Project 22220, also known through the Russian type size series designation LK-60Ya,The type size series designation "LK-60Ya" () comes from the

Russian language Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...

word for "icebreaker" (), propulsion power (60 megawatts), and the first letter of the Russian word for "nuclear" (). is a series of Russian

nuclear-powered icebreaker A nuclear-powered icebreaker is an icebreaker with an Nuclear marine propulsion, onboard nuclear power plant that produces power for the vessel's propulsion system. Although more expensive to operate, nuclear-powered icebreakers provide a number ...

s. The lead ship of the class, ''Arktika'', was delivered in 2020 and surpassed the preceding Soviet-built series of nuclear-powered icebreakers as the largest and most powerful icebreaker in the world. , four Project 22220 icebreakers (''Arktika'', ''Sibir'', ''Ural'' and ''Yakutiya'') are in service, a fifth ( ''Chukotka'') has been launched, a sixth (''

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

'') has been

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

Baltic Shipyard The OJSC Baltic Shipyard (''Baltiysky Zavod'', formerly Shipyard 189 named after Grigoriy Ordzhonikidze) () is one of the oldest shipyards in Russia and is part of United Shipbuilding Corporation today. It is located in Saint Petersburg in th ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, and a seventh (''

Stalingrad Volgograd,. geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area o ...

'') is under construction.

Development

LK-60Ya

After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

launched an ambitious marine transportation development program with the intention of turning the ice-covered

Northern Sea Route The Northern Sea Route (NSR) (, shortened to Севморпуть, ''Sevmorput'') is a shipping route about long. The Northern Sea Route (NSR) is the shortest shipping route between the western part of Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific region. Ad ...

into a navigable shipping route which could be then used to extract natural resources from the Arctic. This included replacing the obsolete steam-powered icebreakers with more powerful diesel-electric vessels and culminated with the construction of the first nuclear-powered icebreaker in the late 1950s. The second phase, which began in the early 1970s and continued until the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

, further expanded the Soviet icebreaker fleet with additional nuclear- and diesel-powered icebreakers that enabled uninterrupted year-round operation in the western part of the Northern Sea Route as well as extended the navigating season in the eastern sector. In the 1980s, studies by the Central Marine Research and Design Institute (CNIIMF) and the

Central Design Bureau "Iceberg" Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

resulted in "icebreaker type size series" ranging from 7-megawatt auxiliary icebreakers (LK-7) to a 110-megawatt nuclear-powered "icebreaker-leaders" (LK-110Ya). One of the proposed new icebreaker classes, LK-60Ya, was developed as a direct replacement for the previous-generation ''Arktika''-class nuclear-powered icebreakers which had entered service in the late 1970s and seen widespread use in the Russian Arctic. In addition to operating as heavy line icebreakers along the full length of the Northern Sea Route from Murmansk all the way to the

Bering Strait The Bering Strait ( , ; ) is a strait between the Pacific and Arctic oceans, separating the Chukchi Peninsula of the Russian Far East from the Seward Peninsula of Alaska. The present Russia–United States maritime boundary is at 168° 58' ...

, the new 60-megawatt icebreakers would also replace the shallow-draft nuclear-powered icebreakers ''Taymyr'' and ''Vaygach'' on the

Dudinka Dudinka (; Nenets: Тут'ын, ''Tutꜧyn'') is a town on the Yenisei River and the administrative center of Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It used to be the administrative center of Taymyr Autonomous Okrug, ...

Murmansk Murmansk () is a port city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast in the far Far North (Russia), northwest part of Russia. It is the world's largest city north of the Arctic Circle and sits on both slopes and banks of a modest fjord, Ko ...

route which included icebreaking operations in the

Yenisey The Yenisey or Yenisei ( ; , ) is the list of rivers by length, fifth-longest river system in the world, and the largest to drain into the Arctic Ocean. Rising in Mungaragiyn-gol in Mongolia, it follows a northerly course through Lake Baikal a ...

river

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime enviro ...

