Strange news about the repair of the submarine B-239 "Karp"
At the end of the nineties from the naval forces fleet Russia was launched the third-generation nuclear submarine B-239 "Karp", built according to the project 945 "Barracuda". Over the next few years, the further fate of this ship was in question. A few years ago, it was decided to repair and modernize the submarine, after which it could return to duty. In addition, it is planned to repair and upgrade the Kostroma B-276 nuclear submarine. The necessary work was entrusted to the Zvezdochka Ship Repair Center (Severodvinsk). At the end of February, information on the progress of repair and modernization appeared in the domestic media, which can be considered a cause for concern.
Recall 14 of May last year, the Ministry of Defense and the enterprise "Zvezdochka" signed a contract to repair and upgrade two nuclear submarines of the 945 project. Over the next few years, the Severodvinsk workers first had to rebuild the Karp nuclear submarine and then begin to modernize the Kostroma. It was planned to carry out the troubleshooting, unload nuclear fuel from the reactors, replace electrical equipment and various special equipment, as well as repair damaged components and assemblies. In accordance with the existing contract, the submarine B-239 "Karp" was to return to the Northern Fleet in 2017 year. Completion of work on “Kostroma” was to be held later.
Until recently, any negative news about repair "Karp" absent. 24 in February, the information agency Flotprom, citing its sources on Zvezdochka and an unnamed subcontractor company, reported that repair work on the first Barracuda is currently being rolled up. According to one of the anonymous sources, the reason for this may be the termination of funding of works by the Ministry of Defense. No other details were reported.
February 26 responded to this news by the press service of the Zvezdochka Ship Repair Center. In its blog in LiveJournal, the press service stated that the company Zvezdochka is the executor of the state contract for the repair of two nuclear submarines of the 945 project. Contract status for order no. 3001 (Karp submarine) - current. All work under the contract of the Ministry of Defense is carried out in accordance with the plan. In addition, it was noted that the customer under the current contract is the military department, and work can be stopped only on his instructions.
The press service of Zvezdochki did not comment on the specifics of financing the repair of the N-BNN-X nuclear submarine, saying that “there is no spirituality in this”. However, she recalled the restoration of the submarine "Yekaterinburg", which began to be repaired not only without funding, but also before receiving the corresponding order. Thanks to this, it was possible to complete all the necessary work and pass the boat to the fleet on time - until the end of 239.
Finally, the press service of the Shipbuilding Center, with poorly concealed sarcasm, wished its colleagues from the media to retain such qualities as “violent imagination and promiscuity in sources” that are capable of cheering up the staff of the enterprise.
A day later, 27 in February, the information agency Flotprom again raised the topic of the repair of the nuclear submarine B-239 and, responding to the commentary from the Zvezdochka press service, published some new information. This time, allegedly, information was received from three more sources at the ship repair enterprise and two of the related organizations. From these unnamed persons, the journalists of Flotprom received additional information on the progress of work on the so-called. 3001 order.
According to the source of the news agency, in December, the maintenance of the steam generating plant of the Karp submarine was still going on. However, to date, even the issuance of repair orders has been terminated. The order is planned to be mothballed. In addition, this source confirmed the information about the work stopping due to lack of funding.
Another source, Flotprom, reported that all repair work on the submarine had been stopped on February 25, and there is no secret to this.
An interesting fact is that the third source of the information agency told a different version of the reasons for the suspension of repair work. According to him, in the near future, the Karp submarine was going to be brought into the workshop to continue repairs. However, the Zvezdochka Shipbuilding Center is currently implementing a project to modernize production facilities, and is also busy with the execution of other orders. For this reason, the Karp submarine cannot yet be brought into the workshop for the next stages of repair and modernization.
Also, Flotprom notes that, according to all three sources on Zvezdochka, funding for other orders did not stop, as a result of which the planned work continues without stopping and in accordance with existing plans.
