National security titan
In November, Vladimir Putin held a series of meetings on the development of the Armed Forces. Among current problems, the head of state focused on the development of advanced military equipment based on advanced science.
“Military affairs have always been an area where advanced achievements of science and technology were used. And today, in the 21st century, the leading countries of the world are actively using the most modern scientific achievements in developing weapons, in order to strengthen their military potential, Vladimir Putin stressed. “These are lasers, hypersound, and robotics.” Serious attention is paid to the development of the so-called weapons on new physical principles, which allows selective, targeted impact on critical elements of weapons, equipment, infrastructure of a potential enemy.
In Russia, as well as in other countries, similar developments are also underway ... Our task is to effectively neutralize any military threats to Russian security, including those associated with the creation of a strategic missile defense, the implementation of the concept of a global strike, and the waging of information wars. ”
Science and the defense industry are always developing simultaneously, stimulating and pushing each other. At the same time, it is important that scientists feel needed, and the path from development to implementation is reduced to a minimum. This is illustrated by the example of three scientific schools directly connected with the military-industrial complex.
For a start in life - in the pool
All parameters of the future fleet for the second century, they have been largely formed in the Krylovsk State Scientific Center, and in the unique experimental basins (for a quarter of a million cubic meters of water) and at the stands all Russian marine equipment is tested and brought to mind. The widest range: from the design of the hull and the main units, including nuclear power plants, to the tactical, technical and navigational characteristics that ensure reliability, economy and safety of navigation in various parts of the World Ocean, weapon efficiency, secrecy and protection from the eyes and ears of potential opponents. By the way, there is only one such complex in the world - the Taylor Center in the USA, but it is in many ways inferior to our CRI Krylov. Let's say that it is with us that the largest (length - 1300 meters) test pool is located, where any situation that a ship may encounter while sailing is simulated. Immersion under a 15-kilometer layer of water is simulated on a deep-water bench; in a circular circular pool, the model can be dispersed to 180 kilometers per hour. There is also its own wind tunnel, and a whole series of test benches, and its own factory. All this rich scientific and production potential in the devastating 90s was retained and strengthened by the Director General of the Institute, Hero of Russia, Academician of the RAS Valentin Pashin. The name of this outstanding scientist, engineer, organizer is the square at the main entrance of the Krylovsky Center. For three years the team has been working without its legendary leader, trying to defend the position of the leading institute of domestic shipbuilding. Forward-looking research centers should be in every strategic industry, academician Pashin insisted.
“The Krylov Center is multifunctional - it solves the most difficult tasks of hydrodynamics and strength, increasing secrecy, protection, reliability, improving the combat and operational qualities of ships and vessels, power plants, and the fight against noise and vibration. All developments are relevant and competitive at the global level, - said Valentin Pashin. - Another thing is how to more effectively and quickly implement our know-how. In the Soviet years, in a sense, it was easier, although much was done under the lash. The decisions of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers were such a magical “club” that made anyone introduce new technologies. And today, it would seem, a market economy - a business is interested in earning more and making a profit. We suggest solutions, say: "Take!". Do not take. Why? We still have very weak market competition with strong competition of administrative resources. Why introduce a new development, when it is better with the help of someone to get an order, sovereigns money and ensure a comfortable existence. That is, the market environment is largely crushed by the administrative environment. But we all industries, the whole country enter the market of open competition with the leading players in the world. And if you want, you do not want to introduce progressive solutions and technologies. We will not do this - the industry will fail, we will not get into any market, and for our own needs we will be supplied by ships from abroad.
By and large, the role of the head institution is reduced to two tasks. The first is to ensure the current design: when the design bureaus develop, and we feed them with theoretical and experimental arguments, because experience is an indicator of the correctness of the decisions made. The second major task is to work on the definition of conceptual directions for the development of the industry, in our case - shipbuilding and the fleet. They do not always listen to us, but nevertheless we continue this line. And life shows that in the last 20 anniversary, it was precisely the “conceptual” shipbuilding that was extremely lacking, which became the source of many of our, to put it mildly, irrational decisions, delays, lengthy contracts, and non-fulfillment of tactical and technical characteristics.
