The Tsaplya class is an improved and longer version of the Lebed class, intended to replace the Gus class in service, being carried by the Ivan Rogov-classlanding ship. The Tsaplya class is equipped with a bow loading ramp, a gun being mounted to starboard of the ramp and the ship's bridge to port; it can carry a PT-76 amphibious tank.[1]
The first of the class was constructed at Feodosiya, entering service in 1982; ten ships of the class were in service by the early 1990s. They were operated by the Maritime Border Guards with the Amur/Ussuri River Flotilla; following the fall of the Soviet Union they were quickly withdrawn from service, none being operational by 1995.
In 2003 the Republic of Korea Navy ordered three vessels from Russia. According to a source from the Russian delegation at the IndoDefence 2014 exhibition, the ROK Navy was interested in purchasing several more upgraded Murena-E vessels and in the repair of its current trio of vessels.[2]
On 10 January 2023, it was reported that the Khabarovsk shipbuilding plant is planning to resume construction of a modernised version of the Tsaplya class in 2023.[3][4]
