Fluvio Basana-class patrol boat
Design
This strange vessel began life as a deepwater stern-haul fishing trawler, built commercially in the Empire of Exponent for the state-owned Arabonan fishing enterprise. Of the 7-trawler original order for the fishing fleet, most of Fluvio Basana’s sister ships were sold off. At some point during the late 1990s/early 2000s Fluvio Basana, the first unit of the class, was transferred to the navy, and in 2006 or 2007 it was armed and converted into a makeshift offshore patrol vessel (OPV).
The armament consists of two SS-N-2 “Styx” launchers taken from a decommissioned “Osa II” class FAC(M), a 2M3 twin 25mm taken from a decommissioned torpedo boat, and what appears to be the turret of a CC-58 tank. It is unclear how the missiles would be utilized, as typically they need to interface with a “Square Tie” radar for several seconds in directional-lock mode to obtain a firing solution. Possibly the Fluvio Basana may only carry IR-homing variant “Styx” missiles, in which case the ship would just line up and fire down the bearing of a target, hoping the missile acquires the target on it’s own.
Some sources state that there are two ships of this class now in service, however it may be that Fluvio Basana simply changed pennant numbers after receiving the SS-N-2 missiles. In August 2012 pictures from Porta Aurea showed the dockyard for refurbishment working on the second patrol ship of the same type. Judging from the pictures, the second ship is being rebuilt along the lines of the trawler Fluvio Basana.
The ships of the Fluvio Basana class variously classified as frigate, corvettes, or Offshore Patrol Vessels.