Project 677: Lada class submarine

The first production submarine of Project 677 "Lada" is being transferred to the Russian Navy
01/31/2024

The long-awaited news came from St. Petersburg: the Kronstadt submarine was being transferred to the Russian Navy. It is the first production submarine in the line of non-nuclear submarines, built at the Admiralty Shipyards according to the adjusted project 677 Lada. Igor Vilnit, General Director of the Rubin Central Marine Engineering Design Bureau, gives his assessment of this significant fact and the events that preceded it in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

- As we understand, Igor Vladimirovich, the word “serial” is the main thing in this news. More than once or twice I have heard that ensuring the serial construction of Project 677 non-nuclear submarines is one of the key areas in the implementation of the state defense order. And why? What advantages of submarines of this type can be openly discussed today?

Igor Vilnit: In terms of stealth, this submarine is several times superior to its predecessors. The extremely low noise level of the boat is ensured by equipment specially created for it. And the widespread use of modern means of acoustic protection, external anti-hydrolocation coating, and carefully designed hull contours contribute to its low visibility.

From the point of view of dueling situations, it is important to detect the enemy first and, if necessary, successfully resist him. The Project 677 submarine has a very powerful hydroacoustic system, missile-torpedo and electronic weapons. I would like to focus on the hydroacoustics of the Lada: it is not just a wider range of acoustic waves, it is a significantly greater target detection range. It took a lot of effort to achieve this result...

- Can you explain what this is connected with?

Igor Vilnit: The fact is that hydroacoustics, which is capable of picking up the noise of lower-noise targets, “inspecting” a large volume of the aquatic environment, naturally picks up noticeably more extraneous noise. That is, interference. And to isolate a useful signal from noise, a very good and “high-speed” hydroacoustic data processing system is required. But that's not all. Finding a target in complex hydrology is half the battle. It needs to be classified, its speed, depth and direction of movement determined. At the same time, both our boat and the enemy’s boat are moving, and the environment is not static.

For Lada, this problem has been solved, and we confirmed this during the trial operation of the lead ship.
If the Project 877 submarine, created at the Admiralty Shipyards, was called the “Black Hole,” then this one can rightfully be called “Invisible”

- Is the main one “St. Petersburg”?

Igor Vilnit: Yes, it successfully detected low-noise nuclear and non-nuclear submarines of other projects, as well as surface targets. And secretly watched them for a long time.

When creating the 677 series, Rubin's designers sought to ensure greater underwater autonomy - that is, the time when the boat is continuously submerged. Thus, "Lada" meets all modern requirements that apply to a ship of this class. The entry of a series of these ships into service with the Russian Navy will significantly increase the defense capabilities of general-purpose naval forces.

- I had to read and hear the following statement: “The coefficient of novelty of the Lada as an engineering structure is about 0.7.” What is hidden behind this meager figure?

Igor Vilnit: All odds contain an element of deceit. But a lot of new equipment was actually developed for the Lada, and many new technical solutions were used in the project. The ship's architecture is new. The entire power plant is new. Most of the electronic weapons are new. A new radio communication complex, a new external covering and much more.

It is no secret that the testing of the lead ship of this series was very difficult, took a long time, caused unflattering reviews, and sometimes criticism from the customer in the person of the Navy and the Northern Fleet. What was the reason and how was it overcome?

Igor Vilnit: Here we need to turn to the history of the appearance of the Lada. The decision to create a fourth generation non-nuclear submarine was made in the nineties. This was a critical period when the issue of not only maintaining the combat effectiveness of the Navy, preserving design bureaus and shipyards, but also the entire production cooperation, which included hundreds of enterprises, was being resolved.

And in such a situation, when our main co-executors were in the stage of reorganization - the ownership, directions of activity of the enterprises changed, the lead ship was built. It was tested and commissioned into the Russian Navy. Thanks to the fact that the country's leadership supported this project, the teams were able to realize their scientific and technical potential without fear of closing their enterprises for financial and economic reasons. And the design and scientific organizations, production enterprises from which the equipment was supplied, including new models, did not lose their personnel and retained the threads of continuity that are so necessary when creating such complex equipment as a warship.

What order of numbers are you talking about when you talk about new equipment for Lada?

Igor Vilnit: More than 130 completely new models of equipment have been created for it. And not just created - installed on the head boat. What time was it? No funds were allocated for bench testing. The first samples went straight to the ship and it took time to practically fine-tune them.

This concerns the conditions in which the ship was created and why it required such a significant amount of time for testing. During trial operation, questions also arose. But among them there was not one who would not allow the boat to be used or to say that some mistakes were made during the creation of the ship.

How and where did the trial operation take place? Can we reveal some details?

