I didn’t mean to do two big “Russian fire” stories back-to-back, but this seems like potentially big news:
A fire broke out on the territory of the Motovilikha Plant defence holding in Perm, Russia.
Source: Kommersant citing Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation and Motovilikha Plant
Details: Photos of the fire were posted by Perm’s social networks. Smoke from the territory of the plant is visible from different locations in Perm.
The Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation stated that a report of a fire on the territory of PJSC Motovilikha Plants was received at 20:08. After arriving on location, it was established that the transformer booth was on fire. 37 people and 10 pieces of equipment from the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia were involved in extinguishing the fire. The previous area of the fire was 10 square metres.
Quote: “Today, a fire broke out at the transformer substation on the territory of the enterprise. The fire was promptly contained by the specialists of the Ministry of Emergency Situations who went to the spot,” the press office of the PJSC Motovilikha Plant reported.
Frankly, those giant plums of smoke don’t look particularly contained.
The transformer station belongs to the VK-2 boiler house (MZ subsidiary – Teplo-M LLC). According to the media sources, the fire did not affect the power supply of the boiler house.
As Kommersant writes, PJSC Motovilikha Plant, Russia’s only manufacturer of multiple rocket launcher systems, has been in the tender process since 2018. At the time of its introduction, the company’s registered debt amounted to about RUB 17.6 billion. The production activity of mashholding is concentrated in its subsidiary structures: Special Design Bureau CJSC is engaged in the manufacture of weapons, and the rest of the production is carried out by Motovilikha – civil engineering, LLC. The PJSC property complex is put up for auction.
Could be shoddy Russian safety protocols. Could be sabotage from anti-war Russian partisans. Could be Ukraine action, though Perm is some 2,300 kilometers from Kiev. Could just be Uncle Ivan torching the place for some Goodfellas-esque debt erasure.
But whatever the cause, MLRS systems are a huge part of “the Russian Way of War,” and having their main factory offline is going to put a huge crimp in Russian field operations.
Tags: Military, Russia, Russo-Ukrainian War, Ukraine
Didn’t I read somewhere that a plant that produces explosives for American artillery and MLRS systems has been offline sine 2021 due to a fire and it is the only facility of its kind in the US?
Radford Army Ammunition Plant has had repeated fires and environmental disasters. Fortunately, it is a large site with lots of independent production buildings widely distributed so it continues to provide a decent supply of explosives, its priority products. RFAAD is the only source of TNT and IMX 101 in NATO.
RFAAD nitrocellulose production has suffered from these accidents and ADI in Australia is working overtime to supply NATO propellant requirements.
Tecmash Motovilikha Zavod in Perm designs and produces some Russian MLRS launching systems, but not MLRS rockets, propellants, or explosives. Those are made elsewhare.
“Didn’t I read somewhere that a plant that produces explosives for American artillery and MLRS systems has been offline sine 2021 due to a fire and it is the only facility of its kind in the US?”
Yes you did. Food plants have been catching fire a lot recently too. The plot thickens.