Vasiliy Tatishchev (former "Pelengator)" is a Russian SIGINT ship of the (Project 864).
Design and description.
The "Vasiliy Tatishchev" specializes in signal acquisition, interception of communication and navigation signals, as well as mobile telephone communication. "Vasiliy Tatishchev" is equipped with SIGINT and COMINT electronic intelligence via an extensive array of sensors. The data could be transmitted to shore via satellite link by two satellite communications antennae inside radomes.
For naval use the vessel has two Volga (Don Kay) navigation radars.
Construction and career.
The ship was launched in 27 November 1987 and is in operation since 23 July 1988. It was built by Remontowa Shipbuilding SA (formerly Stocznia Północna) in Poland.
"Vasily Tatishchev" was deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean Sea on 5 October 2015 to monitor the civil war in Syria.
In mid 2022 the vessel was deployed to a Russian blockade of NATO ships in the Adriatic Sea. According to "La Repubblica" the task of "Vasiliy Tatishchev" was to study the "electronic reactions" of NATO assets.
In June 2024, the ship took up position in international waters northwest of the German island of Fehmarn. Its likely mission was to shadow the participants in the large-scale military exercise BALTOPS, which were gathering in the Bay of Kiel and preparing to enter the German naval base in Kiel.