In the second half of April, the Sredne-Nevsky Shipbuilding Plant (part of JSC USC) will launch Project 12700 mine defense ship “Lev Chernavin” and lay the keel of mitry Lysov of project 12700 for the Russian Navy.
Vladimir Seredokho, General Director of the Sredne-Nevsky Shipbuilding Plant, reported to the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, Admiral Nikolai Evmenov, about the preparation of the ship for launching.
It is planned that the ceremony of launching the ship “Lev Chernavin” will be attended by: representatives of the High Command of the Navy, the leadership of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, the management of the Sredne-Nevsky Shipbuilding Plant, the Central Marine Design Bureau “Almaz”, representatives of the administration of St. Petersburg, veterans and shipbuilders .
Also, the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, Admiral Nikolai Evmenov, heard information from the management of the Sredne-Nevsky Shipbuilding Plant and reports from the heads of the specialized military administration bodies of the High Command of the Navy on preparations for the laying of the next mine defense ship “Dmitry Lysov” in June this year.
“The Lev Chernavin mine defense ship is being built as part of the program to equip the mine-sweeping forces of the Navy. To this end, serial construction of ships of this project has been launched at the Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard. Project 12700 ships have already proven their effectiveness in practice and have a number of unique characteristics,” said Admiral Nikolai Evmenov, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy.
Project 12700 “Alexandrite” was developed by the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau (part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation). These ships belong to a new generation of mine-sweeping forces and are designed to deal with sea mines, which new PMO ships can detect both in the water of sea areas and in the sea soil without entering the danger zone. To combat mines, ships can use various types of trawls, as well as remote-controlled and autonomous uninhabited underwater vehicles.
During the construction of these ships at the Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard, the latest Russian technologies are used, which have no analogues in the world shipbuilding. The ships of this project have a unique, the world’s largest hull made of monolithic fiberglass, formed by vacuum infusion. Compared to metal, the weight of the composite case is 20 percent lower. It has high strength, is not affected by aggressive chemical environments and corrosion, and the service life, subject to operating standards, is unlimited. Other advantages of the composite hull include its non-magnetic nature, which ensures greater survivability of the ship when searching for mines.
According to the plans of the High Command of the Russian Navy, in the short term, new-generation PMO ships will form the basis of the mine-sweeping forces of the Russian Navy fleets, significantly increasing the efficiency of missions.
“By order of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and the Russian Navy, the development of sets of repair and technical documentation and documentation for many other types of maintenance of Project 12700 ships, as well as surface ships of other projects, is carried out by the 51st Central Design and Technological Institute of Ship Repair. Along with this, the employees of the Institute regularly conduct classes on this documentation with the crews of new ships arriving for training at the Joint Training Center of the Navy in St. Petersburg, ”said Georgy, General Director of the 51st Central Design and Technology Institute of Ship Repair Moore.
Project 12700 “Alexandrite” mine defense ships have a displacement of about 890 tons, a length of about 62 meters, a width of about 10 meters, a full speed of about 16 knots, a crew of 44 people, reports the Department of Information and Mass Communications of the Russian Defense Ministry.
US Army photo