About domestic shipbuilding in the conditions of a special military operation in Ukraine, Domestic shipbuilding has been tasked with achieving technological sovereignty.
This requirement is fixed not only in the new Maritime Doctrine, but the design bureaus and shipyards of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) are working to achieve this goal. The Deputy General director told TASS in an interview on the sidelines of the International Military-Technical Forum "Army-2022" about the prospects of Russian shipbuilding, the expediency of adjusting its program taking into account a special military operation, about the possibilities of the corporation's shipyards to tighten the speed of repair and construction of units and about which ships the Russian fleet needs most today. USC for Military Shipbuilding Vladimir Korolev.
— Vladimir Ivanovich, is it planned to sign new contracts with the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation within the framework of the Army-2022 forum, as it was done earlier? — Currently, no such proposals have been received from the Russian Defense Ministry.
However, our corporation is ready to consider them. However I would not like to reduce USC's participation in the Army forum only to signed contracts. People meet here, questions are asked and answers are found that determine the future of our fleet.
— Which ships do you think the Navy needs most at the moment? Is there a need for an urgent adjustment of the shipbuilding program taking into account the special military operation in Ukraine? — Of course, events such as a special military operation give a lot of food for thought to all interested parties.
Today, the information space is replete with different points of view on the issue of determining the ship composition of the fleet and conducting various forms of military operations. But the stated points of view are one thing, and the adjustment of the shipbuilding program is quite another. Of course, it is possible, but after a very balanced analysis of many factors. For example, the presidential decree "On the approval of the new Maritime Doctrine of the Russian Federation" has just been signed. But do not think that it is a reaction to the events of recent months — a new Naval doctrine has been prepared for more than one year, and it answers questions that have been accumulating for many years.
Adjustments to the current shipbuilding program are envisaged every five years as part of the development of a new state armament program. The formation of such program documents by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation is carried out in the process of multivariate studies, which certainly ensure the rational allocation of allocated resources to achieve maximum equipment and effectiveness of the weapons system necessary and sufficient to protect Russia's interests from any external threats.
Which ships are most needed by the Navy (Navy) in my opinion? I will not be original if I say that just those that are being built at the enterprises of the corporation — otherwise why would we build them? These are a series of modern surface ships of the type "frigate" and "corvette", this is a submarine fleet, including a series of nuclear submarines. By order of the Russian Ministry of Defense, the corporation is carrying out experimental design work on the creation of new surface and underwater ships.
— In a number of media there are proposals to purchase a large batch of ships in China for the emergency closure of the needs of the Russian Navy. How justified, in your opinion, are such initiatives? — In my opinion, the shipbuilding industry of Russia, despite the existing objective difficulties, is able to solve all the tasks set to meet the needs of the Navy in due time.
In the interests of the national security of the country, it is necessary to have its own modern production base that provides a full life cycle from the creation to the disposal of ships with the possibility of their modernization.
I do not think that the diversion of funds for the construction of ships in friendly countries is an effective solution to the issue of an emergency increase in their numbers. In addition, in this case, a number of issues will arise concerning crew training, operation, maintenance and repair, provision of spare parts, and finally, protection of state secrets.
Of course, it does not follow from this that we should curtail mutually beneficial military-technical cooperation with friendly countries altogether. In the current international situation, it plays its positive role in ensuring regional security.
— In your opinion, are the USC shipyards able to raise the speed of ship repair and construction to the level of the world's leading shipbuilding corporations? — In my opinion, they are not only capable, but also should.
But it depends not only on us. At the shipyards, work to reduce deadlines is constantly underway. For this purpose, enterprises are equipped with new technological equipment, modern technologies are being introduced. However, it should be borne in mind that the share of the shipyard's own work in the construction of the ship is on average about 30%, the rest depends on equipment suppliers. Therefore, the terms of the ship's construction are determined by two-thirds compliance with the terms of delivery of equipment with a long manufacturing cycle. When it comes to new weapons systems, some delays, unfortunately, are inevitable.
But if we, as the world's leading shipbuilding corporations, have orders for large series, stable supplies of components and financing, I am sure we will gain momentum. And they have proved it more than once — take submarines, for example.
— The USC leadership has repeatedly stated that Russian nuclear submarines are built entirely from domestic components. And what about the problem of replacing foreign components in the construction of surface ships? — Design bureaus-designers, together with cooperative enterprises and surface ship construction plants under the leadership of the USC and the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, under the conditions of sanctions pressure on the Russian Federation, are consistently working to replace foreign components with domestic ones.
Where it is not possible to do this in a short time, while foreign analogues are used, but the task of achieving technological sovereignty has been set. This is also enshrined in the new Maritime Doctrine: "ensuring the technological independence of the Russian Federation in the field of shipbuilding."
— When is it planned to go to sea for the first time to test the heavy nuclear missile cruiser of project 1144.2M "Admiral Nakhimov"? And how does USC see the future for this ship? How do you assess its combat capabilities? — The procedure and timing of the tests are determined by the general schedule for the repair of the cruiser.
