Presidential cortege. New executive class car for trips of the President of the Russian Federation

2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:42

For several years, the Mercedes-Benz concern has been developing a car for the President of the Russian Federation, producing the Mercedes S600 Pullman under a special project. The head of the country rode on it. But in 2012, the Cortege project was launched, the purpose of which was to create an armored presidential limousine and domestic-made escort vehicles.

The well-known NAMI institute is working on the project, giving its offspring the name "Unified Modular Platform", and the loud name of the project "Cortege" was invented by journalists to reflect the essence of what is happening. The project includes several cars at once: a government limousine, a minivan, an executive class sedan and an SUV. All models will be created on the same platform with different modules. The first copies of cars were created for the last inauguration of the President of the Russian Federation. Serial production of NAMI cars will start only in 2019,despite the fact that the presidential limousine not only passed all the necessary tests and crash tests, but was also demonstrated to the whole world during the inauguration.

History of the creation of the car

The specialists of the NAMI Institute began to develop the project "Cortege" in 2013. The aim of the project was the creation and serial production of premium class cars intended for the head of state and officials under state protection. The start of production was scheduled for 2017-2018. According to some reports, the total budget of the project is 12.5 billion rubles. More than 3.5 billion rubles were allocated from the state budget in 2016 for the development of NAMI vehicles.

In mid-2017, the institute was forced to stop work on the project due to lack of funds. All the resources available to the organization were directed to the creation of a presidential limousine, a minivan and an escort sedan. However, the information about the lack of funds was refuted by the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The prototype of an executive class car for trips of the President of the Russian Federation was tested by the current President of Russia in the summer of 2017.

The developers informed the public about the start of assembly of the first 14 cars in November last year. At the end of 2017, the Federal Security Service received the first batch of vehicles of the project, among which were EMP-412311 limousines and EMP-4123 sedans. Serial production of Aurus cars will start only in 2019,the cost of models will vary from 6 to 8 million rubles.

Until 2000, heads of state traveled in Soviet ZIL-41047 limousines, but after Vladimir Putin took office, a custom-designed Mercedes became the president's vehicle.

About the presidential car project

About 12 billion rubles were allocated from the state budget for the development of the presidential car of domestic production "Cortege". In addition to the NAMI Institute, foreign companies, such as Porsche and Bosch, take part in the creation of cars.

In theory, cars, including a limousine for the presidential motorcade, should have been created by Russian specialists from domestic components, but in practice it turned out differently. The power unit is a series-type hybrid plant. The design of the chassis is in many ways reminiscent of the architecture of the Porsche Panamera, which is not surprising, since engineers from Stuttgart were involved in the development of one of the power units. The new car of the presidential motorcade will be equipped with a 6.6-liter V12 engine with a capacity of 800 horsepower. The acceleration dynamics of a six-ton armored vehicle is 7 seconds, the maximum speed is limited at around 250 km/h. On sale will be an executive sedan with a six-liter V8 engine producing 650 horsepower with an additional 100 horsepower from the electric motor. V12 and V8 engines differ not only in volume andpower, but also some design features.

The Bosch concern was engaged in the equipment and electrical equipment of the car of the presidential motorcade, which is an undoubted advantage of the model.

Exterior was done by specialists from "Russian Automobile Design", but despite this, the limousine is very much like a Polls-Roys Phantom with exterior elements borrowed from Chrysler 300. The design of the new car for the President of Russia was classified for a long time, and even on the crash test videos that appeared on the Web, it was disguised.

Model line of the presidential motorcade

The main car of the project was an armored limousine for the head of the country, the length of which was to exceed the length of the sedan by a meter. For some time, the employees of the Marusya project, including N. Fomenko, were engaged in the development of the machine.

The UAZ plant in Ulyanovsk will manufacture the SUV, the KamAZ minivan, and the LiAZ executive sedan.

Kalashnikov Concern at the Army-2017 forum in August 2017 demonstrated a prototype of a motorcycle designed to accompany top officials of the state. The production of the Izh heavy motorcycle was scheduled for 2018. It was supposed to be equipped with a 150 horsepower engine and a cardan drive. The maximum speed is 250 km/h. Both a motorcycle and a domestically produced car for the presidential motorcade were approvedhead of state after a test drive.

Crash test

An armored limousine was tested in 2016 in Germany. In almost all positions, starting from stability tests, the car received the maximum rating.

Specialists are of the opinion that if mass production of cars begins in the form in which they were presented at the time of the inauguration, then the share of sales of armored limousines will increase by 20%, which is quite good, especially considering that since the collapse of the USSR, such vehicles were not produced.

Interior

The interior of the car for the presidential procession is made in an elegant, ascetic and strict style, which corresponds to the status of such vehicles. It can be seen from the photographs that the car received seats and control keys on the dashboard from Mercedes in the 140th body, an automatic transmission shift lever from Toyota, a steering wheel from a 2008 Ford Mondeo and some other elements from foreign cars. Experts note that such borrowing is not the best move of the designers of the NAMI Institute.

Powertrain range

The range of engines is represented by several options:

• Four-cylinder engine with 250 horsepower.
• 650 horsepower V-8 engine co-developed with Porsche Engineering.
• Twelve-cylinder engine with 850 horsepower.
• Special forSUV - six-cylinder diesel engine.

