The enterprise develops and produces a wide range of hi-tech hydroacoustic equipment, including: shipboard divers detection sonars, minehunting sonars, attacking torpedoes detection sonars, wreck detection and rescue operation sonars, etc., autonomous sonars for different purposes, hydroacoustic decoy devices, underwater positioning, navigation and trajectory measurements systems.
Aquamarin is an enterprise which provides the complete product creation cycle, from blueprint to production line and operation.
The products developed and produced by Aquamarin are on all ships built for the Russian Navy, in particular for the nuclear submarine projects Borei and Yasen, non nuclear submarine project Lada, Steregushchy class corvettes, Admiral Gorshkov class frigates, Tatarstan class missile ships, Buyan class corvettes, rescue ships, survey ships, etc., as well as on Algerian, Vietnamese and Chinese navy vessels.
Aquamarin was founded in May 1991 on the initiative of a number of military industrial companies. The founders were the Saint Petersburg marine machine building bureau Malakhit (now SPMBM Malakhit), State Research and Development Enterprise Region (now GNPP Region), Research and Development Company Agat (now Concern Morinformsystem - Agat), Leningrad State Marine Technical University (now SPbSMTU). Organisation and formation of the enterprise's original ideology was carried out by V. Chebanenko, A. Moshkov, D. Rostovtsev, S. Smirnov, E. Shakhidzhanov, V. Belomorets, Yu. Koryakin, A. Kuteinikov, M. Bespalov, E. Rykov, K. Drobot, A. Kurnosov, A. Krasnikov, A. Troyan, B. Melnitsky, A. Krasnopolsky, etc.
Highlights in Aquamarin history:
1991 the company was formed.
1992 the first office, 18 square metres, was rented in SPbSMTU.
1993 the first government contract with the Russian Ministry of Defence for research and development work.
1996 a new office opened in SMTU, 250 square metres (later extended to 500 square metres).
1999 successful government trial of the first product developed by Aquamarin.
2000 formation of first production division, assembly site.
2005 office-production centre opened, 2200 square metres.
2006 first state contract signed and fulfilled with the Russian Ministry of Defence for producing and supplying in house designed production line items.
2008 workshop for producing hydroacoustic transducers and antennas opened.
2009 machine workshop opened.
2011 workshops for assembly of large size products and product painting, logistics centre opened. This brought the total production area up to 5300 square metres.
Aquamarin has carried out or is carrying out 18 R&D works for the Russian Ministry of Defence, as a result of which 27 products have been developed. 14 products have undergone state or interdepartmental testing and 2 more will have finished testing in 2011.
In house designs are promptly introduced into production. The enterprise has manufactured more than 250 samples of 21 products, while currently 200 samples of 15 products are in production.
Aquamarin’s goal is to create world standard state-of-the-art equipment. To achieve this goal it is necessary to create an innovation enterprise with a corresponding level of technical equipment, management production and quality control organisation and management and staff mentality.
Aquamarin has already achieved a lot in this area.
The company has introduced a modern automated enterprise design and control system which provides for all production processes: the whole design cycle (electrical circuit development, circuit plate topology, embedded software, 3D design of mechanical devices, etc.) development, archiving and maintenance of technological and software documentation, complete electronic document flow, including technical documentation, planning and total control of production processes, logistical management etc. The enterprises automated control systems are based on purchased software such as CAD software Altium Designer and Autodesk Inventor, the ENOVIA Smarteam system together with software designed in-house.
The enterprise is fitted with the best state-of-the-art high-tech equipment which provides an almost completely closed production cycle. Electronic boards are made on the Swiss automated line. This provides for installation of elements on the plate, "baking" of paste, installation of BGA microchips, washing of the boards and application of a moisture protection cover. The workshop is fitted with machines from the USA, Germany and Italy.This includes metal cutting hydro abrasive, mechanical and plasma machines, a bending machine, automated lathes and milling centres, universal lathes and milling machines, drilling and radial drilling machines, electrical, gas and contact welding equipment for all types of metals and alloys and a painting and drying chamber. Tuning and adjusting work is carried out using measuring equipment from leading international producers. The work of all the production departments is carried out according to the modern engineer-machine direct scheme.
Aquamarin is actively developing and introducing new technology into production. For example, instead of old sealing technology using rubber compound, state-of-the-art polymer compound filling technology is used for producing electroacoustic transformers and hydroacoustic antennae, underwater cables and devices. Efficient computer control and measurement parameters for electroacoustic transformers and hydroacoustic antennae have been developed and implemented. For the first time, together with SPKB company and Severnaya Verf Shipyard, modular technology for supply and installation of hydroacoustic antennae on ships, where the antenna module is supplied as a ready made ship construction was used. In order to improve the features of the products, highly accurate hydrostatic pressure sensors DGD-2 and DGD-8 have been developed and put into production. They were awarded the gold medal at the Russian exhibition Metrology in 2008. Aquamarin is one of the most consistent and active supporters of COTS technology, which is based on commercial technology used when creating military technology and has been widely applied in the USA and Europe over the last 15-20 years. This makes it possible to apply the most state-of-the-art electroradio elements and parts, software products, materials from leading international producers, thereby significantly reducing time scales and development costs and improving the product operational features.
The concept of public-private partnership is being widely discussed today and Aquamarin JSC has already put this into practice in its partnership with the Russian Ministry of Defence. The enterprise is interested in developing manufacturing its own state-of-the-art technology, while the Ministry of Defence is interested in obtaining state-of-the-art samples which provide major cost savings on conducting research and development. As part of this organisation it is proposed to develop new advanced products. The Ministry of Defence (if they agree) shall create the tactical works statement for the product completely taking into account the interests of the Customer. Aquamarine shall carry out R&D, including making production prototypes and conducting the whole test cycle (with the support of the Ministry of Defence) and to prepare serial production. R&D costs will be recouped through serial production for the Ministry of Defence and, if possible, for other clients. This technology was used to manufacture the product Vist (R&D completed in 2006) which was supplied in batch to the Russian Ministry of Defence for export. The mutual benefit is clear. The client saves on R&D and the company makes money on serial production supply. Using the same technology in 2010, R&D was completed for the product Zmei (two samples have already been provided for export) and new areas for Aquamarin have been developed.
The results achieved are a reward for the Aquamarin team, which is made up of almost 200 people.
The highly qualified staff (70% have higher education, 10% academic titles), the optimal number of specialists with a great deal of experience in working in large shipbuilding industry enterprises, and young specialists carefully selected from specialist higher education institutions (average staff age is 42), high salary and an excellent social package, ultra modern work places and comfortable working conditions guarantee that each employee and the enterprise as a whole works to the maximum efficiency.
