Rejection of German engines on the "Ivan Papanin" military icebreaker: from import substitution to serial production

The use of Russian equipment on the "Ivan Papanin" military icebreaker has made it possible to launch the serial production of Project 23550 ships, according to Boris Leikis, chief designer of the project at the Central Marine Design Bureau (CMDB) "Almaz."

According to the chief designer of the "Almaz" Central Marine Design Bureau, specialists abandoned the use of German diesel engines and rudder propellers. It was decided to use only Russian components.

The "Ivan Papanin" patrol ship was built for the Russian Navy at the Admiralty Shipyards. Its construction was carried out with maximum import substitution.

The Project 23550 ship was launched in 2019. In July 2024, the "Ivan Papanin" successfully passed sea trials in the Baltic Sea.

Characteristics of the "Ivan Papanin" ship:

• Displacement — about 9 thousand tons.
• Length — 114.5 m
• Width — 19.5 m.
• Speed — 10 knots (economic), 18 knots (full) in clear water.
• Cruising range — 10,000 miles at 10 knots (more than 18 thousand km).
• Endurance — 70 days.
• Crew — 49 people (main) + 47 people (additional).

Armament of the "Ivan Papanin" patrol ship includes:

• Artillery — 1 × 76.2-mm AK-176MA automatic naval gun.
• Anti-aircraft artillery — 2 × 30-mm AK-630M automatic guns ("Ermak"), 4 × 12.7-mm "Kord" machine guns ("Ermak").
• Missile armament — 8 Igla or Verba MANPADS.

The ship can also be equipped with Kalibr-K cruise missiles or Uran anti-ship missiles.

Read more on the topic:

• "Breaks not only ice": The National Interest analyst admired the characteristics of the Russian "Ivan Papanin" combat icebreaker
• To protect the Russian Arctic and ships on the Northern Sea Route: Russia is building new military bases and warships
• Admiralty Shipyards will complete the construction of the Dzerzhinsky icebreaker of Project 23550