development
Project 1135 was developed in 1964–1966 at the Northern Design Bureau. The naval staff wanted a large, second-class, ocean-going anti-submarine ship based on Projects 1134-A and 1134-B (the Kresta-class cruisers) but with a significantly reduced displacement, for tasks such as anti-submarine and air defense of ship formations and convoy escort. The displacement reduction led to the deletion of a helicopter, while the hydroacoustic suite of Project 1134-B was retained. Because the radar suite was too light to guide the main anti-ship missiles at full range, the ships were intended to operate in search-and-strike pairs.[1](https://naval-encyclopedia.com/cold-war/ussr/krivak-class-frigates.php?amp=1)
The class was designed as a "second-rate" counterpart to the "first-rate" Kresta II and Kara classes, with which it initially shared the BPK classification; in the late 1970s the designation changed to SKR (Storozhevoy Korabl', guard ship), a more accurate indication of its capabilities. Although it followed the Kashin class in construction dates, the Krivak is smaller, has a more sophisticated ASW outfit, lacks an area-defense SAM system, and was easier to build, which allowed construction at smaller Baltic and [Black Sea](https://www.edgepedia.org/black-sea) shipyards.[4](https://www.kchf.ru/eng/ship/frigates/bezzavetny.htm)
When the prototype appeared in 1971, it was hailed as the successor to the obsolete Skoryy-class destroyers, and rapid construction of large numbers was confidently predicted. On a 410-foot, 3,900-ton hull the design carried a large number of weapons, with two twin 76.2 mm dual-purpose mounts aft and mine rails on the quarterdeck on either side of the T-shaped variable-depth sonar housing. Commentators noted that firepower appears to have been traded against speed: even with gas-turbine propulsion, the ship had little room for machinery and lacked the high-speed hull lines of other recent Soviet designs.[6](https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1974/june/pictorial-soviet-major-combatants)
## Variants
Construction took place at three shipyards: A. A. Zhdanov in Leningrad, Yantar in [Kaliningrad](https://www.edgepedia.org/kaliningrad), and Zaliv in Kerch.[1](https://naval-encyclopedia.com/cold-war/ussr/krivak-class-frigates.php?amp=1)
- **Krivak I (Project 1135)**: 21 ships built from 1968 to 1981.[1](https://naval-encyclopedia.com/cold-war/ussr/krivak-class-frigates.php?amp=1)
- **Krivak II (Project 1135M)**: 11 units, all constructed at Shipyard 820 and completed between 1975 and 1982, differing mainly in gun caliber, carrying two 100 mm guns in single mounts.[3](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/1135.htm) • [4](https://www.kchf.ru/eng/ship/frigates/bezzavetny.htm)
- **Krivak III (Project 1135.1/1135.5 Nerey)**: built initially for the KGB Maritime Border Guard, with a 100 mm gun replacing the SS-N-14 launcher, a helicopter flight deck and hangar, and less ASW capability than the Krivak I/II. Two units were transferred to Ukraine before completion.[3](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/1135.htm)
- **Krivak IV**: modified Krivak I ships; at least two and possibly three were modernized between 1987 and 1994 under a scheme known in the West as MOD Krivak, with a new surface-to-surface missile replacing the ASW launcher plus improved electronics and sonars. Further implementation foundered on finances.[3](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/1135.htm)
## Armament and sensors
The major ASW system is the Rastrub-B (SS-N-14) missile, fired from a bulky quadruple launcher forward, backed by RBU-6000 mortars immediately forward of the bridge and torpedo tubes amidships. Only close-range air defense is provided, by a pair of Osa (SA-N-4 Gecko) systems on the bow and stern. The Krivak is unusual in its generation in having no last-ditch anti-missile gun system such as a 30 mm Gatling, and its electronic-warfare fit is minimal compared with the first-rate ships.[4](https://www.kchf.ru/eng/ship/frigates/bezzavetny.htm) The Metel ("Snowstorm") missile system was designed in the 1960s for the Kresta-class cruisers and entered service in 1969; later Krivaks received the Rastrub variant with a shaped charge usable against shipping as well as submarines.[1](https://naval-encyclopedia.com/cold-war/ussr/krivak-class-frigates.php?amp=1)