Similarly, with the provision of the current design of ships and vessels. Very often, the designer comes to the test benches of the Krylov Institute with one project, and it turns out - with the best.
This is especially evident when creating the hull shape. Unfortunately, without an experiment, the ship’s contours cannot be designed. Be sure to test on scale models in the experimental pools. Because electronic design implies an ideal variant that may not fit into real conditions. Today, very advanced computer programs have appeared, but they do not give an optimal result, but rather allow us to consider different options, of which in the process of numerous runs and measurements on the stands and in the experimental pools, the most viable and effective are formed. Only in a physical experiment is most fully reproduced the picture of the flow around the hull liquid, the behavior of the vessel on the waves, its handling ...
For example, when developing the form of columns for platforms that carry out production on the shelf, it is very important that the floating structure does not have large pitching angles, because the drilling equipment does not withstand extreme loads. We managed to create, on the basis of our experience and knowledge, such forms in order to reduce the pitching angles with strong agitations and minimize the likelihood of accidents. Two such platforms, the Polar Star and the Northern Lights, are successfully operating in the Far East.
We can receive any operating modes of the propeller on the stands, up to 900 revolutions per minute, and take appropriate measurements. You can cause it to cavitate - boiling fluid at low temperatures. Because of this, the submarine, as the Americans used to say, “roars like a cow into the whole ocean.” Thanks to the experiments of the Institute, it was possible to obtain the optimal shape of the propeller, and now our submarines are known for low noise.
There is a promising development that increases efficiency and saves fuel - the use of air lubrication when moving ships. If a cavity is formed under the bottom of the case - an air film that reduces friction against water, the savings can reach 30 percent. Previously, it was not possible to keep the air lubricant under the hull when excited, now we have learned how to do it.
In the working portfolio of the Institute there are a lot of proposals related to electromagnetic fields. This is relevant not only for warships, where this indicator affects the mine danger, secrecy, weapon guidance system and other important characteristics, but also for any ships. Modern technology is literally stuffed with electronic equipment. However, any electronics creates a certain radiation, which can become a hindrance in the work of other systems. We have developed special approaches, how to ensure, on the one hand, electromagnetic compatibility, and on the other - to protect people from radiation. Here and radio absorbing, and special nanostructured film coatings, and structural materials that protect the crew from the harmful effects of electronics.
There are research stimulation systems all over the world; something must be ours. Science can not be frozen, otherwise we will immediately lag behind competitors. There is no way to lose potential, you need to work it out all the time. If it is not touched, we will slide into a position if not a tertiary, then by no means a primary developed power. ”
Under Valentin Pashin, the scientific center organized the production of rubber-reinforced acoustic coatings for noise absorption and sound suppression, anti-corrosion protection systems, electronic equipment and instruments using high technologies. This year, a modern ice basin was commissioned, an “oceanic” offshore one is being completed.
The computing cluster of the supercomputer center for mathematical modeling of the Krylov Institute is second in performance in St. Petersburg and thirty-fourth in Russia. It is used, among other things, for solving hydrodynamic problems. These are calculations not only for the flow of viscous fluid around the hulls of ships and propulsion units, but also for the wind regime on the designed objects.
The Krylov Center has given a start to the active use of hydrocarbon steels for the construction of ships, and with the help of scientists at the Middle Nevsky Plant, the hull of the minesweeper is made of nonmagnetic composite materials.
Icebreaker pies
In mid-November, the staff of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise “Central Research Institute of Composite Materials“ Prometheus ”celebrated the 60th anniversary of the creation of the titanium direction. Valery Leonov, the head of the research and production complex "Titanium Alloys", spoke about the main historical stages of work. The staff who were at the origins helped to recreate the details of how the history of the titanium direction in Prometheus began.
