A newer type of amphibious warship followed in the late 1950s, a true Landing Ship, Tank (LST) that was named Project 1171 and also designated Tapir.

Eventually both designs were merged under the Project 1171 umbrella, and the resulting vessel was a compromise between military (speed, survivability) and civil (fuel economy) objectives.

The design team produced four different configurations; the Navy selected the most powerful and fastest option, which was also the least fuel-efficient, while the Ministry of the Maritime Fleet withdrew from the project completely.

[2] As of September 2008, two vessels, currently named Orsk and Saratov, were in active service with the 197th Brigade of Landing Ships in the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

[8] On 21 March 2022, she appeared in Russian TV reports unloading military equipment in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian port of Berdiansk,[9] which led to initial confusion when her sister ship Saratov was destroyed three days later at the same place.

[14] On 2 July 2022, Russian official in southern Ukraine Vladimir Rogov confirmed a Tochka-U ballistic missile was used back on 24 March to target the Port of Berdiansk and that Saratov was scuttled by her crew in order "to prevent detonation of the on-board munitions by the fire that had started".