Moscow. February 4. INTERFAX-Modernization of JSC "Sevmash" should be accelerated to prepare for the construction of submarines of the fifth generation, said the General Director of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) Alexey Rakhmanov.
"A number of tasks for the modernization of production are already being solved within the framework of the existing federal target programs (federal target programs - IF) and the program of organizational and technical development of Sevmash. For the rest, additional funding will be required, "Rakhmanov said in an interview with Interfax on Thursday.
"We expect the completion of a large stage of modernization in 2022. In particular, we are talking about technical re-equipment and modernization of existing metallurgical plants, re-equipment of slipway and mechanical assembly production, power supply and transport system in workshops 50 and 55, " the head of the USC said.
"But, I will not hide, I would like more active actions of Sevmash in preparation for the process. In general, unfortunately, not all managers are enthusiastic about the tasks of developing their company. It's sad, " he said.
When asked about the start of construction of the fifth-generation submarines, Rakhmanov said: "I believe that we should not repeat the mistakes of the past and make a gap of more than 2-4 years between the completion of one generation of submarines and the start of construction of a new one. As practice shows, if the gap reaches 5-6 years, we will begin to lose personnel, and it is impossible to maintain skills without practice."
When asked when it would be worth signing a contract, Rakhmanov said: "In a good way - yesterday. Postponing this decision will mean new and new challenges for us in terms of preparing for the production of fifth-generation ships."
Sevmash is one of the largest shipbuilding companies in Russia, which creates strategic submarines and repairs large surface ships.
In December 2020, the Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Alexey Krivoruchko said that the production capacity of the Sevmash plant is fully loaded with orders of the Ministry of Defense until 2027. Sevmash will annually transfer to the Russian Navy one nuclear substrate of the Borey-A and Yasen-M projects. "It is planned to build 14 submarines, "Boreyev" and "Ash", " - said Krivoruchko.
A series of fourth-generation nuclear-powered submarines of the Borey and Borey-A projects, armed with Bulava intercontinental ballistic missiles, will form the basis of the naval strategic nuclear forces for the coming decades, the Russian military said.
The fourth generation includes multi-purpose nuclear submarines of the project 885M "Ash-M" - carriers of cruise missiles "Onyx" and/or"Caliber". It was reported about plans to arm them with hypersonic missiles "Zircon" (a new Russian hypersonic missile that is being tested, the corporation "Tactical Missile Weapons". The lead submarine of the Yasen-M project is the Kazan. It should be included in the Russian Navy in the near future.
In March 2020, the commander-in-chief of the Navy, Nikolai Evmenov, reported on the work on the creation of strategic submarines of the fifth generation. "They will be even more perfect in all their characteristics," the commander-in-chief said at the time.