Russia Orders Two ‘Manul’ Hovercrafts for Patrol Icebreakers

Russian Petersburg JSC, Central Design Bureau, Neptune will build two hovercrafts or air-cushion ships (SVP), ‘Manul’ for patrol icebreakers of project 23350 for the Ministry of Defense.

The two hovercrafts will be built at the Admiralty Shipyards, Konstantin Kuksin, General Director of the Design Bureau was quoted as saying by Kommersant Friday.

The air-cushion ship (SVP) "Manul" was developed on the basis of the SVP "Pardus", also created by the Central Design Bureau "Neptune". According to Kuksin, the bureau has designed and built three "Pardusas", two of which have been created for the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

The difference "Manul" from the basic model will be a reinforced case made of aluminium and composite armor. The main "Manul" has already been laid on the production site of the Central Design Bureau located in the territory of the Northern Shipyard. It will be put on the head patrol ship "Ivan Papanin", laid in the Admiralty shipyards in the spring. The second SVP is intended for the ship "Nikolai Zubov", the bookmark of which is planned for the next year. 

The first SVP, according to Kuksin, will be delivered to the Admiralty Shipyards in the second quarter of 2019. A long period of construction is due to the construction and testing of the boat, which is manufactured for the first time. The general director of the Central Design Bureau did not disclose the price of the contract, citing the ban on disclosure of information about the state defense order. 

As follows from the data on the site of state purchases, the Admiralty shipyards will pay the manufacturer of "Manulov" 222.44 million rubles. Thus, one SVP will cost the Defense Ministry at 111.22 million rubles. The second one will be delivered no later than February 1, 2021. Cutters are assigned factory building numbers 02460 and 02461.

The icebreaker patrol ships of Project 23350 are designed to protect and monitor Arctic water resources. On board each patrol icebreaker, two Raptor-type combat boats will also be built, which will be built by the private Pella shipyard. As explained by the interlocutors of Kommersant in the industry, air-cushion boats are needed for landing operations in cases when the Raptors cannot come close to the shore because of the edge of the ice or shoal.