“Creation of materials for nuclear submarine and surface fleets, atomic icebreakers, nuclear power plants is a marine titanium project. In our country, the first all-titanium submarines were built, because titanium is such a material that nature itself is intended for shipbuilding. It is light, absolutely corrosion-resistant, non-magnetic. The institute made it durable and what is most important for shipbuilding is very well welded, ”said academician Igor Gorynin, who had headed Prometheus for almost 35 years and preserved a scientific school. Now the institute bears his name.
It so happened that historical epochs are determined by the materials with which a person is operating. Stone Age, bronze, iron ... At the beginning of this century, a new era emerges - materials with desired properties, the development of which is engaged in the state scientific center "Prometheus"
An institute was formed from the laboratory of the Izhora plant, which back in imperial times created alloys for Russian battleships. In the 30s, emphasis was placed on the development of protection tanks. The institute was then called Bronev. The new welding technology, thanks to which the hulls of ships began to be made not riveted, but all-welded, was the first post-war victory of the scientific team. Since then, the assets of Prometheus have been developing materials for the Russian fleet, energy, including nuclear, and for equipment operating in extreme conditions.
The body is formed of durable steel alloys, and the superstructure is made of aluminum. This is the practice of world shipbuilding. Aluminum and steel do not weld, there is a problem how to connect the superstructure with the hull. We have learned how to make so-called comic materials of different thicknesses and profiles. Outwardly, they resemble a layer cake. One side is steel, the other is aluminum. As a result, the hull is welded to steel, and the superstructure to aluminum.
The institute has developed a unique welding technology. Its essence is reduced to a sharp increase in the rate of transfer of particles. Under normal conditions, these are subsonic speeds, and “Promethean” technologies make it possible to transport particles more than twenty times faster. “This allows us, as we say, to spray everything onto everything, that is, completely dissimilar materials,” said Academician Gorynin. One of the promising developments is the creation of special steels for offshore mining.
“Extreme polar conditions require a material that withstands 300-day friction of ice, temperatures down to minus 60 degrees. Initially, plastic steels were used, they are strong, but at the same time they withstand some deformation and do not crack. The first icebreakers were created from such materials. But at very low temperatures and high density of ice around the hull fine ice chips, which has a very high aggressiveness. After passing through such fields, the ship seemed to be eaten away. And besides, the hydrodynamic resistance of the hull has increased, the icebreaker lost in power up to 30 percent, Valeriu Leonov brings up to date. - Our experts have invented and created clad steel. What's the secret? Structural steel is covered with a thin layer of another, with higher mechanical properties for wear and corrosion resistance, etc. Now there are no problems on icebreakers. Prometheus is a multifunctional materials science center. We use almost the entire periodic table of Mendeleev, deal with metals, non-metals, fiberglass, carbon fiber, adhesives, sealants, paints, and so on. And every day there are more and more new directions. ”
Prometheus specialists familiarized prospective construction materials for the Navy at their research and production site in Gatchina, where a meeting of the Russian Federation Council on shipbuilding was held recently.
Fundamental Protection
The Scientific and Production Association of Special Materials (NPO SM) was formed on the basis of the armor laboratory of the Central Research Institute of Materials of the USSR Ministry of Defense Industry in 1991. Currently NPO SM includes a research institute, a factory of special materials, a testing and scientific-methodical center. It has all the necessary licenses and permits for security and safety work. The accreditations of Rosstandard and the Interstate Aviation Committee allow 85 to conduct tests of materials and products, including bullet, explosion and burglary resistance.
The main customers of NPO SM are the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Federal Security Service, the Federal Penitentiary Service, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Rosatom enterprises, leading banks and transport and infrastructure facilities. Products are exported to 35 countries.
