The Ak Bars Shipbuilding Corporation is now playing a very important role in providing the Russian Navy with ships of the third rank (small displacement, corvette class), which are also involved in a special military operation. In particular, they are used to launch Kalibr cruise missiles at military targets on Ukrainian territory. Renat Mistakhov, CEO of the corporation, told RIA Novosti in an interview about plans for the construction of ships and about the tasks that the Navy command sets for shipbuilders in the near future and for the future. Sergey Safronov and Ivan Suraev talked
— Renat Iskanderovich, what kind of protection from drones are you doing on the ships that you are currently building?
— It's a good question, I just want to say that we are really concerned about the situation today. Crew members should feel confident while on the ship and in no case worry that he is doing something wrong. The fact is that we went this way: first, we send our designers to the same Black Sea Fleet, who are interested in the crews, what they are facing, where something is not working out for them. A certain system is being formed that allows for future ship designs to take this into account. The results of the issues that arose in the Black Sea Fleet showed us that a lot needs to be radically changed: in terms of placement, along corridors, along aisles, on air defense systems, artillery – firing zones, firing angles, and so on. Having a certain connection with the Black Sea Fleet, having the ships that we design, build and supply to the Black Sea Fleet and not only, of course, we are also interested in ensuring its safety, and for this reason, the ships that are being designed, we are already considering them taking into account combat use.
Life has shown that it is necessary to take into account not only the provision of weapons, but also the placement of personnel, passages, corridors. This will reduce losses. Why? Because the adversary understands that his main task is to first immobilize our ship, and then finish it off, and all he does is hit the machine distance of the ship. We must ensure the protection of the engine room, this is the "bottleneck" on all ships. This is the heart of the ship.
Even today, when foreign delegations come to us who were interested in Project 21631 and its application, Project 11661, they were also interested in its combat use. Because they understand that today the Navy is undergoing a baptism of fire. That is, our fleet receives unique skills that it will need in the future. If you look at it this way, the last large-scale combat use of ships was during the Great Patriotic War. Wars have changed now, and robotization is underway. All this will allow us to give a new round of development of ships that may be entrusted to us for construction and delivery to a particular site.
— We said last time that all your ships will be equipped not with AK-630-M2 "Duet", but with ZRPC "Shells" to protect, in particular, from marine drones. Is that true?
— No, I want to say right away: all the systems that are used today in the framework of air defense have the right to exist: who will prove themselves better. Today, air defense on land is provided by Pantsir, Tor, and Buk, which is also interesting. Why can't they be used on ships? Our developers are starting to work out the possibilities for us as well.
Here, the most important question is related to the capture of the target, the destruction of the target, at what distance from the water it goes. We must clearly understand that the ships that we design and build need to be operated correctly, because the personnel must be able to control these weapons. The further you go, the more difficult the weapon becomes in terms of functionality and the possibility of hitting and capturing targets. It is important for us now to put weapons on ships that could destroy a moving object at a remote distance, and if it approached, then use the same 630 guns (AK-630-M2 "Duet") on it, which have a large cloud of damage and can destroy a target close at a distance of four to six kilometers. To date, the "Shell" (ME – ed.) has been tested, has shown very good results, but along the way there are certain works to improve it.
If you look at our modern ships, then we mainly use both the "Shell" and the "Duet" for them.
— What problems can arise with the use of marine variants of well-known and well-proven short- and medium-range air defense systems such as "Tor" and "Buk"?
— All ground-based complexes of the "Tor" type and so on have proven themselves well, but there are missiles flying from above. What flies through the water, it flies smoothly, because the water surface is flat, flies at low altitude above the water, and we need to destroy this missile at a given distance. A marine drone is also walking on the surface, so the task becomes somewhat more complicated. We must destroy the same marine drones at maximum range: the further away, the better. Because if not one or two backups (unmanned boats, drones) swim up to us, but a flock – time does not work for us, we must destroy this flock as early as possible and ensure a hit so that there is a one hundred percent hit and no ammunition is spent.
— Has the first Karakurt small rocket ship (MRK) of project 22800 with "Shells" been handed over to the customer?
— Yes, it was last year. Ships with the Pantsir product are already serving in the Russian Navy.
— How is the construction of two helicopter carriers 23900 going?
— I can only say that everything is being built in accordance with the contract. Not only housing works have appeared today, but also works related to the installation of weld saturation, painting, insulation and pipe bending work have still begun.
— Has the Navy command responded to your proposal to make a ship of project 21635 Sarsar based on project 21631 with an increased number of "Calibers" up to 16 units?
— No, we offered both Sarsar and 11661 Cheetah with an increased number of Calibers to 24. Today, the Navy is working on a program for its future development, and the main task is to maximally saturate the fleet with ships that already have experience, series and application.
The main issues here are time and money. If you start new jobs now, it will be lost money and lost time. Today, the navy wants to see not only coast guard ships, but also long-distance navigation, and mainly tries to build what has already been mass-built.
The shipbuilders themselves also say: "Colleagues, let's still ensure a good series of construction." Our largest ship series in modern history is 21631 – 12 in total, 22800 – five ships, and the series ends.
Previously, for example, 37 ships of the Albatross project 1124 were built at the plant, there was a good series. Currently, we have 36 ships under construction for two factories: both civilian and military, 12 different projects, seven of them are lead ones. Of course, the design bureau is overloaded, but this all affects the timing too much. Therefore, good serialization must be ensured.
— Does Ak Bars plan to start developing marine drones on its own?
— There is such an idea, but we do not build ships less than 30 meters. We try to stay in the niche from 30 to 300. If it is below 30, then we will already go out on boats that the plant will not feed. We are looking very carefully at robotics, at colleagues who want to do it today, the same leading industry universities, including Polytechnic University.
— You said that the navy requires you to increase the speed of ships. What are you doing in this direction?
— We are working in this direction. I went to the Saturn UEC enterprise in Rybinsk. The main question is that we will now build on the existing turbines that are being manufactured there today and will offer the Navy a system where two turbines and an engine go. Ships today must travel at a speed of 30 knots. I think that today we have the Saturn enterprise, we must develop it as much as possible, load it – the enterprise is working, an excellent enterprise.
Ships should not be slow-moving, because we are well aware that the Navy is not always used for military purposes. He needs to show his presence in neutral waters. We have to go through and show that we are close, and this is speed.
For this reason, we hear the Russian Navy and not only, our respected foreign partners also say about it: "Give us speed." If we are talking about ships over 60 meters long, then they should travel at a speed of 30 knots, and those that are smaller – up to 60 meters – 40-45 knots. It's real.
Sergey Safronov and Ivan Suraev talked
