Operational Capabilities

The Project 22220 icebreakers represent the world's most powerful icebreakers currently in service. Key operational features include:

• Dual-draft design: Allows operations in both deep Arctic Ocean waters (10.5 m draft) and shallow river estuaries such as the Gulf of Ob, Yenisei River, and Pechora River (8.55 m draft)
• Year-round Arctic operations: Designed to maintain the Northern Sea Route open throughout the year
• Escort capabilities: Can escort merchant vessels up to 100,000 tons displacement through Arctic ice
• Scientific support: Capable of supporting polar research stations and expeditions
• North Pole capability: Can reach the geographic North Pole as demonstrated by Arktika in October 2020

Program Notes

• All seven icebreakers are being constructed at Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg
• The class supersedes the Soviet-era Arktika-class (Project 10520/10521) icebreakers
• Construction faced delays due to international sanctions following the 2014 Russo-Ukrainian conflict, requiring domestic replacement of Ukrainian turbines and Western propulsion systems
• The RITM-200 reactor was specially developed for this class by OKBM Afrikantov
• Total program cost for seven vessels: approximately 450+ billion rubles (~$6-7 billion)
• These are the largest and most powerful icebreakers ever built, succeeding the previous record-holder, the nuclear icebreaker 50 Let Pobedy
• The Project 22220 fleet is central to Russia's strategy to develop the Northern Sea Route into a major commercial shipping corridor capable of handling 150+ million tons of cargo annually by 2030