In February 2014. The heads of the United Shipbuilding Corporation held several meetings with representatives of the media, including at the DefExpo'2014 arms exhibition in Delhi. Among other topics, the prospects for the construction of aircraft-carrying ships were discussed.
We would like to remind that the Corporation was founded in accordance with the decree of the President of Russia dated March 21, 2007 "On the open joint stock company United Shipbuilding Corporation". The purpose of creating the USC is to preserve and develop the scientific and production potential of the military-industrial complex, ensure the defense and security of the state, concentrate intellectual, industrial and financial resources in the implementation of projects for the construction of ships and submarines for the Navy, as well as the development of civil shipbuilding, development the continental shelf and the world shipping market.
Despite the form of ownership, the USC is actually under the complete control of the government. All eleven members of the board of directors represent the state in one way or another, and are elected by a decree of the Government of the Russian Federation for a period of twelve months.
As of the beginning of 2014, a good financial and economic situation has developed at the key enterprises of the corporation. Through the joint efforts of the state and industry, it was possible to "remove" the painful moments that hindered the construction of warships for the navy. Today, the workload of the corporation's enterprises is high: the main factories are almost 100% loaded with tasks related to military equipment and important civilian programs. The share of the state defense order in its load reaches 70%, less than 20% is provided by military-technical cooperation, the rest is civilian products.
INS Vikramaditya
The main event of the last year was the completion of the contract for the aircraft carrier of Project 11430. At the end of November, it left for India on its own. In January, INS Vikramaditya completed the ocean voyage with arrival at its permanent base - the port of Karwar. At present, the flight personnel of the MiG-29K / KUB fighters are being trained in the technique of performing takeoffs and landings from the deck of an aircraft carrier. For this, a special airfield complex in the state of Goa is used, imitating the flight deck of an aircraft carrier. It is equipped with a springboard for aircraft take-off and Svetlana-2M braking machines.
INS Vikramaditya
The ship received from Russia is compared with the British-built aircraft carrier INS Viraat (the latter's data are given in brackets). The standard displacement is 34,200 tons (23,900), the total displacement is 45,000 (28,700) tons, which is one and a half times higher. The maximum length is 283.5 meters (226.5), the maximum width is 59.6 meters (48, 8). The main power plant includes eight (4) steam boilers and four (2) steam turbines with a total capacity of 140 (76) thousand horsepower, giving the ship a speed of 30 knots (28). The crew of the aircraft carrier, including the air wing, is 1,924 (1,350). INS Vikramaditya can take on board up to thirty aircraft (the same number), however, the main type, represented by the MiG-29K / KUB, with a maximum take-off weight of 24.5 tons, is much larger than the Sea Harrier (11, 9).
The aircraft carrier of project 11430 is a rework of the cruiser of project 1143.4 "Admiral Gorshkov". Negotiations on the transfer of the cruiser began in the last century. At the beginning of a new one, the parties entered the contracting stage. At that time, the domestic defense industry suffered from a chronic shortage of funds and orders. The Indian project gave Sevmash the working capital that was so necessary at that moment, which allowed the enterprise to retain its personnel potential.
Careful defect detection of the cruiser taken from the sludge showed that the amount of work required significantly exceeds early estimates. In the course of difficult negotiations that took a whole year, the Russian side managed to convince the customer to reconsider the price of the original contract, increasing it more than threefold (to $ 2.33 billion). Fortunately, the latter was drafted in such a way that it made it possible to defend our positions in the arisen dispute, which helped the negotiators come to mutually acceptable solutions.
The program also made it possible to preserve the potential of the Nevsky Design Bureau in terms of aircraft carrier design. Industrial cooperation was built near Sevmash and Nevsky PKB. Russia has created and has national competencies for the design of aircraft carriers in St. Petersburg and their construction in Severodvinsk. In terms of level, the systems installed on INS Vikramaditya differ significantly from those used on the only aircraft carrier of the Russian fleet - Project 1143.5 Admiral Kuznetsov. They belong to a later generation, have a different level of technical excellence.