The general director of the NGO special materials, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, academician of the Russian Academy of Rocket and Artillery Sciences, Doctor of Technical Sciences Mikhail Silnikov says: “We protect everything that needs it, from facilities and structures to the fighters. The main problem is that we do not know what threats a warrior will face in a given situation. Here you have to somehow predict, you need to work closely with those who calculate the probability of a particular threat, develop weapons and means of destruction, determine the scenario of possible clashes. We work with the future. When forming protection systems, an integrated approach is important, which is determined by a combination of factors. For example, the higher the armor resistance, the greater the mass of protective equipment. This means that the machine develops a lower speed, and the fighter is harder to move, to disguise, he again becomes more vulnerable. In short, a reasonable determination of the level of protection based on a specific task is necessary. Here it is important not to overdo it and not over-complicate - to maintain a certain balance in order, on the one hand, not to dig in too deeply, and on the other, not to go over the tops and not to draw conclusions without sufficient grounds. In the words of the brilliant Russian designer Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov: “Everything that’s necessary is simple, everything complex is not needed.”
Of course, we are closely watching everything that appears in the world of protective materials and technologies, conduct our own research and experiments. Although it would seem that there can still be invented. Usually steel, aluminum and titanium alloys are used for booking. Recently, more actively used Kevlar and ceramics. However, while ceramic inserts are effective only as part of a combined protective structure. We are all the time looking for and saying that in the 21st century we are “going” on the Soviet backlog, yet it is an exaggeration.
Recently, the NGO special materials entered the Top-10 innovative enterprises of the country. Of course, we strive, as far as funds permit, to upgrade equipment and technologies to the most modern ones. We try to ensure that all the know-how, having passed the necessary tests and certification, are quickly implemented. Science and production are inseparable. And in this respect, the organizational form of our enterprise, scientific and production, shows the greatest efficiency.
True, the financing of development, especially fundamental, leaves much to be desired. Moreover, Academician Zhores Ivanovich Alferov likes to repeat: “All science is applied. But there are scientific results that are used immediately, but there are developments that have been used over many years. ” Fundamental research, of course, should be conducted at the expense of the state. The possibilities of any commercial structure are limited, and the business will be invested in development with only a short payback cycle. Therefore, strategic, prospective studies should provide the treasury.
But they will appreciate everything new, even if not immediately, anyway, the consumer. He does not use reports or scientific journals, but products that must meet certain parameters.
Requirements for remedies, by the way, are among the toughest in the world. Nevertheless, it is extremely difficult to break into the international market - you have to compete with the world's leading manufacturers. We try to conquer our niche at the expense of quality, combined with a reasonable price, functionality and ability to do what others do not know. Among such products are anti-explosion devices "Fountain" for suppressing the destructive action of an explosion. The explosive charge is covered with a special container and, when triggered, does not cause harm even on board the aircraft. "Fountains" are produced long ago, but so far no one in the world can get a result like ours.
All our know-how is concentrated in the creation of special protection kits for a 21st century warrior. The concept is simple and uses the rich combat experience of previous generations. It is an obvious fact that special groups and partisan detachments in armed clashes at times inflicted more damage on the enemy than in the front. The likelihood that a global war will break out with head-on collisions in an open field, wall to wall, is not too great. Not without reason, special attention is now being paid to the preparation of relatively compact, well-trained divisions of professionals. They need both modern, powerful, ultra-precise, all-weather weapons, and reliable all-penetrating communications and monitoring tools, and, of course, equipment - light, comfortable, durable, waterproof, not blown, “breathing”, not holding down the movement, but at the same time reliably protecting the fighter . We are working on such elements of uniforms together with fellow gunsmiths and manufacturers of special equipment.
Orders we provided. But watching the process of public procurement, sometimes we are surprised. Undoubtedly, the competitive system is among the advanced. However, it is important not to mindlessly give an order to those who promise to make it cheaper, but first carefully analyze whether the given performer is able to do everything on time with proper quality. Are competition laws too often working against common sense? And when someone tries to put in a word for recognized professionals, the antimonopoly service is immediately activated - as it is, the only producer wins. It seems that we forget about the division of labor accepted throughout the world, when everyone does his part of work, but with optimal costs and the highest quality. You do not need a lot of similar enterprises producing the same products for a very narrow market, otherwise each of them will not achieve profitability, will not ensure the development of production.
