The Polnocny-class amphibious warfare vessels were designed in Poland and constructed in cooperation with the USSR between 1967 and 2002. No fewer than 107 had been built by 1986, in several variants. Iraq acquired four Polnocny-D-class ships, each of which was 81.3m long, displaced 1,233 tons at full load, and had a maximum speed of 16 knots. Contrary to earlier A-, B, and C-variants, the Polnocny-D-class had a helicopter platform, and the vessels acquired by Baghdad were armed with a single Strela 2 SAM system (ASCC/NATO codename ‘SA-N-5 Grail’, essentially a navalised SA-7), two AK-230 guns for air defence purposes, and two Ogon multiple rocket launchers each with 18 140mm tubes. Each could carry up to 12 armoured personnel carriers or four main battle tanks; alternatively, they could load 250 fully armed troops together with support weapons like mortars. Although slow, they were relatively spacious vessels with a good communication suite, and thus were frequently used as command ships during the war with Iran. (Artwork by Ivan Zajac)