TAVK "Admiral Kuznetsov"
The implementation of the Indian deal gave impetus to the development of the ship's aircraft equipment. In the late eighties - early nineties, domestic aircraft designers created an outstanding aircraft for heavy aircraft carriers - the Su-33 supersonic interceptor. By now it is outdated and requires repair and modernization. Using Indian money, our specialists created a completely modern MiG-29K - a multipurpose carrier-based fighter for solving air defense missions, gaining dominance in the theater of operations and striking at sea and ground targets. Such machines are currently produced only in the USA and France.
Next generation aircraft carrier
In the course of performing a very laborious repair of the Gorshkov with its rebuilding from a cruiser to an aircraft carrier, Severodvinsk received specialists from other cities. Then the rotational method helped, but today it no longer works. The fact is that now Russia is forming a long-term shipbuilding program for fifty years ahead. To complete it on time and with high efficiency, USC should use all available means and resources competently. It is necessary to organize production and cooperation in such a way that specialists work in comfortable conditions on a permanent basis.
The management of the corporation assures that in the foreseeable future the number of employees in the shipbuilding industry "will definitely not decrease." Today, more than 80 thousand people are employed in the structures of the USC. This is 10-15 thousand less than that of the United Aircraft Corporation. However, an analysis of the dynamics of changes in the number shows that the ongoing job cuts in the aviation industry under the current leadership of the UAC within two to three years will lead to the fact that the USC will come out ahead in terms of labor resources.
Taking into account the orders received from the USC, there is a prospective shortage of workers, estimated at ten thousand people. The personnel policy of the corporation for the coming years is based on the following theses: “we value each of our employees” and “there is work for everyone”. As a rule, highly qualified personnel with sufficient practical experience work at domestic shipyards and design centers. Programs have been approved and are being implemented to improve the living conditions of workers through the construction of “shipbuilding townships” and the provision of preferential terms for mortgages. According to the decisions approved last year by Vladimir Shmakov, President of JSC USC, ten thousand families of employees of enterprises in Severodvinsk and St. Petersburg will receive comfortable housing.
Industrial cooperation, recreated during the implementation of the "Indian project", solved the problems of new equipment for INS Vikramaditya, while receiving economic benefits under the contract. The groundwork and competencies have been created, based on which it is possible to create a new generation of aircraft carriers. Further movement in this direction will depend on the decision of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.
Former USC President Roman Trotsenko, speaking to reporters at the International Maritime Defense Show IMDS-2011, said that the development of documentation for the next generation aircraft carrier will begin in 2016, construction will begin in 2018, the transfer to the fleet is planned in 2023. However, Andrei Dyachkov, who replaced Trotsenko as president of USC (today he is the general director of OJSC Northern Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Center) and the current head of USC, Vladimir Shmakov, are more cautious about the prospects of aircraft carriers.
USC has prepared and sent to various authorities proposals, the essence of which is as follows. Design work on the next generation aircraft carrier should be continued in order to preserve the accumulated design and production potential. While Kuznetsov is in service, Russia has the ability to support the aircraft carrier wing, the corresponding skills of military personnel, aviation and ship industry specialists.
We hope that the proposals of the USC will be accepted and the state will allocate funds at least to maintain the existing aircraft complexes and the school for designing aircraft carriers and aircraft for them.
Mistral
Perhaps the most controversial and most discussed project of our time in the field of the purchase of naval weapons for the domestic fleet is the purchase of Mistral-class amphibious assault dock ships (DVKD) from France. The contract between Rosoboronexport and DCNS for the construction of helicopter carriers was signed in June 2011.
According to foreign sources, at the end of December 2010, at the level of the President of Russia, the financial terms of the transaction for the acquisition of a pair of DVKDs with an option for two more were approved, which involve the allocation of 720 million euros for the first and 650 million for the second building. According to other sources, in June 2011, the governments of Russia and France approved an agreement totaling $ 1.7 billion.
Although the deal has received mixed reviews from the public, it has been approved and is being implemented. In November, the first ship, named Vladivostok, will be completed and will leave for Russia.
The share of domestic shipbuilders in the labor intensity of construction is roughly up to 20% for the first building and 40% for the second. USC had a direct contract with STX France for the construction of the stern section at the Baltic Shipyard.