There is a special technique for solving specific problems. There are manufacturers who know all the subtleties of manufacture, use and maintenance. And here science has to say its word, the devotees of which are able to determine whose product is better, who will carry out the order. And we are waiting for one more thing from scientists - to look into the future, to create groundwork in order to move forward. Then our weapons and defenses will be the most effective, and the warriors and important objects will be reliably protected. This also applies to the security of the population and civilian objects, for which we produce innovative dual-purpose anti-terror tools. ”
“Military affairs have always been an area where advanced achievements of science and technology were used. And today, in the 21st century, the leading countries of the world are actively using the most modern scientific achievements in developing weapons, in order to strengthen their military potential, Vladimir Putin stressed. “These are lasers, hypersound, and robotics.” Serious attention is paid to the development of the so-called weapons on new physical principles, which allows selective, targeted impact on critical elements of weapons, equipment, infrastructure of a potential enemy.
In Russia, as well as in other countries, similar developments are also underway ... Our task is to effectively neutralize any military threats to Russian security, including those associated with the creation of a strategic missile defense, the implementation of the concept of a global strike, and the waging of information wars. ”
Science and the defense industry are always developing simultaneously, stimulating and pushing each other. At the same time, it is important that scientists feel needed, and the path from development to implementation is reduced to a minimum. This is illustrated by the example of three scientific schools directly connected with the military-industrial complex.
For a start in life - in the pool
All parameters of the future fleet for the second century, they have been largely formed in the Krylovsk State Scientific Center, and in the unique experimental basins (for a quarter of a million cubic meters of water) and at the stands all Russian marine equipment is tested and brought to mind. The widest range: from the design of the hull and the main units, including nuclear power plants, to the tactical, technical and navigational characteristics that ensure reliability, economy and safety of navigation in various parts of the World Ocean, weapon efficiency, secrecy and protection from the eyes and ears of potential opponents. By the way, there is only one such complex in the world - the Taylor Center in the USA, but it is in many ways inferior to our CRI Krylov. Let's say that it is with us that the largest (length - 1300 meters) test pool is located, where any situation that a ship may encounter while sailing is simulated. Immersion under a 15-kilometer layer of water is simulated on a deep-water bench; in a circular circular pool, the model can be dispersed to 180 kilometers per hour. There is also its own wind tunnel, and a whole series of test benches, and its own factory. All this rich scientific and production potential in the devastating 90s was retained and strengthened by the Director General of the Institute, Hero of Russia, Academician of the RAS Valentin Pashin. The name of this outstanding scientist, engineer, organizer is the square at the main entrance of the Krylovsky Center. For three years the team has been working without its legendary leader, trying to defend the position of the leading institute of domestic shipbuilding. Forward-looking research centers should be in every strategic industry, academician Pashin insisted.
“The Krylov Center is multifunctional - it solves the most difficult tasks of hydrodynamics and strength, increasing secrecy, protection, reliability, improving the combat and operational qualities of ships and vessels, power plants, and the fight against noise and vibration. All developments are relevant and competitive at the global level, - said Valentin Pashin. - Another thing is how to more effectively and quickly implement our know-how. In the Soviet years, in a sense, it was easier, although much was done under the lash. The decisions of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers were such a magical “club” that made anyone introduce new technologies. And today, it would seem, a market economy - a business is interested in earning more and making a profit. We suggest solutions, say: "Take!". Do not take. Why? We still have very weak market competition with strong competition of administrative resources. Why introduce a new development, when it is better with the help of someone to get an order, sovereigns money and ensure a comfortable existence. That is, the market environment is largely crushed by the administrative environment. But we all industries, the whole country enter the market of open competition with the leading players in the world. And if you want, you do not want to introduce progressive solutions and technologies. We will not do this - the industry will fail, we will not get into any market, and for our own needs we will be supplied by ships from abroad.
By and large, the role of the head institution is reduced to two tasks. The first is to ensure the current design: when the design bureaus develop, and we feed them with theoretical and experimental arguments, because experience is an indicator of the correctness of the decisions made. The second major task is to work on the definition of conceptual directions for the development of the industry, in our case - shipbuilding and the fleet. They do not always listen to us, but nevertheless we continue this line. And life shows that in the last 20 anniversary, it was precisely the “conceptual” shipbuilding that was extremely lacking, which became the source of many of our, to put it mildly, irrational decisions, delays, lengthy contracts, and non-fulfillment of tactical and technical characteristics.
