"Surpasses ships of other countries": what makes the new generation of Russian minesweepers unique

The newest mine-sweeping ship of the Russian Navy "Yakov Balyaev" has covered over 12 thousand nautical miles, the press service of the Eastern Military District reports.

The vessel is heading to Vladivostok, where it is to undergo factory sea trials and state tests. 

Currently, the ship is in the port of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, where it will stay for several days to replenish water and fuel supplies.

The minesweeper is escorted by the sea tug "Antey".

“The new ship (“ Yakov Balyaev. ”-

) is designed to combat all types of modern sea mines and has a unique hull made of monolithic fiberglass, equipped with modern hydroacoustic stations and an automated mine action control system,” the Russian Defense Ministry's website says.

"Yakov Balyaev" is the fifth ship of Project 12700 "Alexandrite".

The minesweeper got its name in honor of Yakov Illarionovich Balyaev, machine gunner of the 355th separate battalion of the Pacific Fleet coastal defense marines, Hero of the Soviet Union.

During the Japanese campaign in August 1945, the sailor showed extraordinary ingenuity and courage in battles in the area of ​​the city of Seishin (now Chongjin, DPRK).

Balyaev covered the actions of Soviet intelligence officers with fire and at the cost of his life helped them to get out of the encirclement.

Invisible ship

The project of the newest minesweepers of the Russian Navy was developed within the walls of the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau.

Serial production of mine defense ships is deployed at the Sredne-Nevsky shipyard (SNSZ).

• Minesweeper "Yakov Balyaev" after launching

• © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

The ship's displacement is 890 tons, length - 62 m, width - 10 m, full speed - 16 knots, crew size - 44 people.

Project 12700 belongs to the new generation of the Navy's mine-sweeping forces. 

The main feature of the newest Russian minesweeper is that it is completely made of polymer composites.

In particular, the body is formed from monolithic fiberglass by vacuum infusion.

Previously, non-magnetic steel was used for the manufacture of mine defense ships.

Sredne-Nevsky shipyard became the first enterprise in the world to master the production of monolithic composite hulls of large dimensions.

In October 2019, in an interview with the Zvezda TV channel, SNSZ General Director Vladimir Seredokho said that the technologies and materials used by the enterprise in the production of the latest minesweepers make it possible to achieve high strength of all ship elements.

“By all mechanical parameters, our body and structures made by the method of vacuum infusion are either equal or superior to metal ones by about 10-15%,” Seredokho emphasized.

To create a unique hull for minesweepers of project 12700, polymer resin is poured onto sheets of fiberglass, which workers of SNSZ rub in with special rollers.

Foamed polymer sheets are another structural element.

Vacuum infusion allows you to create a working cavity with a reinforcing material (inner frame).

This method is considered less time consuming and more technologically advanced.

It improves the quality of the product while reducing the cost of production.

According to Seredokho, when all the layers of composite materials are joined together, the hull of the Alexandrite series ship acquires special strength.

In addition, the absence of steel and metals, according to the head of SNSZ, makes the ship invisible to modern sea mines, which react to physical fields, including electromagnetic.

The military also praised the design features of the new minesweeper.

According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the hull of the Project 12700 ship is much lighter than its metal counterparts.

At the same time, the strength indicators are noticeably higher.

“Such a case is not afraid of corrosion, and the service life is practically unlimited if the operating standards are observed.

In addition to high strength and low weight, the advantages of the composite hull include its non-magnetic properties, which ensures greater survivability of the ship when searching for mines, ”the RF military department said.

• Mine defense ship "Georgy Kurbatov"

• © JSC "Sredne-Nevsky Shipbuilding Plant"

Another advantage of the Alexandrite series minesweeper is its weapons and equipment.

The ship searches for mines using several means: a subkeeping sonar station, one towed vehicle, two underwater drones and an unmanned boat "Inspector".

As the military and specialists of the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau say, the crew of a modern minesweeper must use a variety of detection systems because of the significant progress in improving sea mines.

Explosive devices are hard to find, as they are often placed by the enemy at the bottom and can stay there for decades.

Also, modern mines are equipped with proximity fuses, which almost unmistakably react to the magnetic, hydroacoustic and dynamic fields of submarines and ships.

When fixing a target, they rise from the bottom to defeat it.

If a mine is found under water, Alexandrite destroys it with a trawl, and if it is on the surface or floats, the crew uses the AK-306 six-barreled automatic artillery mount or the Kord heavy machine gun with a belt feed.

“The armament of the Project 12700 ship allows it to completely calmly carry out its main task - the search and elimination of bottom mines, which are a very insidious weapon.

Mines have different guidance systems, but the minesweeper is designed in such a way that it has minimal physical fields, "Dmitry Litovkin, editor of the newspaper Nezavisimoye Voennoye Obozreniye, explained in a conversation with RT.

Currently, five minesweepers have been built: "Alexander Obukhov", "Ivan Antonov", "Georgy Kurbatov", "Vladimir Emelyanov" and "Yakov Balyaev".

Three more were laid: "Pyotr Ilyichev", "Anatoly Shlemov" and "Lev Chernavin".

The SNSZ management intends to increase the rate of production of ships of the project 12700.

"Made with the latest technology"

In October 2019, in an interview with the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper, the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, Admiral Nikolai Evmenov, said that the ships of Project 12700 "have no analogues in the world."

According to him, the new minesweepers "are distinguished by increased strength, maneuverability and survivability."

The uniqueness of the Russian minesweepers was also confirmed by Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov when he visited the Sredne-Nevsky shipyard last year.

He stressed that "Alexandrite" has "the best characteristics and surpasses in its capabilities similar ships of other countries."

In an interview with RT, Admiral Igor Kasatonov, adviser to the chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, ex-commander of the Black Sea Fleet, said that the project 12700 ship possesses modern equipment that provides high search performance (the size of the surveyed area per unit of time).

• Mine defense ship project 12700

• © JSC "Sredne-Nevsky Shipbuilding Plant"

"Alexandrite" is made according to the latest technologies, which made it possible to reduce its physical fields.

This minesweeper has equipment of the fourth and fifth generations, which makes it possible to solve serious problems both alone and in a group of ships, "Kasatonov emphasized.

In turn, Dmitry Litovkin noted that the operation of Project 12700 ships plays an important role in protecting Russia's naval bases and ensuring the combat deployment of nuclear submarines and Navy ships.

The expert also drew attention to the increased survivability of the Alexandrites.

“It is important that this minesweeper has qualities that allow it to remain safe when entering an area where mines are planted.

Mines can react to metal, to the ship's electromagnetic field, to noise characteristics, but the Project 12700 vessel has all this reduced to a minimum, ”Litovkin summed up.