A major obstacle in the design and construction work made a Ukrainian expert assert that the Russian Lider-class destroyer would not be complete ever.
According to Ukrainian military expert Yuriy Fedorenko from Defense Express, there are 5 reasons for the inability of the Russian Federation to implement its shipbuilding plan, making the Lider destroyer will forever be a model Figure
The first is the delay in the start of construction of the first ship, which has been observed since 2016. Mr. Fedorenko draws attention to the fact that now the Russians are talking vaguely about the start of the construction of the ship. Lider in 2021 – 2022.
“Who guarantees that the above deadline will not be changed again, even indefinitely when this is repeatedly pushed back,” the expert emphasized.
The second is the constant “hesitancy” of the designers regarding the functional characteristics of the ship. Fadorenko made it clear that the size, displacement and other parameters of the promising destroyer have changed several times.
At present, there is controversy about the size, configuration of weapons as well as whether to equip the ship with a conventional gas turbine engine or a nuclear reactor.
The Ukrainian expert is under the impression that the staff of the Severnoye Design Bureau JSC still simply did not have a concrete concept of what a frigate should be.
The third reason, the defense industry of the Russian Federation does not currently have the capabilities and strength to create such a floating ship in the far seas, since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, no 8,000-ton destroyer has been built yet. don’t say 19 thousands of tons like Lider.
“Severnaya Verf is the most suitable base for the construction of the ship, if the corresponding modernization had been carried out the work would have begun long ago.”
“However this is a dilemma, the modernization of the 30 billion Ruble facility will be completed no earlier than 2022. This means that the start date of construction of the first Lider is unlikely to happen in 2021. “, explained Mr. Fedorenko.
Fourth reason is the lack of capital when the cost of the destroyer Lider is estimated at 100 billion rubles at current prices. Given the precarious economic situation, it is certain that in the next few years, the final cost of the ship will increase significantly.
“In principle, the budget of the Russian Federation is practically insufficient to start the construction of a ship equivalent to the three-year budget (and in the future even more) of the Kostroma region.”
Fifth reason is the time, Mr. Fedorenko is very doubtful that the Russian side can comply with the new construction schedule. The Ukrainian expert believes that projects with uncertainty from a technical and financial point of view will inevitably fail.
“Obviously 100 billion rubles can turn into 200 billion rubles or more in the long run, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation is currently under budget cuts in terms of financial deficits. So the ship is very easy to fall into oblivion. “, expert Fedorenko summed up.
It is also worth noting that in April 2021, the General Director of the United Shipbuilding Corporation – Alexei Rakhmanov talked about the impracticality of building a frigate of the Lider project in the near future. according to the original intended configuration