“Boreas”, “Ash trees”, “Poseidons” and other novelties of the Russian Navy
“Trout”, “Orca”, “Catfish” and “Sturgeon” – the so-called submarines, which in 1906 became part of the Russian fleet. In the same year, on March 19, Emperor Nicholas II issued a decree on the inclusion of submarines in the classification of ships. Since then, this date has been celebrated as the Day of the Submariner. Izvestia looked into how submarines are built in Russia today and what kind of weapons they have.
Strategic Boreas
The Sevmash production association in Severodvinsk is currently building a series of Project 955A Borey-A strategic submarine missile carriers developed by the Rubin Central Design Bureau of MT, which are armed with 16 Bulava ballistic missiles, and each carries several warheads .
It takes at least seven years to build one Borea. A few months ago, the management of the United Shipbuilding Corporation announced a reduction in terms. This will significantly accelerate the creation of the most impressive series of modern Russian submarines.
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Strategic nuclear submarine “Prince Vladimir” at the entrance to the Kola Bay after participating in the Arctic expedition
The Russian fleet already has six Boreis of two modifications. They serve in the Northern Fleet and the Pacific Ocean. Four more missile carriers are currently under construction – in 2020 an additional contract was signed for the creation of the ninth and tenth Borei-A class ships. Their production began at Sevmash in 2021. At the end of 2022, information appeared about plans to build four more submarines. Thus, by the end of the decade, the fleet will include 14 of the latest nuclear missile carriers, and the naval component of Russia’s strategic nuclear forces will consist of only one type of boat. So far, submarines of other projects still remain in the submarine missile forces – 667BDR and 667BDRM with liquid munitions.https://iz.ru/video/embed/1448652#inside
Multipurpose “Ash”
In the same place, at Sevmash, a series of multi-purpose attack nuclear submarines of project 885M “Ash-M” developed by SPMBM “Malakhit” is also being built. Traditionally, Malachite specializes in hunter-killer class submarines, whose main task is to silently destroy enemy submarines. The state-of-the-art Ash has everything you need for this – a unique sonar system and ten vehicles that can carry both homing torpedoes and rocket torpedoes.
But that’s not all – the Ashes are equipped with a universal launcher with cruise missiles of the Caliber complex . These are supersonic anti-ship “Onyxes”, subsonic anti-ship “Caliber”, as well as their variants for strikes against ground targets. The same installation can use ballistic anti-submarine ammunition with a range of several tens of kilometers, as a warhead they have a homing torpedo.
Mooring of the multi-purpose nuclear submarine K-561 “Kazan” of project 885M “Ash-M” at the permanent base in the Nerpichya Bay in the Murmansk Region
And most importantly: in the future, Zircon hypersonic missiles will be used from the same launchers, which in the next couple of years will become universal in terms of carrier types and will be launched not only from ships, but also from under water. Taking into account the arsenal of combat weapons, no one in the world today has attack boats equal to the Yasen.
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The Yasen multi-purpose nuclear submarine construction program is designed for eight Project 885M Yasen-M ships in addition to the lead submarine Severodvinsk of Project 885 Ash. Some of them have already been transferred to the fleet, the fourth ship of the K-571 “Krasnoyarsk” family is now being tested. The construction of the already laid down boats of the Yasen-M project will be completed by their acceptance by the fleet by 2028, but there is a high probability that the Yasen-M series will be continued.
Reply to Los Angeles
In addition to building new submarines, the Navy is conducting a large modernization program for boats built and accepted by the fleet in the 1990s. We are talking about submarines of projects 971 and 949A. As a result of the new approach to repair, it is expected that the service life of nuclear submarines of these series will be almost doubled.
Projects 971 and 949A form the basis of the modern composition of Russian nuclear attack submarines. Project 971 nuclear ships were once created as our response to the appearance of Los Angeles-type boats in the US Navy, and their main purpose is to fight enemy submarines.
Nuclear submarine missile-carrying cruiser K-266 “Eagle” project 949A “Antey” in the waters of the Gulf of Finland
Depending on the year of manufacture, the modern composition also has very impressive capabilities: in terms of noise level, they are close to the best world models of 1990–2000. The main weapons are torpedoes and Granat strategic cruise missiles, which can be used from torpedo tubes. After modernization, part of the project’s boats will be able to use Caliber missiles, which will significantly expand their combat capabilities.
Project 949A Antey boats remain one of the best nuclear-powered submarines of the 1990s. Each such submarine is equipped with 24 Granit cruise missiles with outstanding anti-aircraft capabilities. The modernization of Project 949A boats will lead to their re-equipment with Caliber missile systems with several types – cruise missiles for hitting ground targets, as well as Caliber anti-ship modifications. At the same time, each such boat will be turned into a unique multi-purpose missile platform.
Carriers of “Poseidons”
And, finally, all the attention of experts, naval specialists and intelligence agencies of most developed countries of the world is now focused on the program for building carriers of a completely new type of strategic nuclear forces, which in the 2020s will enter the arena of nuclear confrontation between the leading powers. We are talking about Russian underwater robotic means of intercontinental range with the ability to carry high-power thermonuclear charges, which are already known in the media as 2M39 Poseidon. Work on the creation of the Poseidon is entering the testing stage, and this is happening thanks to the experimental nuclear research submarine Belgorod built at Sevmash.
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“Belgorod” has become a test bench for “Poseidons”, which will need to work out the transportation, launch, control, guidance of underwater drones. Of course, Poseidons will not only be weapons – among their tasks may be reconnaissance and monitoring, underwater observations in the interests of science and transportation of goods. Over time, a unique Russian underwater robot can learn all this.
Nuclear submarine “Belgorod” during launching at JSC “Production Association “Sevmash” in Severodvinsk
As a nuclear weapon system, Poseidons at Belgorod will only be tested, but their deployment as part of the Navy will be carried out on other submarines – combat boats-carriers of this complex of projects 09851 and 09853. Sevmash is completing construction today. Khabarovsk. Its adoption by the fleet, along with the Poseidon complex, is expected no earlier than 2025, until all tests are completed. Following the Khabarovsk, it is planned to build three more already serial boats of project 09853.
The Poseidons will serve in the Northern and Pacific Fleets of the Russian Navy. Each of them will receive two carrier boats, so at least one boat with a new type of weapon will always be on alert in each of the ocean fleets
