| 70 years ago, the most successful cartridge factory in Russia was created One of the most failed branches of the Russian military-industrial complex is the cartridge industry. Only related ammunition fell below: in all hot spots they fired Soviet shells taken from warehouses, without thinking about reproduction. Today, out of six cartridge factories, four are still lying “on their sides”. And only two - Tula and Klimovsky Specialized (KSPZ) - rose. Moreover, Klimovsky, who turns 70 on September 21, is gradually surpassing Tula, if not in production volumes, then in the variety of products, the introduction of new technologies and diversification of production. If many other ammunition factories, having lost the state defense order, simply die, Klimovsky will survive the loss painlessly.
The plant was founded in 1936, as they say, on the personal instructions of Joseph Stalin. Produced 7.62 caliber cartridges. In the best times - at the end of the 70s of the last century - more than 1 billion pieces of cartridges were produced per year. The entire Warsaw Pact was enough. In those days, there were export programs for Cuba and the countries of the Arab world that were part of the USSR's zone of influence. With perestroika, sales volumes began to fall sharply, and by the end of the 90s the enterprise practically stopped. The state order is zero, the gigantic debt is about 600 million rubles, out of 8 thousand people, less than 50 remain to work at the enterprise - to indicate presence, and for economic work.
In 2001, shareholders changed - individuals and legal entities, and a new team arrived. Deputy General Director Evgeniy Mandryko did not name the names of Vremya Novostei shareholders - he was not authorized. Perhaps this is not just compliance with the rules of commerce, but also a reluctance to highlight people whose products go mainly to the Russian intelligence services. The enterprise was purchased from Rosimushchestvo on the condition that 26% of the shares be donated to the state, and the profile of the enterprise and mobilization capacity be preserved. The first two years were spent establishing simple order and reviving production. A huge amount of money was invested - both the shareholders' own funds and loans. This year, having paid off our debts, we made a profit for the first time. Today the company has licenses for the development and production of both cartridges and weapons.
Over four years, the number of staff has grown to 1,218 people, production volume is approaching 2 billion rubles. The bulk of the production goes through military-technical cooperation through Rosoboronexport to Venezuela, the United Arab Emirates, the republics of the former Yugoslavia, Ukraine, Jordan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and even Canada. Last year, the shareholders' meeting set the company's management the task of producing weapons as well. By the end of the year, the plant had design documentation for the “Jorge” pistol (named after one of the key shareholders); this year they began to produce them in two versions - service and civilian. Both shoot rubber bullets. The plant sent 35 Jorge pistols for testing to Alpha, and received very positive reviews. The Vremya Novostei observer agrees with this assessment: without training, he knocked out 36 points out of 40 possible from Jorge.
The output is “Jorge” combat pistols of 9 mm caliber with three types of cartridges. At the customer's request, both all-metal pistols and pistols with a plastic frame are supplied. The main customers of the official “Jorge” are intelligence services and private security companies. Rubber bullets, which incapacitate a person for several minutes, are indispensable when performing tasks in transport, in crowded places, and during counter-terrorism operations.
At the Klimovsky plant they say that the Kalashnikov cartridge is an ordinary cartridge, it has been produced “for a hundred years”, but at the KSPZ it is a special product. Just one example: in 1995, the SP-4 cartridge was declassified; it fires silently from a pistol without a silencer. The idea of a neighbor and partner of the Klimovites is the Central Research Institute of Precision Engineering. The metal core inside the cartridge case, under the influence of powder gases, pushes out the bullet, but itself gets stuck in the cartridge case and does not allow the gases to escape, which, in fact, create sound at the exit. This wonderful cartridge is produced only by the Klimovsky plant. However, just like the SP-5 is a sniper for a screw cutter, the SP-6 is an armor-piercing one, let’s add to them a cartridge for a special forces shooting knife.
At one time, the same TsNIITochmash developed a pistol and an assault rifle for underwater shooting. They require exotic cartridges with long, spoke-like bullets that allow shooting underwater, from air to water and from water to air. When crossing the border of two natural environments, the flight trajectory of such a bullet does not change. This is a unique development; no one in the world produces such miracle cartridges. Moreover, the company has the technology to produce an underwater tracer bullet - it has a charge at the end that burns during flight. At night, underwater, you can trace the path of a bullet. This is a good target designator in combat conditions.
