ST.PETERSBURG, December 23 (AVN) - A Project 956E destroyer build by the local Severnaya Verf shipyard will be handed over to China on Saturday, Svetlana Yermolayeva, aide to the yard's general director, told the Military News Agency.
The destroyer costing about 250 million U.S. dollars will be named Great Mao, the Agency learned. Its displacement is 7,000 tons.
The vessel is armed with the Mosquito anti-ship system with two launchers for ZM-80E supersonic missiles, better known in the West as Sunburns, as well as the Shtil multi-channel air defence missile complex. It also has two twin-barrelled 130-mm artillery systems intended for hitting naval and coastal targets.
The destroyer will leave for China on Monday. However missiles for the Mosquito systems will be supplied only next year. The first lot will be shipped in April and the second in October.
Saturday's ceremony is likely to be attended by Vice Admiral Kotstantin Barskov, deputy Russian Navy commander.