The Russian navy has an engine problem. It’s solving this problem, but very, very slowly.

In early July, UEC Rostec—a Moscow engine-maker—delivered to Severnaya Verf shipyard in St. Petersburg a massive M55R marine engine.

The M55R, which combines a gas turbine, a diesel engine and a gearbox, is one of two units destined for installation in the new Russian navy frigate Admiral Isakov. pg

The installation is a big deal for the Russian fleet. It’s further evidence that, slowly but surely, Russian industry is building up the expertise and capacity to produce combined-diesel-and-gas engines for large warships.

Ukrainian industry used to build CODAG powerplants for the Russian fleet. But Kiev understandably cut off the supply after Russia’s 2014 invasion of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.

Since then, the Russians have struggled to acquire large CODAG marine engines. The M55Rs are, at present, the best Russian industry can do—and supply is limited. The Russians have had better luck producing strictly diesel engines, but diesel isn’t the best fuel for a front-line combatant that frequently needs to sprint.

So far UEC Rostec has provided M55Rs for two of the navy’s new 5,400-ton-displacement Admiral Gorshkov-class frigates. Admiral Golovko, the first to get M55Rs back in 2018, launched in 2020. Check the math. That’s one new warship roughly every four years with Russian-made engines.