The specificity of the cartridge industry is such that the equipment used in it cannot be used anywhere else. The same rotor lines. They are produced by the Automatic Line Design Bureau (KBAL) named after Koshkin. This is another neighbor and partner of KSPZ. According to the old method, it takes at least five years to produce a new type of weapon. During this time, it already becomes uncompetitive. The cooperation of the three enterprises significantly speeds up production processes. In addition, a private enterprise is more mobile; it can minimize the research and development (R&D) stage and move on to implementation. The plant has its own design bureau. In the West, unlike Russia, the main thing at the plant is the design bureau, and production services it. At the Klimovsky plant they are switching to this scheme.
The production facility is equipped with the latest technology, which allows for so-called end-to-end design: a designer creates a three-dimensional model of a gun on a computer, using special programs, the model is turned into a computer drawing, and it is sent over the network to a processing center, which produces the design in metal. New programs allow you to see how all the parts are paired together in dynamics - it’s immediately clear where the error is. The enterprise is equipped with machines with five degrees of freedom, which no one else in the industry has. That’s why “Jorge” was introduced so quickly. By the way, when we decided to make “Jorge,” we turned to weapons developers. They determined the parameters: a period of three years and a price of half a million dollars. The factory workers themselves did it in six months and much cheaper.
Cartridge production in its pure form is considered unprofitable. To recoup costs, you need either large series or high production costs. The series of cartridges for special services is, of course, small. Civilian products help out - small-caliber cartridges for athletes and hunters, construction and installation cartridges. Their sales volume amounted to 200 million rubles. The shareholders intend to double their production, since the domestic market is not yet saturated. Partly due to the construction boom. Construction and assembly cartridges at the Klimovsky Specialized Cartridge Plant are now placed in cassettes - there is no need to reload the pistol every time. Diversification of production also includes the production of heart pacemakers. Moreover, the reprogramming of the “pill” occurs without removal from the human body: the patient approaches a machine similar to an X-ray, and that’s it. It is no coincidence that the curator of the “Saved Heart” program, First Deputy Speaker of the State Duma Lyubov Sliska often visits the plant.
Experts know: a cartridge factory is unique if it has small-caliber production. For a regular combat cartridge, the components (rolled case, gunpowder, primer, lead) can be purchased. In a small-caliber cartridge, instead of a primer, there is an initiating substance. There are only four enterprises in the world that make a full-fledged small-caliber cartridge. The Klimovsky plant is one of them, and in Russia the only one.
The initiating substance, which is based on mercury fulminate, is extremely dangerous. In 1995, a container with 200 grams of this substance exploded - all the glass in houses a kilometer from the plant flew out, and outwards. To the place where cartridges are made (only by hand, otherwise there may be an explosion from just a concussion), the initiating substance from the warehouse is necessarily carried by a woman, as she is more careful, along a path that is never covered with snow or ice. At the same time, the master with a red bandage makes sure that no one is nearby. No one else in Russia has the technology to produce “capsules” for small rifles. After the collapse of the Union, many unique technologies scattered around the world. But here’s what’s interesting: there is documentation there, but they cannot make a full-fledged cartridge - there is no school. Therefore, those who want to get normal products order cartridges in Russia. For example, Venezuela.
The most pressing problem of the KSPZ, as well as the entire defense industry, is personnel. The average age of factory designers is over 60 years. The specialized vocational school, which specialized in cartridge production, was repurposed. Now they train hairdressers, assistants and designers. The plant management looked for specialists at factories in Ukraine and Kazakhstan, transported them to Russia, helped them obtain citizenship, and solved housing problems. The average salary is 11 thousand rubles, and service technicians do not receive less than a thousand dollars: if the service technician does not show up for work, the rest may not come. But they still pay according to the final result.
“We want to become a full-fledged machine-building plant,” says Deputy General Director for Safety and Personnel Valentin Fedoseev. - But this year the state put up its 26% stake in our plant for sale. We’ll have to buy it out so as not to breed more competitors...” Nikolay POROSKOV |
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