Paired with all engines is a nine-speed automatic transmission.

Packages and prices

The Institute offers five modifications in different price categories:

1. "Business". Similar to Mercedes-Benz ML, price - 2-3 million rubles.
2. "Premium". The package of options is close to the Mercedes-Benz 500 and GL. Cost - from 3 to 5 million rubles.
3. "Luxury". The closest analogues are Porsche and Mercedes AMG at a price of 5-10 million rubles.
4. "Luxury". In terms of configuration, the Rolls-Royce Ghost and Bentley Flying Spur are closest. The cost of the version is from 15 to 20 million rubles.
5. "Exclusive". Similar to the Bentley Continental GT, the cost of a complete set is from 20 million rubles.

Specifications and features

Specialists in the automotive industry noted that cars created according to the project of the presidential motorcade will be in great demand among government officials and businessmen. This is largely due to the fact that Russia will have its own armored vehicle for the first time since Soviet times.

The government in 2013 imposed a ban on government purchases of foreign-made cars, but this did not apply to foreign models of Russian assembly. However, the security services of the country will without fail check all components, assemblies and spare partscars for "bookmarks" and various vulnerabilities.

The cars of the presidential motorcade are equipped with multimedia systems, special communication systems, means of protection against interception of communications and listening, evacuation systems and other options. The car stays on the move even after a full shelling of tires thanks to a specially designed disc system that allows it to move without rubber. The design of the car also provides a special fuel tank with the possibility of self-sealing and a fire extinguishing system, which allows you to avoid a lot of trouble. The cabin has compartments for storing weapons, oxygen tanks and other safety features.

Despite the fact that the style of the new limousine of the presidential motorcade is in many respects similar to the Stalinist limousine ZIS-115, the cars are radically different in design and other "insides".

Security experts, comparing the cars of the Russian and American presidents, say that the car of the American president can withstand an attack, and the Russian one - a war. The limousine is able to survive a small power explosion at a certain distance without consequences. Developers say the car is a combination of strength, power, technology, safety and grandeur. Publication of detailed descriptions, however, is considered a violation of state secrets and is prohibited.

The Federal Security Service received the car long before the premiere especially for detailed study and development, including for trainingdriver, since all models have good dynamics and stable behavior on the track. Employees of the NAMI institute conduct test drives specifically to prepare drivers for possible emergencies on the road.

Presidential Car Parts Suppliers

Companies-suppliers of components for cars of the "Unified Modular Platform" were selected by the developers of the presidential motorcade for a long time. The list of contractors has been published by some sources and includes the following items:

• The group of companies "AVTOCOM", located in Samara, is engaged in the production of electric windows. Under the brand name of this production group, a wide range of spare parts for Russian automotive plants is produced.
• The front and rear suspension stabilizers are manufactured by the Chelyabinsk company TREK. The organization specializes in the production of suspension parts for various automotive companies, such as GAZ, PSMA Rus, AvtoVAZ and some other enterprises.
• Production of armored glass for the main car of the presidential cortege - limousine EMP-41231SB - was carried out by the Vladimir company Magistral LTD. The company is considered one of the largest manufacturers of glass for armored vehicles in Russia. The Moscow company Mosavtosteklo will produce glass for unarmored versions of cars.
• Nizhnekamsk Tire Plant supplies car tires for presidential motorcade models. Rubber produced by the plant is installed on both conventional and armored versions of vehicles. For special vehicles, impenetrable tires and discs of an increased level of strength are produced. The Chelyabinsk Forge and Press Plant is engaged in the manufacture of rims.
• Finishing panels for the interior of the limousine were ordered from the company "AI-2", located in Samara. The same manufacturer supplies components for GAZ, UAZ and AvtoVAZ vehicles.
• Belebeevsky plant "Avtokomplekt" produces steering rods, hubs, steering knuckles, suspension arms and other chassis components.
• Holding "Russian Leather" manufactures leather for interior decoration of the limousine of the presidential motorcade. The holding's own leather production was opened in the Moscow region and is considered one of the largest in Europe.
• Togliatti company "IPROSS" supplies ventilation and heating systems. The development and preparation of components started in 2016.

The list of suppliers is not limited to the listed companies. Each company respects confidentiality, since there is a ban on the disclosure of information about the production of components for cars of the presidential motorcade. The NAMI Institute allegedly cooperates with 130 companies specializing in the production of automotive parts and spare parts.

CV

OnAll 16 vehicles were assembled at the facilities of the FSUE NAMI Institute, which were transferred to the Special Purpose Garage of the FSO. The first stage of production of the rest of the cars will be carried out here.

By the end of the year, 70 cars should be handed over to officials. Sollers and FSUE NAMI plan to build their own enterprise in the future, at the facilities of which the remaining models of the Cortege project will be created. About 300 cars should be produced every year.

Cars will be released for free sale under the Aurus brand, the name of which is a combination of two words - Aurum and Russia.

Models produced under the brand new brand will each get its own name in honor of the Kremlin towers. The SUV will be the latest in the line and will be called "Komendant", the limousine and sedan will share the name "Senate", and the minivan will be named "Arsenal". The minimum cost of cars will be 6 million rubles. The cars will be sold not only in the domestic market of Russia, but also in China and the UAE.