The competition should produce a mobile, fast-moving ship with a helicopter hangar and a distinct modular layout for weapons, Kommersant said.

The Project 20380 corvette is deployed to destroy enemy surface ships, submarines and aircraft, and to provide artillery support for beach landings. It uses stealth technology to reduce the ship's secondary radar field, as well as its acoustic, infrared, magnetic and visual signatures.

Five design centers are likely to take part in the competition, the paper said. Three belong to Russia's United Shipbuilding Coorperation: Zelenodolsk, Severnaya Verf and Almaz. A fourth unnamed shipyard, which specializes in small civilian vessels, is a likely foreign participant, the paper said.

The first Project 20380 corvette, the Steregushchy, was put into service with Russia's Baltic Fleet in October 2008. The second, the Soobrazitelny, was floated out on March 31, and two other ships of the same series, the Boyky and the Stoyky, are under construction.

It was earlier estimated that the Russian Navy needs around 50 Project 20380 vessels, to ensure the protection of its coastal waters, as well as its oil and gas transportation routes, especially in the Black and the Baltic seas.

However, a shipbuilding industry source told Kommersant that the Project 20180 ship "does not meet modern requirements" and a new model is therefore required.

If the competition in September is successful, the approved project "will determine the appearance of a surface shipbuilding for the next 15 years", the source told Kommersant.

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