You are right in that USUK and Redut are different launchers , I asked some one how many missile Redut can carry and it was 4 missile per tube , so I am assuming 4 9M96E and 2 long range 9M96E1.
Lets get this straight.
Think about the S-300 system that has 4 big tubes on each truck.
Each one of those tubes is the size of the tube of the Redut system, so the vertical launch Redut AD system on this boat has 16 tubes so it is the equivalent of 4 trucks (ie 16 tubes in total).
The thing is that the Redut AD vertical launch system will be used by all vessels in the Russian navy from corvette right up to Kirov and perhaps carrier, so they are all the same design.
That makes the system standardised.
In actual practise however the Kirov is going to have a much more powerful air search radar than any corvette so it will be able to use the 400km range S-400 missiles to best effect. It might even have X band radars to see into space to guide S-500 missiles when they become available to hit ballistic missiles and aerial targets at 600km.
But to get the benefit of standardisation the launcher fitted to the smallest corvette has to be the same as the launcher fitted to the largest and most capable vessel in the fleet.
It means parts and training commonality and it means that some companies that make all the different launchers can either focus on one type of launcher or make something else that the navy needs.
Looking at the new S-400 missiles... specifically the 120km and 40km range missiles when mounted on the trailer for the S-400 they use much narrower tubes so 4 missiles can be fitted into one of the larger full sized tubes.
It will be the same for the naval system.
With a single vertical launch system unit with 16 tubes that means you can fit 4 missiles in each tube of the 120km or the 40km missiles. Their launch tubes are the same width, the 120km range missile is just longer than the 40km range missile so if you can get 4 40km range missiles in one tube then you can get 4 120km range missiles in one tube too.
The standard launch system means if you can use all the missile types then you make the platform much more versatile and can load the weapons mix based on the mission.
With the Sigma system installed it is comparable to a Yak-130 trainer operating with an AWACs... you can put 400km range R-37M AAM missiles on the Yak-130 trainer because although the Yak can't detect targets that far away the AWACS can and it can provide the Yak with all the data it needs to launch the R-37M at a target 300km away with as good a chance of a kill as if it had been fired by a Flanker or Foxhound.
The point is that most of its time will be spent doing patrol stuff, in which case 40km range missiles will be good enough. When the 9M100 missile becomes available then a normal armament might consist of 32 x Morfei missiles for close in protection and 32 40km range missiles for self defence.
If the corvette is operating as part of a screen for a battlegroup however having 120km and even full sized 250km range missiles might become useful, because when the enemy launches 15-20 Harpoons at your little corvette... 20 years ago that was one lost corvette, but with this corvette the battle group will have Ka-31s that can scan down to sea level and see incoming missiles and pass that data to all vessels with Sigma. This means that this little corvette armed with 4 full sized standard S-400 missiles with a range of 250km, which leaves 12 tubes, with 4 missiles per tube which means 48 missile positions left for, say 12 120km range missiles, 18 40km range missiles and 18 Morfei short range missiles. These missiles are active radar homing except for the Morfei which uses IIR seeker technology. All are fire and forget... and that does not even take into account the 100mm an 30mm guns and Iglas... the Igla-S is perfectly capable of taking down a Harpoon with the right cueing... the addition of a proximity fuse on the Igla-S was specifically to make it capable of taking down cruise missiles.
Since this is a corvette i would say even the 40 Km 9M96E is an over kill , I will not expect it to have 120 km missile , perhaps the 40 Km plus VLS 9M100.
I totally agree, the 40km range missiles will protect the ship from helicopters which are a serious modern threat to small vessels.
The 120km range missiles would be useful to protect from a variety of fixed wing aircraft armed with air launched anti ship missiles like Exocet.
However the ability of the system to carry all the missile types saves money because there is only one SAM launcher that can launch all SAM types except Kashtan and SOSNA in the future Russian navy. Kashtan and the Sosna missile in the cheaper Palma mount will likely be fitted to smaller vessels where stealth is not really an issue.
