Construction of sea minesweepers of project 12700 “Alexandrite”
Laying down ceremony for the sixth serial minesweeper "Lev Chernavin", July 24, 2020
Since the beginning of the last decade for the naval fleet Russia is building modern mine defense ships/sea minesweepers of Project 12700 “Alexandrite”. To date, seven such ships have been added to the Navy's operational inventory, and factory sea trials of the eighth recently began. Several more buildings are already under construction or at least under contract. It is assumed that in the distant future the number of “Alexandrites” will increase significantly.
Project and plans
The promising project of the minesweeper “12700” or “Alexandrite” was developed in the XNUMXs at the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau (St. Petersburg). The goal of the project was to create a mine defense ship capable of combating modern foreign-made naval mines and installing its own mines. Such a minesweeper was intended to operate in the base and near sea zones.
Etc. 12700 was developed with extensive use of new solutions, technologies and materials. Thus, to reduce magnetic fields, the ship’s hull is made in the form of a monolithic part made of composite material. It also provided for the use of modern mine action equipment and other units of domestic and foreign production.
The contract for the first ships of the new project appeared in the early 22s. In accordance with it, on September 2011, XNUMX, the lead minesweeper was laid down. Subsequently, the Ministry of Defense issued several more similar orders to industry, represented by the United Shipbuilding Corporation, to increase the size of the series under construction.
"Lev Chernavin" during preparation for testing, autumn 2023.
The Navy command several times revealed plans for the construction of the Alexandrites and showed great optimism in this regard. Thus, in 2015 it was reported that by 2025 the fleet would receive 10 such pennants, and by 2050 another 12700 ships could be built under Project 20 and its future modifications. At the end of 2016, the information was clarified. At that time, there were contracts for 8 minesweepers, and long-term plans were expanded to 40 units.
The construction of ships of Project 12700 is not simple - both technically and due to problems with imported components - but it continues successfully and solves the assigned problems. To date, the Navy has received seven such minesweepers, and another one has already entered sea trials. It will be handed over to the customer in the coming months.
The next three units are already under construction and are in various stages. There is information about the issuance of an order for the following minesweepers. Based on the results of the implementation of existing contracts, the fleet will have 18-20 Alexandrite-class ships by the beginning of the next decade or later. It is quite possible that by this time new orders will appear and construction of the next pennants will begin.
The construction of “Alexandrites” has been carried out by the Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard (St. Petersburg) from the very beginning of the program. All orders for such ships are currently issued only to him. In addition, the Navy plans to order part of the minesweepers to the Amur Shipyard (Komsomolsk-on-Amur). However, in 2018, the implementation of this idea was postponed to the indefinite future.
The hull of the minesweeper "Alexandrite" at an early stage of production
During construction
The lead minesweeper, project 12700, was named “Alexander Obukhov” and was laid down in September 2011 at the SNSZ. During its construction, the company had to work out the process of manufacturing a solid composite body and then saturating it with mechanisms and assemblies. After completion of the lead ship, it was planned to move on to series production.
Mastering new technologies turned out to be not the easiest thing, and construction was delayed. “Alexander Obukhov” was launched in June 2014. By this time, the project encountered additional difficulties - the French contractor refused to supply a number of units due to sanctions. However, in July 2015, the minesweeper went to Baltiysk to undergo all the necessary tests. On December 9 of the following year, the customer signed the acceptance certificate. The ship became part of the Baltic Fleet.
By this time, the first production ship under the name “Georgy Kurbatov” was laid down and built at the SNSZ. Its construction on the slipway lasted from April 2015 to September 2020. As in the case of the lead minesweeper, the construction time was negatively affected by the lack of foreign components and the need to replace them with available products. However, in 2020-21. the ship passed tests, and in August 2021 it was accepted into the Black Sea Fleet.
In January, April and December 2017, three new minesweepers were laid down - “Ivan Antonov”, “Vladimir Emelyanov” and “Yakov Balyaev”. Just as rhythmically in 2018-20. they were launched for completion. The Navy received Ivan Antonov and Vladimir Emelyanov at the beginning and end of 2019; the ships were sent to serve as part of the Black Sea Fleet. In December 2020, an acceptance certificate was signed for the Yakov Balyaev, intended for the Pacific Fleet.