The first launch of the cruiser for testing is planned after the completion of the entire complex of mooring tests. We are following the deadlines of the general schedule.
On the ship, in accordance with the technical project, outdated systems and complexes will be replaced with modern models of weapons and military equipment, which, according to their characteristics, correspond to the appearance of a promising ship. After the repair is completed, the Navy will receive a new modern ship capable of performing all assigned tasks in any area of the World Ocean.
— Is the transfer of the nuclear submarine project 955A "Borey-A" Generalissimo Suvorov to the Russian Navy confirmed this year?— The ship is already at the testing stage and will be transferred to the Navy after their completion.
— When can we expect the head of the upgraded frigate 22350M to be laid at the Northern Shipyard? — The bookmark is planned after the development of the technical design and working design documentation in the amount of at least 60%.
All documents are being prepared by the Northern PKB, soon the technical project will be submitted to the Russian Defense Ministry for approval.
— When will the final decision be made on the sixth building of project 11356? Does the Yantar Shipyard have the necessary capabilities to complete this ship in the interests of the Russian Navy?— The decision on this issue has not yet been made by the Ministry of Defense.
The Yantar shipyard has extensive experience in the construction of ships of this project, three have already been transferred to the Navy. The technology has been worked out, a stable cooperation of suppliers of component equipment has been created — they are ready to build, if there is a decision of the Ministry of Defense. You can also start building a new series of such ships.
— What are the prospects for the completion of the Project 20385 Nimble corvette at the Northern Shipyard? What was the conclusion of the USC commission investigating the causes and consequences of the fire on this ship? — The Commission to identify the causes and consequences of a technical accident, which included representatives of the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia, and specialized organizations, made the main conclusion — about the possibility of completing the ship.
— Will some of the orders currently carried out by Severnaya Verf be transferred to other shipyards of the corporation?
— No, such a transfer is not planned.
Severnaya Verf is now expanding its production facilities. A new complex with modern equipment is being built on its territory. With its commissioning, the shipyard will be able to increase the range and basic dimensions of products, reduce the duration of construction orders.
— What projects is the corporation implementing jointly with the Foundation for Advanced Research (FPI)? Can you tell us about some of them in more detail?— Together with the FPI, we have two works related to underwater research.
This is the Hurricane advance project and the further development of the Vityaz-D project. The first, generally speaking, is a marine mobile robotics system, and the work we have done is highly appreciated by the customer. The second is a deep—sea robotic complex, which will be retrofitted with new research equipment.
— The Military Department plans to create bases in the Arctic. Will icebreakers and ice-class supply vessels be built to ensure their operation?
— In terms of military shipbuilding, the construction of ice-class patrol ships of project 23550 is already underway for the Navy. Proposals for the construction of ships and vessels of other projects have not yet been received.
— Now, very interesting projects for shipbuilding have begun to appear more and more often: the Varan universal marine ship (Nevsky PCB), the Sentinel diving patrol ship (MT Rubin Central Design Bureau), a nuclear submarine for transporting liquefied natural gas (SPMBM Malachite) and others. How would you assess the prospects and uniqueness of such projects? Is there already interest in them from specific customers, including the Russian Navy?
— Yes, indeed, today, within the framework of initiative developments, various interesting projects appear both from an engineering point of view and shipbuilding thought. In many ways, they are unique and can be used in various spheres of the national economy, tourism and, of course, in the interests of the country's defense. But, like any other beautiful and bold projects, they must first interest the customer. And customers in shipbuilding, as a rule, have conservative views in a good way, and their decisions are based primarily on the economic component, which is very difficult to calculate for completely new vessels. Therefore, customers prefer something more understandable, proven, preferably with operational experience.
Nevertheless, such initiative developments make sense, and USC encourages them.
Just as the first nuclear icebreaker Lenin once made our country a leader in this direction, and we still hold the leadership in nuclear shipbuilding.
— Are the enterprises and design bureaus that are part of USC working on the creation of completely new projects — ships of the future? What kind of ships will they be, how much will their appearance change? And how do you see domestic shipbuilding in 10-20 years?
— Of course, such work is underway. They are aimed at improving the combat effectiveness of ships, improving the quality of weapons and technical means of ships, increasing their ammunition.
Nevertheless, the main changes will still take place in another area. In the near future, along with inhabited ships, unmanned autonomous robotic ships will go to sea. And on those ships where the crew will remain, integrated combat control systems will be implemented, which will combine systems of various functional purposes.
As for the prospects of shipbuilding, in my opinion, it is necessary to pay attention to the introduction of the modular principle in the design and construction of ships, simplification of the process of restructuring production for new projects and automation of production processes. But no matter how far into the future we look, it is unlikely that we will see a deserted shipyard there. After all, building ships, putting your soul into them is not a robot's task, but a human's.
Vyacheslav Ivanov talked