. The latter operation was made possible by the novel dual-draft functionality, ability to de-ballast the vessel when approaching shallow coastal areas. Other technical characteristics of the next-generation nuclear-powered icebreakers were drawn from the Russians' extensive operational experience from Arctic shipping. For example, it was determined that in order to ensure reliable year-round navigation in the western part of the Northern Sea Route, LK-60Ya would have to be capable of breaking at least ice, an improvement over the old ''Arktika''s icebreaking capability. In addition, escorting Russian Arctic cargo ships such as the then-common SA-15 type safely and efficiently in heavy ice conditions would require an icebreaker with a beam of and a displacement of . While traffic volumes along the Northern Sea Route declined drastically in the early 1990s due to the slowdown of the Russian economy, an ambitious fleet renewal program was nonetheless launched under the presidential program ''Revival of the Merchant Fleet of Russia (1993–2000)''. In the end, none of the planned icebreakers were built and the follow-up federal program ''Modernization of the transport system of Russia (2002–2010)'' included funding for the construction of only two new diesel-electric icebreakers in addition to completing the unfinished ''Arktika''-class icebreaker ''

50 Let Pobedy ''50 Let Pobedy'' (; "50 Years of Victory", referring to the anniversary of victory of the Soviet Union in World War II) is a Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker. The ship was laid down in the Soviet Union in 1989, and construction was halted b ...

'' and starting the preliminary design development of the next generation nuclear-powered icebreakers.

Project 22220

Although the preliminary design had been developed already in the late 1980s, the final technical design of LK-60Ya was completed in 2009 by Central Design Bureau "Iceberg" as Project22220. The construction of the

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships that are all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very comple ...

was awarded to

-based

, part of the

state-owned State ownership, also called public ownership or government ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, property, or enterprise by the national government of a country or state, or a public body representing a community, as opposed to ...

United Shipbuilding Corporation JSC United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC; , ОСК) is an open joint stock company in Russia which unites shipbuilding, repair and maintenance subsidiaries in western and northern Russia, and in the country's Far East, to streamline civilian ship ...

, in August 2012 with a contract price of 36.959 billion

rubles The ruble or rouble (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is a currency unit. Currently, currencies named ''ruble'' in circulation include the Russian ruble (RUB, ₽) in Russia and the Belarusian ruble (BYN, Rbl) in Belarus. These currencies are su ...

(about US$1.16 billion). A 84.4 billion ruble (about US$2.4 billion) follow-up contract for two additional vessels was signed in May 2014 and a second contract, worth over 100 billion rubles (about US$1.5 billion), for two more in August 2019. In January 2023, the Russian government allocated 58.9 billion rubles (about US$820 million) for financing 50% of the construction of two additional Project 22220 icebreakers and the shipbuilding contract was signed on 2 February. With the Project22220 icebreakers under construction, focus was to have moved to the development of even larger and more powerful nuclear-powered icebreakers known as Project 10510 "Leader" (), with the first ship expected to be commissioned in 2027. However, in early 2023, additional Project 10510 vessels appeared to have been cancelled in favour of two additional Project 22220 ships.

Construction

The construction of the first Project22220 icebreaker began with a steel cutting ceremony on 1 November 2012 and the keel of the

of the class was laid on the

slipway A slipway, also known as boat ramp or launch or boat deployer, is a ramp on the shore by which ships or boats can be moved to and from the water. They are used for building and repairing ships and boats, and for launching and retrieving smal ...

on 5 November 2013. In a

launching ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly constructed location or the start of an event.

on 16 June 2016, the icebreaker was named ''Arktika'' () after the first surface ship to reach the North Pole that was in service in 1975–2008. While initially scheduled for delivery by December 2017, the construction of the lead Project22220 icebreaker fell behind schedule due to problems related to the delivery of domestically-sourced components. ''Arktika'' began the first stage of sea trials in

Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland (; ; ; ) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and Estonia to the south, to Saint Petersburg—the second largest city of Russia—to the east, where the river Neva drains into it. ...