Similarly, with the provision of the current design of ships and vessels. Very often, the designer comes to the test benches of the Krylov Institute with one project, and it turns out - with the best.This is especially evident when creating the hull shape. Unfortunately, without an experiment, the ship’s contours cannot be designed. Be sure to test on scale models in the experimental pools. Because electronic design implies an ideal variant that may not fit into real conditions. Today, very advanced computer programs have appeared, but they do not give an optimal result, but rather allow us to consider different options, of which in the process of numerous runs and measurements on the stands and in the experimental pools, the most viable and effective are formed. Only in a physical experiment is most fully reproduced the picture of the flow around the hull liquid, the behavior of the vessel on the waves, its handling ...
For example, when developing the form of columns for platforms that carry out production on the shelf, it is very important that the floating structure does not have large pitching angles, because the drilling equipment does not withstand extreme loads. We managed to create, on the basis of our experience and knowledge, such forms in order to reduce the pitching angles with strong agitations and minimize the likelihood of accidents. Two such platforms, the Polar Star and the Northern Lights, are successfully operating in the Far East.
We can receive any operating modes of the propeller on the stands, up to 900 revolutions per minute, and take appropriate measurements. You can cause it to cavitate - boiling fluid at low temperatures. Because of this, the submarine, as the Americans used to say, “roars like a cow into the whole ocean.” Thanks to the experiments of the Institute, it was possible to obtain the optimal shape of the propeller, and now our submarines are known for low noise.
There is a promising development that increases efficiency and saves fuel - the use of air lubrication when moving ships. If a cavity is formed under the bottom of the case - an air film that reduces friction against water, the savings can reach 30 percent. Previously, it was not possible to keep the air lubricant under the hull when excited, now we have learned how to do it.
In the working portfolio of the Institute there are a lot of proposals related to electromagnetic fields. This is relevant not only for warships, where this indicator affects the mine danger, secrecy, weapon guidance system and other important characteristics, but also for any ships. Modern technology is literally stuffed with electronic equipment. However, any electronics creates a certain radiation, which can become a hindrance in the work of other systems. We have developed special approaches, how to ensure, on the one hand, electromagnetic compatibility, and on the other - to protect people from radiation. Here and radio absorbing, and special nanostructured film coatings, and structural materials that protect the crew from the harmful effects of electronics.There are research stimulation systems all over the world; something must be ours. Science can not be frozen, otherwise we will immediately lag behind competitors. There is no way to lose potential, you need to work it out all the time. If it is not touched, we will slide into a position if not a tertiary, then by no means a primary developed power. ”
Under Valentin Pashin, the scientific center organized the production of rubber-reinforced acoustic coatings for noise absorption and sound suppression, anti-corrosion protection systems, electronic equipment and instruments using high technologies. This year, a modern ice basin was commissioned, an “oceanic” offshore one is being completed.
The computing cluster of the supercomputer center for mathematical modeling of the Krylov Institute is second in performance in St. Petersburg and thirty-fourth in Russia. It is used, among other things, for solving hydrodynamic problems. These are calculations not only for the flow of viscous fluid around the hulls of ships and propulsion units, but also for the wind regime on the designed objects.
The Krylov Center has given a start to the active use of hydrocarbon steels for the construction of ships, and with the help of scientists at the Middle Nevsky Plant, the hull of the minesweeper is made of nonmagnetic composite materials.
Icebreaker pies
In mid-November, the staff of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise “Central Research Institute of Composite Materials“ Prometheus ”celebrated the 60th anniversary of the creation of the titanium direction. Valery Leonov, the head of the research and production complex "Titanium Alloys", spoke about the main historical stages of work. The staff who were at the origins helped to recreate the details of how the history of the titanium direction in Prometheus began.
