Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev expects project 10510 Lider nuclear-powered icebreakers to enter series production after 2030.
In an interview with Vesti on October 21, Likhachev contrasted the programme with project 22220, whose icebreakers are already being built in series. He said the Lider design, "is now already being implemented at what is effectively the final stage of construction at the Zvezda shipyard in the Far East," according to the broadcaster.
The lead vessel, Rossiya, is under construction at Zvezda in Bolshoy Kamen, Primorsky Krai. Atomflot said in June that the icebreaker is scheduled to be launched in March 2028 and handed over in December 2029. The designer's original programme had listed 2027 for delivery of the lead ship.
First steel for Rossiya was cut in July 2020, and her keel was laid on November 24 of that year.
The project 22220 series continues at Baltic Shipyard, where the fifth vessel, Chukotka, has had its commissioning deadline moved to 2027.
Lider is intended for year-round escort of merchant ships exceeding 100,000 DWT along the full length of the Northern Sea Route, including the eastern Arctic sector.
The design is approximately 209 metres long, with a beam of 47.7 metres and a displacement of about 71,380 tonnes.
Two RITM-400 reactors provide 120 MW of propulsion power, which the designer says will allow the icebreaker to proceed through two-metre ice at 15 knots and to cut a channel approximately 50 metres wide.
