Shortly before the BRICS summit, where President of Russia Vladimir Putin met with Prime Minister of the Republic of India Narendra Modi, CEO Rubin Design Bureau Igor Vilnit had given an interview to the leading defence magazine in India Vayu Aerospace & Defence Review.
- How are the relations nurtured between Rubin Design Bureau and India since years?
- Rubin is pride to be part and parcel of Indian submarine fleet development. Next year it will be 60 years since the agreement was signed for construction for India of four large diesel-electric submarines of Kalvari-class developed by Rubin. Pretty much, we were receiving training together because it was the first submarine for India and as for Rubin Design Bureau and Admiralty Shipyard in Leningrad (today St. Petersburg), where the submarines were built, it was the first submarine constructed as required by a foreign customer.
When Rubin had designed the Kilo class - one of the most successful classes among non-nuclear submarines in the 20th century - India retained for Russia the position of priority partner. A large series of these submarines was delivered to the Indian Navy. What's interesting, India is the first foreign customer who received boats with the Club-S missile system. An advanced level of automation in the final of the series - INS Sindhushastra - made it then the most state-of-the-art submarine in the world among diesel-electric boats.
In recent years, Rubin renders assistance in service life extension of Project 877EKM including installation of Indian-made equipment. That`s why, we are fully aware of the situation in the fast-growing shipbuilding industry of India.
A new interesting trend has now appeared in our cooperation. Rosoboronexport (Russian State Intermediary) and Rubin discuss opportunities for AUV joint design with the Indian Side. We had multiple contacts on this point, Indian representatives visited Rubin, and we described our expertise. Availability of AUVs is of great interest for awareness of the situation in the ocean as well as exploration/mining of mineral resources. The Indian Ocean is very deep, its average depth is about 3700 metres, maximum depth is over 7700 metres, therefore to conduct multifaceted activities in this ocean, deep-water AUVs and AUVs with high endurance are required, and this is the domain where Rubin works.
We designed and manufactured a number of deep-water AUVs. In 2020, our deep-water autonomous unmanned vehicle Vityaz-D was the first in the world to perform a mission in the Mariana Trench. Descending by 10028 metres, Vityaz-D passed three kilometres above the trench bottom. The mission lasted for three hours, and Vityaz-D acted on its own all this time. Project Vityaz-D allowed us to make a major step in the development of AI control systems and in introduction of new structural materials. At the ARMY-2024 show, we demonstrate AUV from the Argus family. Its depth rating is 1 km, 3 km and 6 km depending on customer's tasks. The first in Russia AUV with detachable payload - Argus-D - is also shown at ARMY-2024.
- How is Rubin Design Bureau supporting the Indian Navy in maintenance activities and infrastructure development in the maritime domain?
- Today's world situation imposes certain restrictions but I can mention only that we fulfil our contractual obligations. We know well that timely repair and upgrade contributes to a long service of any ship. Normally, time till the first medium refit of the boat is ten years, in ten years more next medium refit takes place with the service life being extended up to ten years depending on the state of the hull and main systems. Our unrivalled expertise of repairs with extension of service life proves that the submarine can service in the Navy up to 40 years and even longer.
- Are there negotiations still underway with India to Project 75I? Is there any alternative planned to be pitched to India after withdrawing the earlier offer?
- Any negotiations with a foreign customer are conducted by the Russian Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation and Rosoboronexport, whose leaders time and again stated that India is a preferred partner for our country. As for Rubin, we are open to cooperate with Indian industry and Navy in the context of policy "Make in India" and "Self-reliant India".
- Has Rubin Design Bureau collaborated or in talks with Indian firms for joint development of Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) systems or similar maritime technology for future Indian submarines and naval vessels?
- Representatives of Indian Navy command, DRDO management and other Indian experts were acquainted with our AIP technology. We are also familiar with Indian technology and inform on our readiness to help in Indian AIP plant integration into the submarine design and render assistance in its development. It's up to Indian Navy to decide. Indian mass media are discussing now whether a Li-ion battery is able to become an alternative to AIP plant, therefore let me note that Rubin has in the works new non-nuclear submarines with different power plant versions including Li-ion batteries.
- Are there Rubin products deployed in the Black Sea? If yes, can you share some highlights on their combat performance?
Russian non-nuclear submarines are the only ones in the world, from which salvo firing in combat conditions was performed. Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy in 2019-2024, many times touched on the high combat performance of Project 636 submarines. The Russian Ministry of Defence informed on successful fulfilment of assigned tasks in the Black and Mediterranean Seas.
- With the current orderbook and timeline of submarine deliveries, for how long Rubin will be fulfilling navel requirements of the Russian Navy?
- Rubin has been fulfilling orders of the Russian Navy for 123 years now, and we believe that Rubin will be doing such works for at least the same period of time. The point is that any design agency works continuously because creating submarines differs from creating other types of weapon systems. Construction of serial ships starts before the trials of the lead unit are completed. When the submarine series is being built it is necessary to take into account the appearance of new equipment especially electronics. It means that we together with the Customer and suppliers make each next ship more modern than the previous one, at the same time observing a pace of construction. In addition, proposals regarding optimisation for follow-on boats come out from the trial results of the lead unit. All the above-mentioned is going on under designer's support. And what is more, the designing process of next generation begins before the previous generation ships have joined the Navy. Rubin specialists support the construction of both non-nuclear and nuclear submarines of the fourth generation simultaneously and have already started working on the fifth-generation submarines.
- What is the status of the Border and Offshore submersible Sentry (BOSS) vessel, which was unveiled in 2021? Are there any talks with foreign nations as well?
- In 2022, we proposed the second version of BOSS with better functionality, more powerful propulsion plant and maximum amount of weapon. Now, we are working towards a detailed featuring of BOSS to foreign customers. In recent years, the trend to increase the number of patrol vessels having various stealth technologies is obvious. The second trend is to enhance functionality due to a modular design of project. A related trend is the emergence of larger ships operated as patrol vessels with the potential to be upgraded to "light frigates" if required.
Combination of these trends in a new way - due to making the patrol vessel submersible - is a main idea of the BOSS. Submerged condition provides for an absolute radar stealthiness and makes it possible to create an asymmetric threat even for larger combat ships.
We are looking forward to cooperation with Indian partners in this area. Indian shipyards build patrol vessels both for the Indian Navy and for export. Thus, we can be partners in development of BOSS-type vessels for the Indian Navy or the Coast Guard as well as for markets of third countries. It is possible to install systems of other developers in the vessel (both Indian ones and of third countries) taking into account design constraints on weight, volume, power consumption, etc. First-priority task for Rubin when working on this Project was development of a multi-mission platform. Principal dimensions, layout, type and power of propulsion plant were put together in such a way to make BOSS a carryall truck, whose body can be filled with various payloads. The payload determines its intended use to a considerable extent:
If BOSS takes onboard RHIBs and boarding teams, the customer will receive a patrol vessel (OPV).
If several UAVs are embarked, it will be a vessel for inspection of vast areas, for example, search of those in distress.
If several UUVs are loaded in the vessel, mine hunting or bottom mapping activities can be conducted.
During conflict escalation, BOSS even in basic configuration can be used for covert intelligence and SOF delivery. Availability of additional units (torpedo tubes, sonar system, etc.) will enable its more extensive use under these conditions. This multi-mission capability is useful in peacetime but it will be particularly demanded in tension time when each and every ship counts.
Vayu Aerospace & Defence Review № V/2024
https://www.vayuaerospace.in/Issue/202410081102561505.pdf