It so happened that historical epochs are determined by the materials with which a person is operating. Stone Age, bronze, iron ... At the beginning of this century, a new era emerges - materials with desired properties, the development of which is engaged in the state scientific center "Prometheus"
An institute was formed from the laboratory of the Izhora plant, which back in imperial times created alloys for Russian battleships. In the 30s, emphasis was placed on the development of protection tanks. The institute was then called Bronev. The new welding technology, thanks to which the hulls of ships began to be made not riveted, but all-welded, was the first post-war victory of the scientific team. Since then, the assets of Prometheus have been developing materials for the Russian fleet, energy, including nuclear, and for equipment operating in extreme conditions.
The body is formed of durable steel alloys, and the superstructure is made of aluminum. This is the practice of world shipbuilding. Aluminum and steel do not weld, there is a problem how to connect the superstructure with the hull. We have learned how to make so-called comic materials of different thicknesses and profiles. Outwardly, they resemble a layer cake. One side is steel, the other is aluminum. As a result, the hull is welded to steel, and the superstructure to aluminum.The institute has developed a unique welding technology. Its essence is reduced to a sharp increase in the rate of transfer of particles. Under normal conditions, these are subsonic speeds, and “Promethean” technologies make it possible to transport particles more than twenty times faster. “This allows us, as we say, to spray everything onto everything, that is, completely dissimilar materials,” said Academician Gorynin. One of the promising developments is the creation of special steels for offshore mining.
“Extreme polar conditions require a material that withstands 300-day friction of ice, temperatures down to minus 60 degrees. Initially, plastic steels were used, they are strong, but at the same time they withstand some deformation and do not crack. The first icebreakers were created from such materials. But at very low temperatures and high density of ice around the hull fine ice chips, which has a very high aggressiveness. After passing through such fields, the ship seemed to be eaten away. And besides, the hydrodynamic resistance of the hull has increased, the icebreaker lost in power up to 30 percent, Valeriu Leonov brings up to date. - Our experts have invented and created clad steel. What's the secret? Structural steel is covered with a thin layer of another, with higher mechanical properties for wear and corrosion resistance, etc. Now there are no problems on icebreakers. Prometheus is a multifunctional materials science center. We use almost the entire periodic table of Mendeleev, deal with metals, non-metals, fiberglass, carbon fiber, adhesives, sealants, paints, and so on. And every day there are more and more new directions. ”
Prometheus specialists familiarized prospective construction materials for the Navy at their research and production site in Gatchina, where a meeting of the Russian Federation Council on shipbuilding was held recently.
Fundamental Protection
The Scientific and Production Association of Special Materials (NPO SM) was formed on the basis of the armor laboratory of the Central Research Institute of Materials of the USSR Ministry of Defense Industry in 1991. Currently NPO SM includes a research institute, a factory of special materials, a testing and scientific-methodical center. It has all the necessary licenses and permits for security and safety work. The accreditations of Rosstandard and the Interstate Aviation Committee allow 85 to conduct tests of materials and products, including bullet, explosion and burglary resistance.
The main customers of NPO SM are the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Federal Security Service, the Federal Penitentiary Service, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Rosatom enterprises, leading banks and transport and infrastructure facilities. Products are exported to 35 countries.
The general director of the NGO special materials, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, academician of the Russian Academy of Rocket and Artillery Sciences, Doctor of Technical Sciences Mikhail Silnikov says: “We protect everything that needs it, from facilities and structures to the fighters. The main problem is that we do not know what threats a warrior will face in a given situation. Here you have to somehow predict, you need to work closely with those who calculate the probability of a particular threat, develop weapons and means of destruction, determine the scenario of possible clashes. We work with the future. When forming protection systems, an integrated approach is important, which is determined by a combination of factors. For example, the higher the armor resistance, the greater the mass of protective equipment. This means that the machine develops a lower speed, and the fighter is harder to move, to disguise, he again becomes more vulnerable. In short, a reasonable determination of the level of protection based on a specific task is necessary. Here it is important not to overdo it and not over-complicate - to maintain a certain balance in order, on the one hand, not to dig in too deeply, and on the other, not to go over the tops and not to draw conclusions without sufficient grounds. In the words of the brilliant Russian designer Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov: “Everything that’s necessary is simple, everything complex is not needed.”