Earlier, some domestic media reported that the repair and modernization of one submarine of the 945 “Barracuda” project would cost the military department approximately the same amount as the construction of the Yenen 885 multi-purpose nuclear submarine - Severodvinsk. The exact cost of construction of the latter is unknown, but in most of the estimates there is a figure of about 560 billion rubles. Thus, the version of Flotprom about the absence of the necessary financing looks quite plausible, since the project of repair and modernization of Karp and Kostroma can be extremely expensive.
Nevertheless, the press service of the Zvezdochka Shipbuilding Center has direct access to the enterprise and some information about its work. Thus, her messages look much more convincing than information from unnamed sources. From this it follows that repair work continues, and all existing problems, if any, are of a purely working nature and are not able to seriously affect the course of the order.
According to reports, the repair and modernization of two 945 submarines of the project have a high priority for several reasons. First of all, this reduction of labor costs and, as a result, the cost of new submarines due to the lack of need for the construction of new buildings. At the same time, new equipment and weapons should provide a significant increase in combat performance. In addition, the chosen approach will allow the preservation of unique titanium shells, the creation of which can be considered a real achievement of the domestic defense industry.
The durable case of titanium alloys has several advantages over steel. Due to the greater strength of the materials used, it was possible to develop a submarine with a reduced displacement, as well as with an increased immersion depth. The submarines of the 945 project are capable of diving to a depth of 600 m, which is about one and a half times the maximum submarine depth of some projects of the previous second generation. In addition, a titanium case having low magnetic properties is more difficult to detect with magnetometers and fuses of magnetic mines.
However, having a number of significant advantages, titanium as a submarine hull material loses to other alloys for the price. Due to the high cost of a robust hull, only two submarines of the 945 “Barracuda” project and two 945A “Condor” projects were built. In addition, one nuclear submarine of the 945B Mars project was laid, but the financial problems of the early nineties led to a halt in construction.
As follows from recent reports, the repair of the submarine "Karp" continues and goes on schedule. This means that in the absence of serious problems, this submarine will be able to return to the combat strength of the Northern Fleet already in the 2017 year. Then the Zvezdochka Shipbuilding Center will repair the Kostroma nuclear submarine, which will be built in the next few years. Thus, by the end of the decade, the Russian Navy will receive two upgraded 945 “Barracuda” submarines with new equipment and weapons installed in a titanium hull with unique characteristics.
On the materials of the sites:
http://flotprom.ru/
http://zvezdochka-ru.livejournal.com/
http://svpressa.ru/
http://flot.com/
Recall 14 of May last year, the Ministry of Defense and the enterprise "Zvezdochka" signed a contract to repair and upgrade two nuclear submarines of the 945 project. Over the next few years, the Severodvinsk workers first had to rebuild the Karp nuclear submarine and then begin to modernize the Kostroma. It was planned to carry out the troubleshooting, unload nuclear fuel from the reactors, replace electrical equipment and various special equipment, as well as repair damaged components and assemblies. In accordance with the existing contract, the submarine B-239 "Karp" was to return to the Northern Fleet in 2017 year. Completion of work on “Kostroma” was to be held later.
Until recently, any negative news about repair "Karp" absent. 24 in February, the information agency Flotprom, citing its sources on Zvezdochka and an unnamed subcontractor company, reported that repair work on the first Barracuda is currently being rolled up. According to one of the anonymous sources, the reason for this may be the termination of funding of works by the Ministry of Defense. No other details were reported.
February 26 responded to this news by the press service of the Zvezdochka Ship Repair Center. In its blog in LiveJournal, the press service stated that the company Zvezdochka is the executor of the state contract for the repair of two nuclear submarines of the 945 project. Contract status for order no. 3001 (Karp submarine) - current. All work under the contract of the Ministry of Defense is carried out in accordance with the plan. In addition, it was noted that the customer under the current contract is the military department, and work can be stopped only on his instructions.
The press service of Zvezdochki did not comment on the specifics of financing the repair of the N-BNN-X nuclear submarine, saying that “there is no spirituality in this”. However, she recalled the restoration of the submarine "Yekaterinburg", which began to be repaired not only without funding, but also before receiving the corresponding order. Thanks to this, it was possible to complete all the necessary work and pass the boat to the fleet on time - until the end of 239.