Thanks to participation in industrial cooperation with STX, Russian specialists gained experience of interacting with their French colleagues. Perhaps the most valuable asset was the experience of clear planning of the stages of work. The parties looked closely and adjusted to each other for several months. This was especially true of the engineering and design departments - French designers work according to different standards and schemes. The experience gained was mainly related to this direction.
Helicopter Ka-52
In terms of acquiring something on the engineering and design and technological lines, the benefits from the transaction were minimal. The French drawings had to be redone within the walls of the Russian design bureaus (in particular, by the engineering center of the Admiralty Shipyards), since the domestic factories were accustomed to higher quality, better executed documentation.
The quality of work performed by Russian contractors speaks for itself. When the French bow of the ship's hull was docked with the stern Russian at Saint-Nazaire, the gap was only 2mm (in fact, a welded seam). If funds for helicopter carriers remained in Russia, local shipbuilders would design and build ships no worse than French ones. The large-block assembly technology used at Saint-Nazaire is not new to us. It was mastered by domestic enterprises for a long time during the construction of nuclear-powered ships.
Upon arrival in Russia, the first Mistral-class ship will not immediately take a place in the combat formation. At one of our shipyards, he will receive locally produced weapons, which have yet to be integrated with French systems. Bringing the ship to the requirements of the Russian Navy is quite a big job, it will take up to a year. However, it will begin only after the expiration of the warranty period - in order to check the quality of work and if something is presented to the supplier of a claim, the Mistral should not stand at the shipyard, but walk the seas.
The second helicopter carrier named Sevastopol will be ready in November 2015. Its aft part is already 60% ready. It will be launched in May and will be sent to Saint-Nazaire a month later to dock with the French bow.
Currently, the question is being resolved, what will be the first place of basing of the Russian DVKD. Kronstadt is named as an acceptable option. It is possible that work will be carried out there to install and integrate Russian systems on board with the involvement of specialists from Sevmash and other Russian plants. Kaliningrad is an alternative, but there is a limitation on the width of the channels, which limit the maneuvers of a large ship.
Development of the ship began in the late eighties. The L9013 Mistral head hull was built in modules at the DCNS shipyards in Brest and Alstom in Saint-Nazaire using hull structures from Poland. The assembly took place in Brest starting in 2004, and was accepted into the French Navy in February 2006. And already in July, the helicopter carrier took part in the operation to evacuate French citizens from Lebanon. In 2007, the construction of the L9014 Tonnerre sistership was completed - two helicopter carriers cost the republican budget 680 million euros. The third building was built by STX, and DCNS was engaged in the integration of the combat system - its cost was 420 million euros.
DVKD "Mistral" is intended for the transportation of troops and cargo, the landing of troops and can be used as a headquarters. Its design was created using the standards and achievements of civil shipbuilding, in particular - Ro-Ro class vessels. This is indirectly evidenced by the maximum speed value of only 18.8 knots, which is ten knots less than that of INS Vikramaditya.
Standard displacement 16,500 tons, total 21,300 tons, with a filled dock - 32,300 tons. The docking chamber is about 58 meters long and 15.4 meters wide and can house four landing craft. The French Navy's DVKDs are very modestly armed with Simbad short-range anti-aircraft missiles and 12.7mm machine guns (space reserved for 30mm rapid-fire cannons). They are equipped with the SENIT 9 combat information and control system, which is based on the previous model developed for the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. The crew is 177 people, not counting the air group.
The flight deck is almost two hundred meters long and 32 meters wide and has an area of 6400 square meters. It has six helicopter landing sites, from which rotary-wing aircraft weighing up to 33 tons can operate. To support flight operations, the DRBN-38A Decca Bridgemaster E250Н radar and an optical landing system are used. The 1800 square meter hangar can house up to 16 helicopters (8 NH90 and 8 Tiger), as well as a repair and maintenance area. However, instead of European helicopters, our Mistrals will use domestic ones, such as the Ka-52 and Ka-29 (27/31). They are heavier and larger than the French ones, and it will not work to place more than ten in the hangar.