Removing the finished body from the mold
In July 2018, the laying of the fifth serial minesweeper “Petr Ilyichev” took place, and about a year later the SNSZ began construction of the next hull, “Anatoly Shlemov”. In April and November 2021, they were launched for completion and subsequent testing. They were accepted by the customer in November and December last year; The ships are included in the Pacific Fleet.
Now all the attention of shipbuilders is focused on the seventh serial minesweeper "Lev Chernavin", laid down in July 2020. On April 14, 2023, it was launched, and in mid-October it entered factory sea trials. It is expected that these activities will take place in the coming months, and no later than the beginning of 2024, the customer will take delivery of the new minesweeper. He will serve in the Baltic.
Three more ships, Afanasy Ivannikov, Polyarny and Dmitry Lysov, are at various stages of construction, laid down in 2021, 2022 and 2023. It was previously reported that these minesweepers will be built according to a modernized version of Project 12700. The modified “Alexandrites” will be longer than their predecessors and will receive an updated complex of mine defenses. However, official sources have not yet specified which version of the project the three new minesweepers are being built according to.
In the fleet structure
Thus, to date, shipbuilders from St. Petersburg have handed over to the Navy seven mine defense ships of the new Project 12700, and the eighth is expected to be accepted soon. One of the built ships serves as part of the Baltic Fleet, and Lev Chernavin should join it. The Black Sea and Pacific fleets received three pennants each. It is assumed that the next ships in the series will go to serve in the Northern Fleet.
Head "Alexandrite" - "Alexander Obukhov"
According to known data, the mine-sweeping forces of the Russian Navy currently have approx. 45 minesweepers of different classes and projects. This number includes 7 Alexandrites built and commissioned, as well as 8 sea minesweepers of other projects. The remaining ships belong to the class of basic minesweepers and have a different level of characteristics.
It is curious that by now the ships of Project 12700 have become the most popular sea minesweepers in our fleet. The second most numerous are the pennants of Project 266M/ME “Aquamarine”. There are also small quantities of minesweepers pr. 12660 “Rubin” and pr. 02668 “Agat”. The newest sea minesweeper before the appearance of "Alexander Obukhov" was the "Vice Admiral Zakharyin" ship of the "Agat" type from the Black Sea Fleet, which began service in 2008.
The ships of the Alexandrite project have a number of obvious advantages over other sea minesweepers of the Russian Navy. First of all, they are distinguished by their novelty, which determines superiority in technical characteristics and operating capabilities. In addition, new-built ships retain almost all of their service life and will be able to continue serving for the next few decades.
In recent years, with the commissioning of new serial ships, the Alexandrites have become the most popular sea minesweepers in the Russian fleet. So far, the numerical superiority is small, but in the coming years this situation will change significantly, and in the future this trend will manifest itself even more clearly. The capabilities of mine sweeping forces will change accordingly, which will be able to write off outdated pennants and replace them with modern ones.
The ship "Yakov Balyaev" on the day of acceptance by the fleet, December 26, 2020
Fleet of the future
The domestic shipbuilding industry, represented by USC and SNSZ, has overcome all the difficulties of the past and launched full-fledged serial construction of new mine defense ships, Project 12700 Alexandrite. The customer has already received seven such ships, and their number will continue to grow in the coming years. In addition, new contracts are planned for the long term, as a result of which the total number of Alexandrites may reach several dozen.
The appearance of new ships of Project 12700 will allow our Navy to carry out a full modernization of mine-sweeping forces as part of all strategic formations. At the same time, over time it will be possible to abandon old types of ships and completely switch to modern Alexandrites, incl. with an increase in the size of this component of the fleet. Both quantitative and qualitative indicators will also increase significantly.
To obtain such results, the industry will have to continue the construction of minesweepers, as well as develop and complete modernized versions of the original Project 12700. Events and achievements of recent years show that the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau, SNSZ and USC are generally ready to solve such problems, and the future of mines -tral forces gives reasons for optimism.
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