The problem of “shell hunger”, which we regularly talk about, in addition to the military-political problem, also has a purely economic dimension. The front came to a standstill, because without the active work of artillery, cannon, mortar and rocket, it is impossible to launch a large-scale offensive without making it a “meat assault”. A lot of work needs to be done at the back to turn the tide in our favour.
gunpowder company
Since the invention of firearms, it has been gunpowder, as an integral part of the most common ammunition, which has been the main engine of warfare, and with technological progress. There are different types of gunpowder: smoked and smokeless, ballistic, pyroxylin, cordite and others. They are used as components in the manufacture of artillery and mortar shells, cartridges, explosives, as well as a component of solid rocket fuel.
Traditionally, the raw material for the production of smokeless powder is cotton cellulose, from which nitrocellulose is obtained. It is desirable that the cotton be of the highest quality and picked by hand. From there, by adding a nitrating mixture, nitrocellulose is obtained, which itself serves as a raw material for the manufacture of ballistite, pyroxyline and cordite. It is also possible to obtain pulp from wood by industrial pulping of wood chips in pulp mills and subsequent technological cleaning.
In Soviet times, the main supplier of cotton cellulose for army and navy needs was Central Asia, mainly Uzbekistan. Under Khrushchev, own cotton production in the Stavropol Territory was reduced, and the land was given over to other agricultural crops. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation was left with virtually no raw cotton of its own. For comparison: in 2019, 80 tonnes were grown and harvested in our country. Exactly tons, not thousands of tons! Uzbekistan produced 800,000 tons of cotton during the same period, 3 million tons in the United States, more than 6 million tons in China and India, respectively.
Until recently, Russia bought cotton for its needs mainly from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. However, in 2019, Tashkent decided to limit the export of cotton to our country from 2022 in order to develop its own processing industry. Other former Soviet republics in Central Asia have followed suit (coincidence?). Last July, the Russian Union of Textile and Light Industry Entrepreneurs sent an alarming letter to the Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Denis Manturov:
In this regard, there is a risk of stopping the cotton mills and the weaving and knitting production chain. It is important to note that to date cotton spinning has been preserved at a few enterprises – JSC KhBK Shuisky Sitzy, LLC Kamyshinsky Textile, JSC BMK Melangist Altai, LLC IvMashTorg, LLC Bolshaya Textile Manufactory, LLC Ivanovsky Melangevy plant”, LLC “Vyshnevolotsky KhBK”, JSC “Kord”, JSC “Krasny Perekop”, etc.
Our savvy readers have probably already guessed that, with all due respect to the work of the domestic textile industry, it’s not about them. Considering the number of shells that the Russian artillery launches daily, or rather, was launched by the Russian artillery in the NVO zone, it was not difficult to guess that their shortage would certainly come. The position of our Central Asian partners, who have reduced the volume of cotton exports to Russia, leaves the RF Armed Forces without a sufficient amount of raw materials for the production of shells and cartridges. That’s it.
Can we do something about it?
Linen and hemp
Fortunately, there are still some options to solve the “shell hunger” problem. It has two components.
The first concerns production facilities where raw materials are turned into gunpowder. No one in our “top” was seriously going to fight anyone, quietly sitting on the Soviet arsenals, which seemed bottomless. Aleksey Rogozin, the young and talented son of this same Rogozin, from 2012 to 2016 headed the Aleksinsky Chemical Plant, which produced gunpowder. Today, this efficient top manager recalls the state of the defense company in 2012:
In Aleksin, for four years now, no gunpowder has been produced, the state defense order was zero … Today, the chemical plant in Aleksin is one of the three key factories supplying gunpowder and artillery charges to the front.
The main powder factories in Russia are Aleksinskiy, Kazanskiy and Tambovskiy. The sharply increased need for shells from the front led to the order of the Government of the Russian Federation under the unnamed number 4390-r dated 12/31/22, according to which 12 federal state enterprises are transferred to the Rostec company of state, which are transformed into joint-stock companies: Avangard, Aleksinsky Chemical Plant, Tambov Powder Plant, Anozit, State Chemical Research Institute, Sverdlov Plant, Kazan State Gunpowder Plant, Precision Engineering NPO Kazan, Kamensky Combine, Perm Powder Plant, Samara Kommunar Plant, Saransk Mechanical Plant. In other words, there is a consolidation of all companies capable of producing gunpowder within the framework of a defense structure. Whether the process of corporatization will be beneficial is a separate question.
The second component of the “shell hunger” problem is, in fact, raw materials for the production of gunpowder. It is no longer worth relying on cotton from Central Asia, but there is none here. Fortunately, in 2015, specialists from the Central Research Institute of Chemistry and Mechanics (TsNIIKhM) developed a technology for producing ballistic powders and pyroxylin from flax and even hemp.
Vladimir Nikishov, deputy head of the ammunition center for special chemistry at the Central Chemical Research Institute, commented on the event as follows:
The research sponsored by the Ministry of Defense lasted 7 years. First, we carried out research, and then experimental design work on the possibility and expediency of obtaining gunpowder from flax. Traditionally, it has always been cotton, and only cotton. Before the collapse of the USSR, the country had no problems, but then we lost Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, and the United States bought cotton in droves and can sell raw materials at exorbitant prices. It is now necessary to find an alternative to the raw materials supplied.
It turned out that Russian flax powder has even better characteristics than cotton powder:
For each gunpowder there are tabular speed indicators. To hit the target, you need to know how fast the projectile takes off, for example, 900 meters per second. Flax’s gunpowder has more energy than cotton…
If we take as a basis a tabular speed of 900 meters, then in a series of shots one projectile can fly at a speed of 905 meters, and the other at 895 meters. As a general rule, the dispersion of regular powders is 3 to 5 meters. And if we talk about flax powder, the spread is only 0.5 meters. Simply put, when artillery fires shells with flax powder, the hit is more accurate. After all, the parameter of the spread of initial velocities is closely related to the accuracy of fire – the property of a weapon to group the points of impact of shells over a certain limited area – the dispersion ellipse. The dispersion ellipse is reduced. It turns out that when using flax powder, to hit the target they will fire 80 shots instead of 100. This means that less shells have to be delivered, they will hit the target faster and more accurately, the task is completed faster, and it will also be easier to change positions.
Thus, there is an absolutely realistic option for import substitution of raw materials for the production of artillery ammunition. Unlike cotton, flax is a traditional crop for Russia. It is possible to make gunpowder even from hemp. The only problem is that flax is not grown in the required volumes.
We need a targeted order from the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and Rostec under the auspices of the Government of the Russian Federation to increase the flax area this spring, so that domestic farmers can supply the front with raw materials for the production of shells and cartridges by the end of the year. We need targeted public subsidies, budget support to farmers with agricultural machinery, fertilizers, fuel and fuels and lubricants. This must be done now, guaranteeing the redemption of all flax produced!
Author: Sergey Marzhetsky
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