Project 10510 Icebreaker
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Project 10510, also known through the Russian type size series designations LK-110Ya and LK-120YaThe type size series designation "LK-110Ya" () and "LK-120Ya" () 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 (110 or 120 megawatts), and the first letter of the Russian word for "nuclear" ().
or the project name Leader (), is a planned series of
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
n
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. Designed in the 2010s, when built in the 2020s, it would supersede Project 22220 icebreakers as the largest and most powerful
icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...
s in the world. , 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 ...
of the series is under construction and expected to be commissioned by 2030, three years after the original planned delivery in 2027. Initially there were plans to build two additional sister ships by 2033, but in February 2023 it was reported that only one Project 10510 ship would be built before 2035.


Background and development

In the late 1980s, Central Marine Research and Design Institute (CNIIMF) and the Central Design Bureau "Iceberg" developed a number of "icebreaker type size series" for a long-term fleet renewal program initiated shortly after 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 ...
. In addition to smaller diesel-electric icebreakers, the proposed icebreaking ships included two distinct nuclear-powered icebreaker designs: a 60-megawatt dual-draft line icebreaker and a 110-megawatt "leader-icebreaker". The latter's primary mission would be to ensure reliable year-round shipping in the Russian Arctic, including transit cargo along the
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 ...
as well as transportation of raw materials and natural resources produced from the
continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an islan ...
. As traditional icebreaker-led convoys were seen preferable over independently-operating ships, the principal characteristics such as a beam of and capability of breaking up to thick ice were specified with escorting of large-tonnage ships in mind. In the late 2000s, increasing shipping activity in the Russian Arctic and the prospect of turning the Northern Sea Route into a year-round shortcut between Western Europe and Asia called for the development of more powerful icebreakers. The 110-megawatt icebreaker, now referred to simply as "Leader" (or "Lider" as
romanized In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and transcription, ...
from the Russian word ''Лидер''), was seen as the key for ensuring that large container ships could transit the northern passage in just ten days. In September 2011, then
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
mentioned the construction of 110-megawatt nuclear-powered icebreakers "here in the northwestern shipyards in Russia" in his speech at the interregional conference of
United Russia The All-Russian Political Party United Russia (, ) is the Ruling party, ruling List of political parties in Russia, political party of Russia. As the largest party in the Russian Federation, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the St ...
in
Cherepovets Cherepovets ( rus, Череповец, p=tɕɪrʲɪpɐˈvʲets) is a city in Vologda Oblast, Russia, located in the west of the oblast on the banks of the Sheksna River (a tributary of the Volga River) and on the shores of the Rybinsk Reservoir. ...
. Shortly afterwards, Krylov State Research Center began developing the ship concept in co-operation with Central Design Bureau "Iceberg". The result, Project 10510, was a nuclear-powered icebreaker design intended for escorting cargo ships and tankers with a beam of and
deadweight tonnage Deadweight tonnage (also known as deadweight; abbreviated to DWT, D.W.T., d.w.t., or dwt) or tons deadweight (DWT) is a measure of how much weight a ship can carry. It is the sum of the weights of cargo, fuel, fresh water Fresh water or ...
of 100,000tonnes year-round along the entire Northern Sea Route. With a propulsion power of 120 megawatts, the icebreaker would be capable of maintaining an average escort speed of in ice. While the Saint Petersburg-based
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 ...
, builder of the preceding ''Arktika'' class and the Project 22220 icebreakers, declared itself as the only Russian shipyard with the necessary competence to construct nuclear-powered icebreakers, the newly constructed shipbuilding complex "Zvezda" in Bolshoy Kamen in the Russian Far East was also seen as a serious contender. However, proposals to build the ship at Zaliv Shipbuilding Yard in
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in the Russian-annexed
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were largely dismissed. In September 2018, Zvezda was officially selected as the sole builder of the Project 10510 icebreakers. In February 2019, CEO of Zvezda, Sergei Tseluyko, confirmed during an interview with
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that the plan is to build three Project 10510 icebreakers at the shipyard. On 15 January 2020, shortly before resigning, then Prime Minister
Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev (born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician and lawyer who has served as Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia since 2020. Medvedev was also President of Russia between 2008 and 2012 and Prime Mini ...
signed a governmental order allocating 125.57 billion rublesAbout US$2 billion or 1.85 billion euro. of federal money for financing the construction of the first Project 10510 icebreaker for Rosatom from 2020 onwards and commissioning it by 2027. Previously, the funding for the construction of the icebreaker had been excluded from the 2017–2025 state program for the development of the Arctic as funding had been cut from 209.7 billion to 50.9 billion rubles. On 23 April 2020, Atomflot and Zvezda signed the shipbuilding contract for the construction of the first Project 10510 icebreaker. In February 2023 it was reported that an update of Russia's arctic strategy provided for only one Project 10510 ship to be built before 2035. The emphasis will instead shift to two additional Project 22220 icebreakers.


