Project 21630 Buyan is the original Russian Buyan-class river-sea artillery corvette, built by Almaz Shipbuilding for Caspian Flotilla service. The three-ship class predates the Kalibr-armed Buyan-M branch and combines a 100 mm A-190 gun, a 122 mm Grad-M naval rocket launcher, Gibka launchers for Igla missiles, and close-in gun defenses on a shallow-draft hull built for coastal and river-sea operations.
Ukrainian reporting on SSO and SBU footage in May-June 2026 identified a Russian Project 21630 Buyan artillery ship as a Caspian Sea target of Ukrainian long-range drone strikes, while distinguishing the target from the Kalibr-armed Buyan-M branch and leaving the exact hull name unconfirmed.
Role detailsProject 21630 is a compact river-sea combatant whose weapons are split between gunfire, short-range rockets, point air defense, and close-in protection rather than long-range cruise missiles.
| System area | Documented equipment | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Main gun | 100 mm A-190 naval gun. | Gives the class conventional surface firepower for patrol, coastal, and river-sea missions. |
| Rocket fire support | 122 mm A-215 Grad-M naval rocket launcher. | Marks the original Project 21630 as an artillery corvette, unlike the later Buyan-M cruise-missile branch. |
| Point air defense | 3M-47 Gibka launchers for Igla short-range surface-to-air missiles. | Explains the link to the Igla missile family in the relationship section. |
| Close-in guns | Two 30 mm mounts, described as AK-306 in Ukrainian strike analysis and as AK-630 in USNI's class overview. | Keeps the page explicit about an open-source designation difference while preserving the shared close-defense role. |
| Sensors | Pozitiv search radar and MR-231 navigation radar. | Supports the shallow-draft patrol and local air/surface-search role described in the class profile. |
Project 21630 is the original artillery branch of the Buyan program, not the later Kalibr-armed Buyan-M missile-corvette branch. That distinction matters because open-source reporting often shortens both families to Buyan.
| Context | Documented detail | Reader caveat |
|---|---|---|
| Original Project 21630 | Three Almaz-built ships served with the Caspian Flotilla and carried a 100 mm A-190 gun, Grad-M rocket launcher, Gibka launchers for Igla missiles, and 30 mm close-in guns. | This branch is an artillery corvette family, not the Buyan-M missile corvette with a UKSK vertical launch system. |
| Project 21631 Buyan-M | The follow-on design added an eight-cell vertical launch system for Kalibr or Oniks missiles and omitted the Project 21630 122 mm rocket launcher. | Kalibr strike reporting should not be attributed to Project 21630 unless the source identifies the original artillery-corvette class. |
| 2026 strike reporting | UNN, UNITED24, and Defense Express reporting identified a Project 21630 Buyan-class target in Ukrainian long-range drone strike footage. | The reports did not publicly identify which of the three original hulls was hit, so this record keeps the strike at class level. |
The Buyan family split between the original three Project 21630 artillery ships and the larger Project 21631 Buyan-M missile corvettes; USNI notes that Buyan-M added an eight-cell vertical launch system and dropped the earlier 122 mm rocket launcher.
| Variant | Configuration | Designation notes |
|---|---|---|
 | Follow-on guided-missile corvette | Buyan-M keeps the shallow-draft river-sea concept but adds a UKSK vertical launch system for Kalibr or Oniks missiles instead of the original Project 21630 Grad-M rocket launcher. |
Project 21630 mounts 3M-47 Gibka launchers for Igla short-range surface-to-air missiles.
| Ammunition | Ammunition type | Firing evidence |
|---|---|---|
 | Short-range surface-to-air missile | USNI describes the Project 21630 ships as carrying 3M-47 Gibka launchers for Igla short-range surface-to-air missiles, so the class has a point-defense air-defense layer in addition to its gun and rocket armament. |
Astrakhan entered Russian Navy service as the first Project 21630 Buyan artillery corvette assigned to the Caspian Flotilla.
Sources: Russia’s Buyan Naval Corvette Program
Volgodonsk and Makhachkala followed Astrakhan into Caspian Flotilla service, completing the original three-ship artillery-corvette branch before the Buyan-M missile variant expanded the program.
Sources: Russia’s Buyan Naval Corvette Program
UNN reported that Ukrainian Special Operations Forces had covertly struck a Russian Project 21630 Buyan artillery ship in the Caspian Sea with FP-1 drones and stressed that the target was not a Kalibr-armed Buyan-M missile corvette.
Sources: UNN SSO Report on Project 21630 Caspian Strike
UNITED24 and Defense Express reporting on SBU Alpha footage identified one Russian target as a Project 21630 Buyan-class artillery corvette, with the specific hull name still unconfirmed.
Sources: UNITED24 SBU Footage on Russian Warship Strikes, Defense Express on SBU Alpha Warship Strikes
