Combat Approved

The Missile Capable Buyan-M Corvette: High Seas Hellraiser. The stealthy, shallow-hulled warship that launches cruise missiles

The Buyan-M Corvette, or Project 21631, pushes the limits of what a shallow-draught warship can do. Designed for rivers and the relatively calm waters of the Caspian Sea, the Buyan-M has already seen action during the Syrian war, launching Kalibr cruise missiles on ISIS positions. Join Combat Approved to see just how versatile the small ‘Hell-raiser’, using its Russian name, actually is.

The Missile Capable Buyan-M Corvette: High Seas Hellraiser. The stealthy, shallow-hulled warship that launches cruise missiles
The Missile Capable Buyan-M Corvette: High Seas Hellraiser. The stealthy, shallow-hulled warship that launches cruise missiles

Climb on board the Grad Sviyazhsk during a Caspian Fleet exercise and test the powerful, 100 mm, A-190 guns with a range of dozens of kilometres. Inspect the impact of the Kalibr missile during combat training. See how the Duet, a double-barrelled 30 mm weapon system with a rate of fire of 10,000 rounds a minute, can save the Buyan-M from both airstrikes and naval mines, and learn about its radar-resistant cowling.

The Missile Capable Buyan-M Corvette: High Seas Hellraiser. The stealthy, shallow-hulled warship that launches cruise missiles

This is not the only stealth feature of the Corvette, built, as Combat Approved finds out during a tour of the Zelenodolsk plant, without portholes for invisibility. Project 21631 can also deploy a decoy aerosol curtain of chaff clouds to confuse enemy missiles.

The Missile Capable Buyan-M Corvette: High Seas Hellraiser. it's Kalibr cruise missiles that could strike ISIS terrorists’ positions, even when launched from Russia.
Kalibr cruise missiles could strike ISIS terrorists’ positions, even when launched from Russia

The surprisingly manoeuvrable corvette can also lay mines so that it can carry out a wide range of missions. The designers have more up their sleeve and Combat Approved gets to ride on the scale model of the next generation: a trimaran, complete with helipad.

The A-190 gun on the Buyan-M Corvette can hit both surface and air targets and the ship can keep going at full speed while it’s shooting
The A-190 gun on the Buyan-M Corvette can hit both surface and air targets and the ship can keep going at full speed while it’s shooting


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