under diesel power on 12 December 2019 and returned to Saint Petersburg two days later. The next sea trials, during which the vessel would be tested under nuclear power for the first time, commenced on 23 June and concluded on 13 July. Shortly after completing the final sea trials by mid-September, ''Arktika'' sailed from Saint Petersburg to Murmansk via the North Pole where the icebreaker arrived on 3 October. The flag-raising ceremony marking the vessel's entry to service was held in Murmansk on 21 October 2020. The keel of the second Project22220 icebreaker (referred to as the "first serial ship" of the class in Russia) was laid on 26 May 2015. The icebreaker was launched as ''Sibir'' () on 22 September 2017. Previously, the name had been used on the second ''Arktika''-class icebreaker that was in service in 1977–1992. As with the lead ship, the problems with equipment delivery have postponed the delivery of the vessel from 2018 to late 2021. ''Sibir'' left for first sea trials on 16 November 2021 and returned to Saint Petersburg at the end of the month. After second sea trials, ''Sibir'' was delivered to Atomflot on 24 December 2021. The vessel began icebreaking operations in the Kara Sea in January 2022. The keel-laying ceremony of the third ("second serial") Project22220 icebreaker was held on 25 July 2016 shortly after the partially-assembled hull of ''Sibir'' had been moved down the

for final hull assembly. The vessel was launched on 27 May 2019 as ''Ural'' (; after the

Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains ( ),; , ; , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range in Eurasia that runs north–south mostly through Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the river Ural (river), Ural and northwestern Kazakhstan.

). The name had previously been selected for the final ''Arktika''-class icebreaker when it was laid down in 1989, but during the construction the vessel was renamed ''

'' (). The delivery of the vessel, initially scheduled for 2020, was postponed first to 2021 and then to late 2022. After completing sea trials between 14 and 31 October 2022, the flag-raising ceremony was held on ''Ural'' on 22 November 2022. The icebreaker left for its homeport, Murmansk, on the following day. Keel of the fourth ("third serial") Project22220 icebreaker was laid down on 26 May 2020 and the vessel was launched on 22 November 2022. The vessel, delivered on 28 December 2024, is named ''Yakutiya'' (; after the

Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) Sakha may refer to: * Sakha Republic, a federal subject of Russia * Sakha language, or Yakut, a Turkic language * Sakha people, also Yakuts, a Turkic people * Sakha scripts, writing systems for the Sakha language * Sakha, Egypt, a town also known ...

). The keel-laying ceremony of the fifth ("fourth serial") Project 22220 icebreaker, ''Chukotka'' (; after

Chukotka Autonomous Okrug Chukotka ( ; ), officially the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, is the easternmost federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia. It is an Autonomous okrugs of Russia, autonomous okrug situated in the Russian Far East, and shares a border wi ...

), was held on 16 December 2020 and the vessel was launched on 6 November 2024. The sixth ("fifth serial") Project 22220 icebreaker was initially to be named ''Kamchatka'' (; after the

Kamchatka Peninsula The Kamchatka Peninsula (, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and western coastlines, respectively. Immediately offshore along the Pacific ...

), but in November 2023 it was announced that they would be instead named ''Leningrad'' () to commemorate the

Siege of Leningrad The siege of Leningrad was a Siege, military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the city of Leningrad (present-day Saint Petersburg) in the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front of World War II from 1941 t ...

. The keel-laying ceremony of the vessel was held on 26 January 2024. The construction of the seventh ("sixth serial") Project 22220 icebreaker began with a steel cutting ceremony on 7 May 2025. The vessel was initially to be named ''Sakhalin'' (; after the

Sakhalin island Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, p=səxɐˈlʲin) is an island in Northeast Asia. Its north coast lies off the southeastern coast of Khabarovsk Krai in Russia, while its southern tip lies north of the Japanese island of Hokkaido. An islan ...

), but as with the preceding vessel, the name was changed to ''Stalingrad'' () to commemorate the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad ; see . rus, links=on, Сталинградская битва, r=Stalingradskaya bitva, p=stəlʲɪnˈɡratskəjə ˈbʲitvə. (17 July 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, ...

Design

General characteristics

Project 22220 icebreakers are between

long overall Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, and is also u ...

and about at design waterline. While the maximum

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

is , at design waterline the width of the hull reduces to due to inclined sides. In order to be able to operate efficiently both in shallow Arctic river estuaries as well as along the Northern Sea Route, the draught of the Project 22220 icebreakers can be varied by taking in and discharging

ballast water Ballast is weight placed low in ships to lower their centre of gravity, which increases stability (more technically, to provide a righting moment (physics), moment to resist any Heeling (sailing), heeling moment on the Hull (watercraft), hull). I ...