Finally, the press service of the Shipbuilding Center, with poorly concealed sarcasm, wished its colleagues from the media to retain such qualities as “violent imagination and promiscuity in sources” that are capable of cheering up the staff of the enterprise.
A day later, 27 in February, the information agency Flotprom again raised the topic of the repair of the nuclear submarine B-239 and, responding to the commentary from the Zvezdochka press service, published some new information. This time, allegedly, information was received from three more sources at the ship repair enterprise and two of the related organizations. From these unnamed persons, the journalists of Flotprom received additional information on the progress of work on the so-called. 3001 order.
According to the source of the news agency, in December, the maintenance of the steam generating plant of the Karp submarine was still going on. However, to date, even the issuance of repair orders has been terminated. The order is planned to be mothballed. In addition, this source confirmed the information about the work stopping due to lack of funding.
Another source, Flotprom, reported that all repair work on the submarine had been stopped on February 25, and there is no secret to this.
An interesting fact is that the third source of the information agency told a different version of the reasons for the suspension of repair work. According to him, in the near future, the Karp submarine was going to be brought into the workshop to continue repairs. However, the Zvezdochka Shipbuilding Center is currently implementing a project to modernize production facilities, and is also busy with the execution of other orders. For this reason, the Karp submarine cannot yet be brought into the workshop for the next stages of repair and modernization.
Also, Flotprom notes that, according to all three sources on Zvezdochka, funding for other orders did not stop, as a result of which the planned work continues without stopping and in accordance with existing plans.
Earlier, some domestic media reported that the repair and modernization of one submarine of the 945 “Barracuda” project would cost the military department approximately the same amount as the construction of the Yenen 885 multi-purpose nuclear submarine - Severodvinsk. The exact cost of construction of the latter is unknown, but in most of the estimates there is a figure of about 560 billion rubles. Thus, the version of Flotprom about the absence of the necessary financing looks quite plausible, since the project of repair and modernization of Karp and Kostroma can be extremely expensive.
Nevertheless, the press service of the Zvezdochka Shipbuilding Center has direct access to the enterprise and some information about its work. Thus, her messages look much more convincing than information from unnamed sources. From this it follows that repair work continues, and all existing problems, if any, are of a purely working nature and are not able to seriously affect the course of the order.
According to reports, the repair and modernization of two 945 submarines of the project have a high priority for several reasons. First of all, this reduction of labor costs and, as a result, the cost of new submarines due to the lack of need for the construction of new buildings. At the same time, new equipment and weapons should provide a significant increase in combat performance. In addition, the chosen approach will allow the preservation of unique titanium shells, the creation of which can be considered a real achievement of the domestic defense industry.
The durable case of titanium alloys has several advantages over steel. Due to the greater strength of the materials used, it was possible to develop a submarine with a reduced displacement, as well as with an increased immersion depth. The submarines of the 945 project are capable of diving to a depth of 600 m, which is about one and a half times the maximum submarine depth of some projects of the previous second generation. In addition, a titanium case having low magnetic properties is more difficult to detect with magnetometers and fuses of magnetic mines.
However, having a number of significant advantages, titanium as a submarine hull material loses to other alloys for the price. Due to the high cost of a robust hull, only two submarines of the 945 “Barracuda” project and two 945A “Condor” projects were built. In addition, one nuclear submarine of the 945B Mars project was laid, but the financial problems of the early nineties led to a halt in construction.
As follows from recent reports, the repair of the submarine "Karp" continues and goes on schedule. This means that in the absence of serious problems, this submarine will be able to return to the combat strength of the Northern Fleet already in the 2017 year. Then the Zvezdochka Shipbuilding Center will repair the Kostroma nuclear submarine, which will be built in the next few years. Thus, by the end of the decade, the Russian Navy will receive two upgraded 945 “Barracuda” submarines with new equipment and weapons installed in a titanium hull with unique characteristics.
On the materials of the sites:
http://flotprom.ru/
http://zvezdochka-ru.livejournal.com/
http://svpressa.ru/
http://flot.com/
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