Polnocny-class landing ship

The Polnocny (or Polnochny)-class ships are amphibious warfare vessels. They were designed in Poland, in cooperation with the Soviet Navy and were built in Poland between 1967 and 2002. They now serve in several different navies, and some have been converted to civilian use. The name comes from the Stocznia Północna shipyard (Northern Shipyard) at Gdańsk, where they were built. 107 were built by 1986 (last 16 by Stocznia Marynarki Wojennej (Naval Shipyard) at Gdynia, Poland). In 2002, one ship of a modernised design NS-722 was built in Gdynia for Yemen.

Characteristics
The Polnocny-class ships are classified as medium landing ships in the Russian Navy, and are loosely equivalent to Western tank landing ships. They are equipped with a bow ramp that allows beach landings. The Polnocny-C version can carry 8 armored personnel carriers, or 250 tons of stores. Unlike their Western counterparts, these ships can provide substantial fire support for landed troops with their embarked multiple rocket launchers. Other armament consists of anti-aircraft guns and short-range surface-to-air missiles.

Variants
The Polnocny class comprises several sub-types that vary in size and capacity:
 * Polnocny-A (Project 770) (46 built):
 * Displacement: 800 tons full load
 * Length: 73 m
 * Speed: 19 kn


 * Polnocny-B (Project 771) (36 built):
 * Displacement: 834 tons full load
 * Length: 73 m
 * Speed: 18 kn


 * Polnocny-C (Project 773) (24 built)
 * Displacement: 1150 tons full load
 * Length: 81.3 m
 * Speed: 18 kn


 * Modified Polnocny-C (Project 776) Amphibious Assault Command Ship (1 built - ORP Grunwald)
 * Displacement: 1253 tons full load
 * Length: 81.3 m
 * Speed: 18 kn


 * Polnocny-D (Project 773U) (4 built)
 * Displacement: 1233 tons full load
 * Length: 81.3 m
 * Speed: 16 kn
 * Aircraft facility: One helicopter platform


 * NS-722 class (1 built in 2002)
 * Displacement: 1,410 tons full load
 * Length: 88.7 m
 * Speed: 17 kn
 * Aircraft facility: One helicopter platform

Operational service
Built in large quantities, the Polnocny-class ships were once the mainstay of the Soviet amphibious forces, and gave the Soviet naval infantry an effective force projection capability. They were gradually phased out in favour of hovercraft, and few remain active in the Russian Navy.

Current operators

 * Angola: 3 ships
 * Algeria: 1 Polnocny-B
 * Azerbaijan: 2 Polnocny-A, 2 Polnocny-B
 * Bulgaria: 2 Polnocny-A (withdrawn from use)
 * Egypt: 3 Polnocny-A
 * India: 1 Polnocny-C, 4 Polnocny-D
 * Russia: 6 Polnocny-B
 * Syria: 3 Polnocny-B
 * Ukraine: 1 Polnocny-C
 * Vietnam: 3 Polnocny-B
 * Yemen: 1 NS-722

Historical operators
Ethiopia, Somalia, Libya, Iraq, Poland