When sociologists formulated their concept of the information society, skeptics only chuckled, predicting the imminent decline of high technologies. But they miscalculated: the rapid development of science, the available technical means forced the defense industry, one of the most unwieldy in the world, to fundamentally break both weapons and principles of work.
The 21st century is a time of new tactical decisions that seemed at least strange 50-60 years ago. Globalization and permanent scientific and technological progress have forced the manufacturers of weapons and equipment to change the principles of their work. Once the principles, goals and objectives change, production must also change. In the Russian market, which is going through hard times, military experts and market players are trying to formulate new requirements for such products. First of all, this applies to shipbuilding and the aviation industry.
War and truce
The defense industry lives and develops according to market laws: the high demand for technological solutions has given rise to their large-scale production and implementation. At the same time, the monopoly of the production of revolutionary new products is transferred from the state to the private owner. In fact, civilian firms supply equipment for the military. As Mikhail Pogosyan, President of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), noted, over 50 years the trend has completely changed the trend. If in the 60s the aviation industry used exclusively military technologies, now the military began to use up to 70% of civilian technologies in their craft.
Roman Trotsenko, who is the president of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), noted a phenomenon unusual for the industry. For the first time in the military production of ships, military technologies are used. The main reasons for this trend are huge competition in the civil shipbuilding segment, as well as the growth of the market in general. If just a few decades ago the total deadweight of warships was about 8 times lower than the civilian one (3 million tons versus 25 million tons), now the proportions are completely different. Only 200 thousand tons versus 50 million. The warships thus reduced their share to a minimum of 0.4%.
This trend has become a reason for the military industry to change its principles (extreme closeness and isolation) and interact with small businesses to produce new solutions for the defense industry. Poghosyan, in particular, explained that "clean" military aircraft construction is becoming too costly. But when it is combined with civilian needs, there is a chance to strengthen its position and achieve an optimal pricing policy. Instead of individual contracts and small projects, powerful alliances are formed that are focused on long-term work.
It is the international alliances of the civil and military industries that are becoming more and more popular. In legal terms, in Russia such relations are recorded on the basis of a joint venture (JV). This allows not only the use of civilian technologies for the needs of the defense industry, but also quite legally to import them from abroad.
As Andrey Reus, who is the general director of Oboronprom, noted, international projects are inevitable. As in any other sector of the industry, it is almost impossible to collect in one geographic point of the world. There is a kind of international division of labor in the military industry. In this case, the key position will be taken by someone who will have scientific potential, that is, qualified engineers.
Fleet news
The general trends of the industry are quite concretely reflected in its individual components. In addition, new requirements are imposed on the armament of the fleet. Roman Trotsenko in his interview noted that there is a decrease in the speed of ships, as well as a decrease in their mass. According to the expert, no matter how fast the ship is, it will not be able to get away from the helicopter, and the helicopter - from the rocket. However, this has nothing to do with firepower. Compared to the cruisers that were produced twenty to thirty years ago, the new frigates and corvettes are much better armed.
Trotsenko explained that absolutely all states of the world are interested in the development of such a class of ships as the "corvette". They are necessary for patrolling the coastal zone and have a displacement of 2.5-5 thousand tons. Their key advantage is high-tech weapons and maneuverability. The increased interest in this class fully meets the interests of domestic representatives of the industry, who began to design a new corvette 20380 at the beginning of the new millennium. In this sense, PKB "Almaz" has become a prophet of the industry. At the moment, two such cruisers "Guarding" and "Savvy" are already in service with the Russian Navy (they were created at the "Severnaya Verf", St. Petersburg), and another such ship has been launched.
Another important trend is the use of modern materials. Corvette "Strogy", which is intended for use in the near sea zone, is focused precisely on technological solutions. It was presented at the 5th St. Petersburg International Naval Show. Among its main advantages is the carbon fiber superstructure, which allows the corvette to be reflected on the radars of the instruments in the same way as small vessels about 30 meters long. Despite the fact that the layout has already been developed, the descent will take place no earlier than 2015. It is to such forms of production that the entire fleet strives.
To understand the scale of the planned work, it can be noted that 54 ships are currently being created at USC, and four dozen of them will serve as part of the Russian Navy. 17 vessels will be commissioned by the end of this year. USC in the structure of production has about 70% of orders of the defense industry, and for the needs of the Russian Navy, about half of the ships are produced. The rest are for import, that is, ordered by other countries.
A decrease in the total tonnage is a characteristic trend not only for the surface fleet, but also for the submarine fleet. At the same time, their saturation with missile weapons is growing. The Bramos complex is being introduced for vertical missile launch. The most popular is the diesel-electric submarine Lada (the fourth generation of vehicles). Its export version is called Amur 950. Despite its small displacement (only one thousand tons), it can take on board up to a dozen cruise missiles. As for the radius of destruction of targets, it is 1200 kilometers. The submarine can be offline for 14 days. According to Tosenko, the presence of only one such submarine can significantly affect the course of a military conflict in a particular region.
At the moment, on the basis of his enterprise, tests of the new submarine "St. Petersburg" are being completed, which is also ready to show itself in all its glory. As for the "Lada" of the third generation, then, most likely, three more such ships will be made by order of the navy.
Another pressing issue facing the manufacturers of warships is a dramatic reduction in their cost. As Trotsenko noted, this problem is typical not only for Russia, but also for the whole world. Reducing costs everywhere leads to the need to look for more technological solutions. Cutting military budgets is a new trend in the 21st century. The number of requirements for the ship is growing, while the serial order is decreasing.
Compounding the problem is the fact that 20-30 years ago, submarines were ordered in dozens, and this significantly reduced the cost of creating each unit. Nowadays, each order is rather individual in nature, so the cost of solutions has to be reduced in other ways. Russia is no exception to the rule: the issue of creating unique, high-tech, but inexpensive submarines is faced by all states. Paradoxically, the problem can only be solved through large-scale cooperation. Seriality can be specified in certain industry segments, for example, by creating universal platforms.
But the payload in each case may be different. There is a widespread reduction in the number of tasks that a submarine must perform.
According to industry representatives, it is Russia that can become the developer of such a universal platform: design in this direction is being actively pursued.
Aircraft carrier: to sail or not to sail?
At the moment, there is no universal opinion about whether Russia should adopt an aircraft carrier. Shipbuilders are in favor of the project, since this expensive order is of great interest to them. However, the Russian Ministry of Defense has no money to implement the project. This uncertainty: the readiness of the factories and the indecision of the ministry, has become especially evident lately.
According to experts, already in 2016, the USC enterprise will begin design work to create an aircraft carrier for the Russian Navy, and large-scale construction will begin in 2018. If everything goes according to plan, then the aircraft carrier, which has a displacement of 80 thousand tons and a nuclear power plant, will be fully ready in 2023.
However, this statement was disavowed by Anatoly Serdyukov. His department is more interested not in building up new capacities, but in preserving existing ones. Many ships are being withdrawn from the fleet due to obsolescence, so you need to change them to new and productive ships. However, it is believed that if these issues are successfully resolved, the construction of an aircraft carrier is a matter of time. The presence of this ship is a strategic task for the Russian Navy, which is necessary for the correct positioning of the country in the international arena.
