Ivan Susanin

The Ivan Susanin class (Project 97P) is a series of Soviet and Russian patrol icebreakers designed for coast guard and border patrol duties in Arctic and sub-Arctic waters. These vessels are capable of breaking ice up to one meter thick while performing patrol, search and rescue, and scientific support missions. They are equipped with a helicopter landing pad and light defensive armament.

Developed in the late 1960s as a militarized variant of the successful Project 97 civilian icebreakers, the class was built to secure the Soviet Union's northern and eastern maritime borders. The lead ship, Ivan Susanin, was laid down in 1972 and commissioned into the Soviet Pacific Fleet in December 1973. A total of eight vessels were completed between 1972 and 1981 at the Admiralty Shipyard in Leningrad. Several units of this class remain active today, serving with the Russian Navy's Pacific and Northern Fleets as well as the FSB Coast Guard.