It also adds flexibility in that in the future with air support from the carrier a corvette can carry the same long range weapons their heaviest battle cruiser can carry... it just carries them in smaller numbers.
Corvettes are generally ASW ships with some self defence capability , this ship has the displacement of Corvette but fire power of a top notch frigate.
The development of universal cruise missile launchers (USUK) and universal SAM launchers (Redut AD) means all their ships from the smallest to the largest will be much more flexible and much less tied to a specific role.
It means instead of making X number of ASW boats and X number of torpedo boats and X number of fast attack craft with anti ship missiles, they can make X + X + X number of corvettes and arm them for each mission as needed. The greater production runs of one type will improve commonality and reduce costs reduce training issues and lead to a much more efficient navy... especially as this model is repeated with larger vessels, with the larger vessels having larger sensors and more powerful propulsion and larger numbers of the same standard weapon launchers.
On Vityaz it has the 9M96E and 9M96E1 short/medium range missile with AESA radar , i really need to confirm on the VLS 9m100 missile which has RVV-MD and RVV-SD as its short range missile.
No, the RVV-MD is the updated digital R-73... perhaps called R-74M but looks externally like an R-73 but with a better seeker and greatly improved electronics, while the RVV-SD is the same update for the R-77 with improved sensor, digital electronics and improved flight forming algorithms to extend range from 80km ideal shot against low manouvering target (ie AWACS or troop transport) to 110km against the same target in the same ideal circumstances... high altitude high speed launch on a closing large RCS low manouverable target.
The 9M100 is supposed to be the new replacement for the RVV-MD short range IR guided AAM and is supposed to be the Russian equivelent of the ASRAAM with lock on after launch IIR seeker with onboard 3D database of target types so it can recognise its target and select the right one based on information via a datalink from the launch platform.
It is supposed to be launched from the weapons bay of the PAK-FA in the direction of the target and scan and acquire its target in flight after launch because from inside the weapons bay it can't get a lock on.
This means this weapon could be a 360 degree off boresight weapon as it can manouver to acquire its target after launch and uses a datalink to ensure no own goals of course.
This missile is supposed to be an all service missile to be used in the space and air defence forces Vityaz system and the Airforces Vityaz system and of course the navys Redut system as a sort of SEA RAM replacement for the missiles of Kashtan.
The missiles of Kashtan of course don't need replacing on performance issues, but the Kashtan mount is not stealthy so for new stealthy vessels will use Morfei as a vertical launch Kashtan missile that is stealthy.
Vympel is part of the Tactical Missiles Corporation (KTRV), while Fakel is part of Almaz-Antey, which is designing Vityaz. I think A-A might have a slight bias toward their "own" missile, rather than their competitor's, but, again, both projects seem to be pretty stale at this point.
Certainly the first "version" of what we now call Vityaz I read about was an air breathing ramjet powered R-77 on a ground launcher, but Almaz-Antey seem to have trumped that with its two small S-400 missiles. I rather suspect that the Ramjet powered R-77 might survive especially if they can perfect a scramjet engine for it and give it significant range without making it too big based on the success of Meteor it should be interesting.
The 9M100 has to succeed because R-73 or RVV-MD simply can't be used on the PAK-FA as an internal weapon because both missiles require a lock on a target before they can be launched. Short of slapping an IIR seeker on an R-77 and using its INS and datalink as a simple lock on after launch system there is little real alternative for a short range dogfight missile for the new Russian 5th gen fighter. Would be embarrassing if they can't manage an equivalent to the ASRAAM/AIM-9X/IRIS-T. But at the same time if they do get the 9M100 right and put it in their planes, land based medium SAM, and naval CIWS then they will have achieved something the west always harps on about but never gets right... the F-4 perhaps, but even with missiles the Navys ESSM is based on the older Sparrow rather than the newer Air force AMRAAM.
Got something on Sigma-E the export version , me thinks this is similar to USN Aegis CEC based system
Pretty much... though including it down to Corvette level makes it into a net centric system for the Navy. The addition of carriers with aircraft able to greatly extend reach and sight the Russian Navy will actually likely be rather more powerful than it ever was though smaller.