Of course, we are closely watching everything that appears in the world of protective materials and technologies, conduct our own research and experiments. Although it would seem that there can still be invented. Usually steel, aluminum and titanium alloys are used for booking. Recently, more actively used Kevlar and ceramics. However, while ceramic inserts are effective only as part of a combined protective structure. We are all the time looking for and saying that in the 21st century we are “going” on the Soviet backlog, yet it is an exaggeration.Recently, the NGO special materials entered the Top-10 innovative enterprises of the country. Of course, we strive, as far as funds permit, to upgrade equipment and technologies to the most modern ones. We try to ensure that all the know-how, having passed the necessary tests and certification, are quickly implemented. Science and production are inseparable. And in this respect, the organizational form of our enterprise, scientific and production, shows the greatest efficiency.
True, the financing of development, especially fundamental, leaves much to be desired. Moreover, Academician Zhores Ivanovich Alferov likes to repeat: “All science is applied. But there are scientific results that are used immediately, but there are developments that have been used over many years. ” Fundamental research, of course, should be conducted at the expense of the state. The possibilities of any commercial structure are limited, and the business will be invested in development with only a short payback cycle. Therefore, strategic, prospective studies should provide the treasury.
But they will appreciate everything new, even if not immediately, anyway, the consumer. He does not use reports or scientific journals, but products that must meet certain parameters.
Requirements for remedies, by the way, are among the toughest in the world. Nevertheless, it is extremely difficult to break into the international market - you have to compete with the world's leading manufacturers. We try to conquer our niche at the expense of quality, combined with a reasonable price, functionality and ability to do what others do not know. Among such products are anti-explosion devices "Fountain" for suppressing the destructive action of an explosion. The explosive charge is covered with a special container and, when triggered, does not cause harm even on board the aircraft. "Fountains" are produced long ago, but so far no one in the world can get a result like ours.All our know-how is concentrated in the creation of special protection kits for a 21st century warrior. The concept is simple and uses the rich combat experience of previous generations. It is an obvious fact that special groups and partisan detachments in armed clashes at times inflicted more damage on the enemy than in the front. The likelihood that a global war will break out with head-on collisions in an open field, wall to wall, is not too great. Not without reason, special attention is now being paid to the preparation of relatively compact, well-trained divisions of professionals. They need both modern, powerful, ultra-precise, all-weather weapons, and reliable all-penetrating communications and monitoring tools, and, of course, equipment - light, comfortable, durable, waterproof, not blown, “breathing”, not holding down the movement, but at the same time reliably protecting the fighter . We are working on such elements of uniforms together with fellow gunsmiths and manufacturers of special equipment.
Orders we provided. But watching the process of public procurement, sometimes we are surprised. Undoubtedly, the competitive system is among the advanced. However, it is important not to mindlessly give an order to those who promise to make it cheaper, but first carefully analyze whether the given performer is able to do everything on time with proper quality. Are competition laws too often working against common sense? And when someone tries to put in a word for recognized professionals, the antimonopoly service is immediately activated - as it is, the only producer wins. It seems that we forget about the division of labor accepted throughout the world, when everyone does his part of work, but with optimal costs and the highest quality. You do not need a lot of similar enterprises producing the same products for a very narrow market, otherwise each of them will not achieve profitability, will not ensure the development of production.There is a special technique for solving specific problems. There are manufacturers who know all the subtleties of manufacture, use and maintenance. And here science has to say its word, the devotees of which are able to determine whose product is better, who will carry out the order. And we are waiting for one more thing from scientists - to look into the future, to create groundwork in order to move forward. Then our weapons and defenses will be the most effective, and the warriors and important objects will be reliably protected. This also applies to the security of the population and civilian objects, for which we produce innovative dual-purpose anti-terror tools. ”
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