. Originally designed with an operational draught range of , the official minimum operational draught has since increased first to and later to . However, due to excess weight, the minimum achievable draught is actually about . At the original minimum draught of , the icebreakers have a displacement of about while the full load displacement at design draught is between . In terms of size, Project 22220 icebreakers are longer and wider than ''

'', previously the world's largest icebreaker, and at full load have about one third greater displacement. The

ice class Ice class refers to a notation assigned by a classification society or a national authority to denote the additional level of strengthening as well as other arrangements that enable a ship to navigate through sea ice. Some ice classes also have ...

of Project 22220 icebreakers, ''Icebreaker9'', is the highest assigned by the

Russian Maritime Register of Shipping The Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RMRS) () maintains a ship registration, ship register of the Russia, Russian Federation, based in Saint Petersburg, and is a marine classification society. Its activities aim to enhance safety of naviga ...

(RMRS) and allows operation in up to thick ice during the winter and spring navigating period.

Power, propulsion and performance

Like the preceding Russian nuclear-powered icebreakers since the 1959-built ''

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

'', Project22220 icebreakers feature a nuclear-turbo-electric powertrain in which

nuclear reactor A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a Nuclear fission, fission nuclear chain reaction. They are used for Nuclear power, commercial electricity, nuclear marine propulsion, marine propulsion, Weapons-grade plutonium, weapons ...

s produce steam for

turbogenerator A turbo generator is an electric generator connected to the shaft of a turbine (water, steam, or gas) for the generation of electric power. Large steam-powered turbo generators provide the majority of the world's electricity and are also u ...

s which, in turn, generate electrical power for propulsion motors driving the ship's propellers. The onboard nuclear power plant consists of two

RITM-200 The RITM-200 is an integrated Generation III+ pressurized water reactor developed by OKBM Afrikantov and designed to produce 55 MWe. The design is an improvement of KLT-40S reactor. It uses up to 20% enriched uranium-235 and can be refueled eve ...

pressurized water reactor A pressurized water reactor (PWR) is a type of light-water nuclear reactor. PWRs constitute the large majority of the world's nuclear power plants (with notable exceptions being the UK, Japan, India and Canada). In a PWR, water is used both as ...

s with a thermal output of 175 each. The reactors, developed by

OKBM Afrikantov OKBM Afrikantov (full name: OAO I. I. Afrikantov OKB Mechanical Engineering, ) is a nuclear engineering company located in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. It is a subsidiary of Rosatom. The company is named after Igor Afrikantov, and is best kno ...

, use up to 20% enriched

Uranium-235 Uranium-235 ( or U-235) is an isotope of uranium making up about 0.72% of natural uranium. Unlike the predominant isotope uranium-238, it is fissile, i.e., it can sustain a nuclear chain reaction. It is the only fissile isotope that exists in nat ...

and, when operating with a

capacity factor The net capacity factor is the unitless ratio of actual electrical energy output over a given period of time to the theoretical maximum electrical energy output over that period. The theoretical maximum energy output of a given installation is def ...

of 0.65, require refueling every seven years over a 40-year planned service life. The external dimensions of the two-reactor plant located amidships are and it weighs . Two main turbogenerators produced by Kirov-Energomash each generate 36megawatts of electrical power at 3,000rpm. The propulsion system of Project22220 icebreakers follows the classic polar icebreaker pattern with three shaft lines and a single rudder. The four-bladed fixed pitch propellers, each driven by a electric motor, are made of

stainless steel Stainless steel, also known as inox, corrosion-resistant steel (CRES), or rustless steel, is an iron-based alloy that contains chromium, making it resistant to rust and corrosion. Stainless steel's resistance to corrosion comes from its chromi ...

and weigh about apiece. With a total propulsion power of , Project22220 icebreakers supersede the ''Yamal'' and ''50 Let Pobedy'' — the two remaining ''Arktika''-class icebreakers in service — as the world's most powerful icebreakers. Project 22220 icebreakers are designed to be capable of breaking thick level ice at a continuous speed of at full power when operating in deep water at design draught. In open water, the icebreakers can achieve a speed of .

Ships in class

Notes

References

{{Nuclear-powered icebreakers