Will Break Even Arctic's Perennial Ice - What is Known About the "Russia" Nuclear Icebreaker

New sketches have appeared online of the lead nuclear icebreaker of the new Project 10510 (Leader), which is being built in the Far East. It is named "Russia" and is scheduled to be commissioned in 2027.

The "Russia" and other icebreakers of this project have no analogues - and not only because they are designed and built only by Russian specialists. The Leader project, the lead icebreaker of which was laid down in July 2020, will be the first among all ships in its category in terms of a number of parameters:

• this icebreaker has an unlimited cruising range and is able to independently provide the crew with provisions for eight months;
• the "heart" of the "Leader" is two new RITM-400 nuclear power plants with a capacity of 315 MW each, for the RITM-400 the tests of the compensating group rods have already been completed. This power is 1.8 times greater than that of the RITM-200 reactors, which are now being installed on the universal nuclear icebreakers of Project 22220 (Chukotka, Yakutia);
• Project 10510 has a special design with hull contours. Together with the power on the screws of 120MW, this will allow the icebreaker to easily overcome Arctic ice more than 4 meters thick - and even perennial pack ice during the winter navigation period. With such an icebreaker, the Northern Sea Route will easily become an international transport artery, significantly shortening the route from European ports to the ports of the Far East and Southeast Asia.

The length of the icebreaker - "Leader" is about 209 meters, width - about 47.7 meters. Displacement - about 71,380 tons, like several nuclear submarines at once. The nuclear-powered ship will ensure the patency in ice of large-capacity transport ships with a cargo weight of more than one hundred tons and a width of about fifty meters.

The speed will be about 15 knots - this is about 27.78 land kilometers. But provided that the ice is about two meters thick, otherwise - a little slower. With ice 4.3 meters thick, a speed of 2 knots is predicted - this is 3.7 kilometers per hour in land equivalent.