The ship is capable of providing a comfortable stay for 450 paratroopers, while having on board up to 70 vehicles (or 40 tanks - however, in the conditions of our bases it is unlikely that it will be possible to load more than thirteen). If necessary, you can increase the number of "guests" on board to nine hundred.
A complete list of systems on the Russian Mistral has not been made public. According to some sources, the French Thales MRR-3D-NG radar operating in the G-band will be installed on it. Sagem will supply the Vampir NG ultra-long-range optronic search and sighting system. It provides passive all-round panoramic surveillance of the surface situation, automatic detection, tracking and information about various types of threats, from anti-ship missiles with a flat flight path over water to attacking high-speed ships.
Why do we need Mistrals and how will the Navy use them? Disputes on this topic have been going on since the first manifestation of interest in them from the then Commander-in-Chief of the Navy Vladimir Vysotsky in 2008. Among the assumptions are the following: Helicopter carriers will help transport cargo and personnel for military units stationed on the islands of the Kuril ridge; They will be useful in the implementation of peacekeeping operations, as well as designating the presence of the Navy in areas such as the Pacific Ocean, the Black and Mediterranean Sea; It is possible to use them as training. The high-board Mistral with huge interior spaces is a comfortable platform for accommodating not only marines and cadets, but also civilians in case evacuation from areas of hostilities, natural or man-made disasters is required. It has well-equipped facilities for command and control functions.
Zubr
In addition to France, serious cooperation in the field of shipbuilding is being conducted with Ukraine.
Traditionally, the main supplier of marine gas turbines for domestic warships was the Southern Turbine Plant. After the collapse of the USSR, the company found itself on Ukrainian territory. Today it is known under the name Zorya - Mashproekt and continues to produce its main products. Russian NPO Saturn works in cooperation with him, supplying a number of components. This enterprise is known as a supplier of SAM146 aircraft engines for the Sukhoi Superjet 100 regional aircraft and the D30K family for the Il-62M and Tu-154M passenger airliners, the Il-76TD / MD ramp cargo ramp, as well as the Chinese H-6K bombers (development of the Tu-16).
Over the past ten years, the state has allocated significant funds for the creation of a gas turbine production site in Rybinsk. The plant has reached a certain capacity by type and class of offshore gas turbines. In the future, full localization of production at the new site is possible. However, for this, efforts still need to be made in terms of the quality of the gearboxes produced. The solution to the problem is possible within the next few years. However, today the USC is considering options for the practical use of Rybinsk gas turbines on serial ships. The technical issues of such an application are dealt with by the OKB.
In particular, the power units of the M70FRU series with a capacity of 14,000 hp mastered in Rybinsk. (and there is also M90FR 27,500 hp) can be used by air-cushion landing ships of the Zubr type. The production of the successful design continues. Last year, Ukraine delivered the first Zubr from a Chinese order. According to media reports, the deal involves the supply of two Ukrainian ships with the subsequent localization of production.
Some time ago, the Russian side tried to challenge the deal, claiming intellectual property. It remains unclear whether Rosoboronexport (which is engaged in the marketing and sale of Russian weapons abroad) will officially file claims and try to challenge the Ukrainian-Chinese agreements on the Zubr in the courtroom? Will the Chinese succeed in putting the production of "bison" on stream? Is the documentation provided by the Ukrainians sufficient for this? Or will the Chinese specialists have to deal with the production of the complete set on their own? There are no answers to these questions yet.
Perspective
The implementation of long-term plans for shipbuilding will begin after the adoption of a new state armament program for the period 2016-2025. The USC Development Strategy was adopted last year. The document is classified, only some of its provisions are known. The financial model of the corporation's development is based on the assumption that capital expenditures for the period up to 2030 will exceed one trillion rubles.
It is possible to assess the scale of the upcoming development of the domestic shipbuilding industry by comparing this figure with the financial results of the past and plans for the current year. The preliminary summary results of the past indicate that in 2013 the revenue of the enterprises that are part of the USC exceeded 200 billion rubles. The plan for revenue in 2014 is more than 350 billion. The increase is due to the commissioning of particularly expensive equipment. And also with an increase in labor productivity by 30-40% due to the modernization of production and an increase in the workload of individual enterprises.
