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Russian Navy Deploys Stoikiy Steregushchiy-Class Corvette for Joint Naval Drill with Iranian Fleet.
The Russian Baltic Fleet corvette Stoikiy carried out a PASSEX naval exercise with Iranian Navy ships in the Gulf of Oman after a port call at Bandar Abbas, according to TASS citing the Baltic Fleet press service. The maneuver near the Strait of Hormuz signals deepening naval coordination in one of the world’s most strategically sensitive maritime corridors.
On February 18, 2026, the Russian Baltic Fleet Steregushchiy-class corvette Stoikiy conducted a bilateral passing exercise (PASSEX) with Iranian Navy surface combatants in the Gulf of Oman following a port call in Bandar Abbas, according to Russia’s state news agency TASS citing the fleet’s press service. The drill occurred on the approaches to the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most strategically sensitive maritime chokepoints, through which a substantial portion of global energy flows transit and where U.S. and allied naval forces maintain a sustained operational presence. Although formally characterized as routine seamanship and interoperability training, the engagement reflects continued Russia–Iran naval interaction amid elevated regional threat perceptions and persistent maritime security competition.
The Russian Baltic Fleet corvette Stoikiy conducted a passing exercise with Iranian Navy warships in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz following a port call at Bandar Abbas, highlighting visible naval coordination in a strategically sensitive maritime corridor (Picture Source: Russian MoD)
According to the Baltic Fleet press service, as carried by TASS, Stoikiy operated in formation with Iranian surface units identified as the frigate Alvand, the missile craft Neyze, and the corvette Shahid Sayyad Shirazi. The activity was defined as a PASSEX, a limited-scope underway evolution traditionally intended to rehearse standardized procedures at sea rather than establish an integrated combined command-and-control (C2) architecture or constitute a composite task group with unified operational tasking. Such engagements typically emphasize professional contact and navigational coordination rather than joint combat integration.
The reported training sequence focused on coordinated tactical maneuvering, navigational safety procedures, and maritime traffic deconfliction measures in a congested operating environment. In doctrinal terms, PASSEX serials generally include VHF bridge-to-bridge communications compliant with COLREGs, tactical signaling drills, station-keeping within defined formation geometries, formation transitions, and close-quarters maneuvering under constrained sea-room conditions. Strict adherence to collision-avoidance regulations and pre-briefed deconfliction protocols is central to the exercise construct. In high-density commercial shipping corridors such as the Hormuz maritime corridor, the operational utility lies less in high-intensity combat integration and more in predictable shiphandling, shared situational awareness, and disciplined execution within a complex maritime battlespace.
Stoikiy is a Project 20380 Steregushchiy-class corvette, a littoral-focused multi-role surface combatant designed to deliver anti-surface warfare (ASuW), anti-air warfare (AAW), and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capabilities from a compact displacement hull optimized for near-sea operations. Open-source specifications indicate a baseline combat system suite comprising a layered weapons configuration that can include an A-190 100 mm naval gun, Kh-35 Uran anti-ship cruise missiles, the Redut vertical launch air-defense system, and the Paket-NK anti-submarine and anti-torpedo complex. The platform is further supported by an embarked Ka-27-series helicopter, extending its ASW reach and maritime domain awareness envelope, with actual ordnance loadout contingent on tasking and deployment profile. This architecture provides a multi-layered self-protection envelope integrating anti-surface, anti-air, and anti-submarine capabilities, enabling the corvette to operate independently or as part of a surface action group while maintaining credible defensive depth.
Commissioned into Russian Navy service in 2014, Stoikiy is assigned to the Baltic Fleet and routinely participates in multi-ship evolutions emphasizing standardized bridge procedures, tactical maneuvering, and cross-domain readiness transitions. The sequence of a structured port engagement in Bandar Abbas followed by a limited-scope underway evolution conforms to established patterns of naval presence operations and maritime signaling. Such activity projects procedural compatibility and sustained diplomatic-military engagement without constituting a standing combined task force or enduring integrated deployment in the region.
The inclusion of the Iranian corvette Shahid Sayyad Shirazi carries additional relevance given its recent association with shipborne air-defense system validation trials in the same maritime theater. On February 17, 2026, footage circulated showing what was described as the first naval launch of a Sayyad-3 variant, designated “Sayyad-3G,” from the platform during drills in the Strait of Hormuz, with a reported engagement range of approximately 150 kilometers. While the PASSEX itself remained a procedural seamanship exercise, this parallel strategic communication situates one participating unit within a broader capability demonstration narrative emphasizing area air-defense signaling and anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) messaging proximate to a critical sea line of communication.
From an operational standpoint, PASSEX activity should be interpreted primarily as shiphandling proficiency, communications discipline, and navigational deconfliction training rather than full-spectrum interoperability or integrated combat readiness. Strategically, however, the Gulf of Oman’s adjacency to the Strait of Hormuz amplifies the signaling effect of even limited-scope tactical evolutions. In a theater characterized by sustained Western naval deployments, freedom of navigation operations, and periodic force concentration cycles, visible Russia–Iran maritime interaction can shape perceptions of force posture, maritime presence, and escalation management dynamics along heavily trafficked sea lines of communication.
Stoikiy’s PASSEX with Alvand, Neyze, and Shahid Sayyad Shirazi demonstrates how constrained procedural drills can generate outsized strategic signaling effects when conducted near a globally critical chokepoint. By emphasizing coordinated maneuvering, maritime traffic safety, and disciplined seamanship following a Bandar Abbas port call, the episode highlights practical navigational objectives while concurrently projecting a calibrated signal of continued Russian naval engagement in a corridor where deconfliction, deterrence posture, and perception management remain operationally significant.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.