Caspian MRK 702
Class overview
Name	Matka class (Project 206MR Vikhr)
Operators	Soviet Navy  Russian Navy  Ukrainian Navy  Border Police of Georgia
Preceded by	Osa-class missile boat
In service	1977- present day
Completed	12
Active	1
Lost	1
Retired	10
Preserved	1
General characteristics
Type	Hydrofoil missile boat
Displacement	233 tons standard 257 tons full load
Length	38.6 m (126 ft 8 in)
Beam	7.6 m (24 ft 11 in)
Draught	3.26 m (10 ft 8 in)
Propulsion	3 × M503 B2 Diesels; 15,000 hp (11,000 kW) or Zvezda M504
Speed	42 knots (78 km/h; 48 mph)
Range	600 nautical miles (1,100 km; 690 mi) at 37 knots (69 km/h; 43 mph) 1,450 nautical miles (2,690 km; 1,670 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Endurance	5 days
Complement	30
Sensors and processing systems	Radar: Plank shave, Bass Tilt, SRN-207, High Pole
Armament	1 × AK-176 gun 1 - AK-630 gun 2 P-15 Termit anti ship missiles (replaced by 8 SS-N-25 in Russian Navy units)

The Matka class is the NATO reporting name for a group of hydrofoil missile boats built for the Soviet Navy (Baltic Fleet and Black Sea Fleet). The Soviet designation was 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 Osa-class missile boat and are a heavily modified version of the Turya-class torpedo boat. 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 ("Mod-Kashin")-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" (likely from a Nanuchka-class ship) or a SS-N-12 "Sandbox" (from the Slava-class cruiser Moskva) fired by the Russian navy, which was moving a flotilla into position to enforce a 50-nautical-mile (93 km; 58 mi) Total Exclusion Zone (TEZ) 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 Stenka-class patrol boat 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" (NATO given name) means literally "uterus". The word has also meaning "queen" (of insect hive), 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.

•  Ukrainian Navy - 1 boat The Pryluky in service (2017)
•  Border Police of Georgia - 1 boat The Tbilisi (თბილისი) transferred from Ukraine, sunk by the Russian Airborne troops in Poti port during the 2008 South Ossetia war

Green — Preserved as a museum
Yellow — active in Ukrainian Navy
Red — decommissioned
Black — sunk