The class carries a variable-depth sonar, like most Soviet warships of its era. A 1982 U.S. Naval Institute analysis argued that, given the rough waters of the northern latitudes where the Soviets primarily operate, this choice was logical: U.S. commanding officers reported that hull-mounted sonars and helicopters are severely limited by ship motions in northern latitudes, while variable-depth sonars and deck-launched missiles are far less constrained. The Krivak, with its hull form and [fin stabilizers](https://www.edgepedia.org/fin-stabilizer), should therefore be more viable for ASW in heavy weather than the [Oliver Hazard Perry](https://www.edgepedia.org/oliver-hazard-perry) class.[7](https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1982/may/us-and-soviet-ship-design-practices-1950-1980)
## Service history
The class entered service from 1970, when Bditelnyy was commissioned; 40 ships were eventually commissioned for the Soviet Navy and border guard.[1](https://naval-encyclopedia.com/cold-war/ussr/krivak-class-frigates.php?amp=1) In 1975 the frigate Storozhevoy was seized by its political officer, [Valery Sablin](https://www.edgepedia.org/valery-sablin), who locked up the captain and tried to sail from Riga into the Baltic to broadcast a manifesto calling for change in the Soviet Union; the episode later inspired [Tom Clancy's](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-clancys) novel *The Hunt for Red October*.[3](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/1135.htm) On 12 February 1988, Bezzavetny bumped [USS Yorktown (CG-48)](https://www.edgepedia.org/uss-yorktown-cg-48) in the Black Sea off Crimea while trying to prevent the American ship from entering Soviet 12-mile territorial waters; Bezzavetny was transferred to Ukraine in 1997, decommissioned in 2000, and sank under tow in 2005 while being taken for scrapping.[4](https://www.kchf.ru/eng/ship/frigates/bezzavetny.htm)
By 2004 only seven Project 1135 frigates remained in the [Russian Navy](https://www.edgepedia.org/russian-navy): Zadorniy ([Northern Fleet](https://www.edgepedia.org/northern-fleet)), Pylkiy and Neukrotimiy ([Baltic Fleet](https://www.edgepedia.org/baltic-fleet)), Ladniy and Pytliviy (Black Sea Fleet), and Letuchiy and Revnostniy (Pacific Ocean Fleet).[8](https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/15398/MDB_2_2004.pdf)
## Descendants
The design line continued after the Soviet Union. In 1999–2013, under Project 1135.6, six Talwar-class frigates were built for the [Indian Navy](https://www.edgepedia.org/indian-navy), and from 2010 a program was set up for Project 1135.6R frigates for the Russian Navy with new weapons and a stealth-technology hull.[1](https://naval-encyclopedia.com/cold-war/ussr/krivak-class-frigates.php?amp=1) The Admiral Grigorovich class is an upgraded derivative of the Talwar class.[3](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/1135.htm) The Indian Navy commissioned [INS Tamal](https://www.edgepedia.org/ins-tamal) (F 71), the eighth Project 1135.6 frigate and second of the follow-on Tushil class, at Yantar Shipyard, Kaliningrad, on 1 July 2025; the ship carries BrahMos cruise missiles, vertical-launched Shtil-1 surface-to-air missiles, a 100 mm gun, and 26 percent indigenous components.[5](https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2141361&lang=2®=48)
## References
1. [Krivak class frigates (1970), naval encyclopedia](https://naval-encyclopedia.com/cold-war/ussr/krivak-class-frigates.php?amp=1)
2. [Soviet Major Combatants silhouette document, govinfo](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVPUB-D201-PURL-LPS106117/pdf/GOVPUB-D201-PURL-LPS106117.pdf)
3. [Krivak Class – Project 1135, GlobalSecurity.org](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/1135.htm)
4. [Frigate Bezzavetny – Project 1135 / Krivak I Class, kchf.ru](https://www.kchf.ru/eng/ship/frigates/bezzavetny.htm)
5. [INS Tamal, Latest Stealth Frigate Commissioned into Indian Navy, Press Information Bureau (1 July 2025)](https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2141361&lang=2®=48)
6. [Pictorial – Soviet Major Combatants, Proceedings, June 1974](https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1974/june/pictorial-soviet-major-combatants)
7. [U.S. and Soviet Ship Design Practices, 1950–1980, Proceedings, May 1982](https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1982/may/us-and-soviet-ship-design-practices-1950-1980)
8. [Moscow Defense Brief 2/2004](https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/15398/MDB_2_2004.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Technology and the built world › Transport and spaceflight › Water transport › Warships and naval vessels › Destroyers, frigates, and corvettes › Titles A to Se*
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