Construction

The steel cutting for the first Project 10510 icebreaker began at Zvezda on 6 July 2020. The ship will be named ''Rossiya'', a name previously given to the third ''Arktika''-class icebreaker that was in service in 1985–2013. It was
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 ...
on 5 July 2021.На Дальнем Востоке заложили головной атомный ледокол "Лидер"
// РИА Новости, 05.07.2021
In March 2023, ''
Kommersant (, , ''The Businessman'' or Commerce Man, often shortened to Ъ) is a nationally distributed daily newspaper published in Russia mostly devoted to politics and business. The TNS Media and NRS Russia certified July 2013 circulation of the daily ...
'' reported that the construction of ''Rossiya''s hull had progressed only by 5% instead of the planned 15% and the large steel castings such as rudder horns and propeller shaft brackets, originally ordered from the Ukrainian company Energomashspetsstal whose production facilities in
Kramatorsk Kramatorsk (, ; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Kramatorsk Raion in Donetsk Oblast of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. Prior to 2020, Kramatorsk was a city of oblast significance. Since October 2014, Kramatorsk has been the ...
were damaged during the
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, had to be re-contracted to a domestic supplier who cannot deliver them to the shipyard before August 2025. As a result of various delays and challenges, the cost of the first Project 10510 icebreaker is expected to increase by 40–60% and the delivery of the ship will slip beyond the December 2027 deadline. In May 2024, the
First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia A First Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation (), commonly referred to as the First Deputy Prime Minister, is a member of the Russian Government. The First Deputy is to be proposed by the Prime Minister, and approved by the ...
, Denis Manturov, confirmed that the delivery has been postponed to 2030. In December 2024, the Russian cargo ship , transporting two 45-ton hatches for the nuclear reactors of ''Rossiya'' sank in the western
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
. In May 2025 the first RITM-400 was manufactured.


Design


General characteristics

Project 10510 icebreakers are long and have a beam of . They draw of water and have a displacement of about . In 2015, students from the
Saint Petersburg Art and Industry Academy The Saint Petersburg Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design (; abbreviated as СПГХПА) is the oldest school of design in Russia. It occupies a parcel of land immediately to the east of the Summer Garden in Saint Petersburg. History ...
collaborated with Central Design Bureau "Iceberg" to develop futuristic visions on what the next-generation nuclear-powered icebreaker could look like. While these sleek yacht-like design studies have been sometimes incorrectly thought to represent the actual Project 10510 icebreaker design, the actual design is a departure from the more angular previous nuclear icebreakers.


Power and propulsion

The icebreakers are powered by two RITM-400 nuclear reactors with a thermal output of 315 megawatts each. Four electrically driven shafts with a combined capacity of allow the ship to break up to ice.


Ships in class


Notes


References

{{Nuclear-powered icebreakers Icebreakers of Russia Proposed ships Nuclear-powered icebreakers