Matka-class missile boat
The Matka class is the NATO reporting name for a group of hydrofoil missile boats built for the Soviet Navy. The Soviet designation is Project 206MR Vikhr. Following the 1997 Black Sea Fleet partition treaty all Black Sea Fleet Matka class boats were passed to the Ukrainian Navy.
Design
These boats are the descendants of the and are a heavily modified version of the. There is only a single foil, the aft part of the hull hydroplanes at high speeds. They are air-conditioned and NBC-sealed. The SS-N-2 launchers are the same type as carried on the Project 61MR -class destroyers. Despite initial reports that they were good seaboats, later information revealed that the Soviets regarded them as cramped inside and top-heavy. Of thirteen planned ships, one was cancelled and another started but never completed. All were built in Leningrad.After the breakup of the USSR, Russia discarded many and five went to Ukraine, one of which was later transferred to Georgia after a complete refurbishment.
Project 206.6
R-44 serves as a developmental ship for the Black Sea Fleet, and was the first vessel anywhere to carry the SS-N-25 "Switchblade" missile, in two quad-canisters. These were removed in 2000 but re-installed in 2003. In 1998, the SP-521 combat data system was installed. R-44 also has the AK-630М1-2 Roy CIWS which is two 30 mm gatling guns superimposed on each other, in place of the AK-630. More recently, the ship has been seen with no "Drum Tilt" radar and a large deckhouse between the bridge and mast.Combat usage
On 9 August 2008 during the 2008 South Ossetia war, several media outlets reported that Tbilisi had been sunk in a nighttime action, either by a SS-N-9 "Siren" or a SS-N-12 "Sandbox" fired by the Russian navy, which was moving a flotilla into position to enforce a Total Exclusion Zone around the Georgian Navy's main homeport of Poti.Tbilisi was in fact destroyed by Russian Airborne Troops on 8 August 2008 while in port at Poti. The ship lost at sea was most likely the P-21 Giorgi Toreli. This would have appeared very similar on radar to a Matka-class vessel, having essentially the same hull and superstructure but different armament.
Trivia
In Russian language, the word "matka" means literally "uterus". The word has also meaning "queen", which is the most likely connotation, since previous missile boat classes were named Osa and Komar, meaning "wasp" and "mosquito".Ships
A total of 12 boats were built for the Soviet Navy. A gun boat version without hydrofoils was offered for export.- - 1 boat The Priluki in service
- - 1 boat The Tbilisi transferred from Ukraine, sunk by the Russian Airborne troops in Poti port during the 2008 South Ossetia war
| Name | Hull No. | Commissioned | Service | Decommissioned | Status |
| «Р-27» | Blt, Csp | Utilised | |||
| «Р-44» | Blt, BSe | Since 2001 - Corsar. In 1984-85 modernised by project 2066 Utilised | |||
| «Р-50» | Blt, Csp | Since 15 August 2004 - Karachaevo-Cherkesia Decommissioned. Opened 29 August 2015 as museum Pokrovskiy storozhevoy in the city of Engels, Saratov Oblast | |||
| «Р-221» | Blt | Utilised | |||
| «Р-254» | Blt | Utilised | |||
| «Р-260» | BSe, Ukraine | Since 10 January 1996 - Uman Utilised | |||
| «Р-262» | BSe, Ukraine | Since 10 January 1996 - Pryluky As part of Ukrainian Navy in December 2018 demounted anti-ship missile launch system «Termit». In plans to have Neptune missile system be installed. | |||
| «Р-265» | BSe, Ukraine | Since 10 January 1996 - Kakhovka. Utilised | |||
| «Р-251» | BSe, Ukraine | Since 10 January 1996 - Tsyurupinsk Utilised | |||
| «Р-15» | BSe, Ukraine, Georgia | Since 10 January 1996 - Konotop, since 30 June 1999 - Tbilisi Sunk by the Russian AF in the city of Poti during the 2008 war. Utilised | |||
| «Р-25» | Blt, Csp | Since 30 May 2003 - Borovsk Decommissioned. In summer of 2017 disarmed at the Dagdisel factory in Kaspiysk | |||
| «Р-30» | Blt, Csp | Since 13 May 2005 - Budyonnovsk Decommissioned. In summer of 2017 disarmed at the Dagdisel factory in Kaspiysk |
Yellow — as part of Ukrainian Navy
Red — decommissioned
Black — sunk