Igor Vilnit: Unlike most submarines, the St. Petersburg underwent trial operation in two fundamentally different theaters. He started in the Baltic - the so-called “shallow sea” with very peculiar acoustic conditions and hydrology, as well as intense traffic of civilian ships. Even the sea swell in the Baltic differs from the swell in the northern seas.

Then the boat moved to the north, where conditions are completely different: the hydrology of the cold and deep sea, ice edges, and a different interference regime. In addition to testing hydroacoustics, in the northern seas, with strong waves and wind, the lead submarine demonstrated the ability to dive and surface, as well as maneuver along the course in all directions relative to the wave travel.

The ship fully confirmed compliance with the specified technical characteristics, therefore, in 2020, the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy approved the final act on the successful completion of the trial operation program.

By the way, third-generation submarines, such as Antey and Akula, also went through a period of trial operation. During this period, the ship’s operation schemes are being worked out, the mechanisms are checked for durability and the correctness of the decisions made.

- Was there a repetition of a well-known story in the past, when the development of design, scientific and technical thought far outstripped the production and technological capabilities of shipbuilding enterprises and their related suppliers - suppliers of ship systems and component equipment?

Igor Vilnit: This is a pleasant formulation for the designer, but it greatly simplifies the real state of affairs in the late nineties - early two thousand.

- In what sense?

Igor Vilnit: The creation of new equipment and the use of new technical solutions was not the whim of the designer. By the mid-90s, the equipment that was originally intended for Project 677 had already existed for more than twenty years. And it would be extremely imprudent to hope that it will “live” another thirty. After all, all this time, foreign colleagues-competitors have been improving their equipment, bringing to the market samples with increasingly higher characteristics almost every year. The technology for building boats also developed. And the Navy, obviously, wanted to get new boats with characteristics not inferior to the best foreign analogues...

- And did it take time for all this to “grow together”, for new models to appear and new systems and equipment based on them?

Igor Vilnit: Yes. And as I already said, the entire “readjustment” of production took place during a period when part of the industry ended up abroad, and the rest was financed very conditionally. Gradually, through joint efforts, these difficulties were overcome and it turned out that the solutions included in the project were implemented, the equipment was mass-produced and successfully used not only on Lada, but also on other projects.

How has the situation changed in the last ten years, and what distinguishes the modernized Kronstadt from the flagship in the St. Petersburg series?

Igor Vilnit: Rubin took into account the results of the trial operation of the lead ship in an improved technical design, according to which the Kronstadt was built and a further series is now being built at the Admiralty Shipyards. In June 2022, the plant laid down the fourth and fifth boats. Time has passed between the commissioning of the first and second ships, so the element base has been updated, a number of ship equipment has been modernized, and its capabilities and reliability have been increased.
Laying down of the submarines "Vologda" and "Yaroslavl". Photo: Central Clinical Hospital "Rubin"

“Both my colleagues and I remember the involuntary compliment addressed to the creators of Lada from Admiral Viktor Chirkov: “If the Project 877 submarine was called the Black Hole, let’s call this submarine the Invisible.” No one will really see or hear it.” . Is there any exaggeration here? Or: if you don’t praise yourself, the other won’t either?


Igor Vilnit: Viktor Viktorovich commanded the Baltic Fleet when the St. Petersburg was put into trial operation. And in 2012-2016 he was the commander-in-chief of the Navy, so he knows the Lada well. For a submarine, invisibility is the ability to detect the enemy before he can detect you. To do this, you need to have a low noise level and high hydroacoustics capabilities. Lada is truly in an advantageous position in both of these respects.

“Both the designers and builders of the Kronstadt are looking forward with special feelings to the acceptance of the new ship into the Russian Navy. Our submariners also pin their hopes on the modernized version of the Lada. And the fact that the first production ship of this project was commissioned will certainly increase its export potential. How do Rubin, Rosoboronexport, and your other partners in the military-technical cooperation assess this, if we are talking about the Amur-1650 export project?

Igor Vilnit: Of course, friendly foreign customers are closely monitoring the implementation of Project 677, and the commissioning of the first production ship is very important. This is another signal that the project has taken place. We offer our foreign partners an export modification, Amur-1650, along with Project 636, which has long and firmly established itself in the export market thanks to its powerful missile system. The interest of specific buyers in the type of boat depends on what task the Navy of a particular country sets for itself. However, given that the Amur-1650 is a next-generation project, we expect it to take the baton from the Kilo class and form the basis of our exports in the coming decades.

- Key Question -


Raising the flag on a serial ship is a common holiday for all its creators

In the fall of 2018, when the Kronstadt was launched, the management of the Admiralty Shipyards made it clear that the difficult period was over, and the forced pause in the construction of the series made it possible to learn lessons and accumulate important experience. What could the chief designer of the project add to this?

Alexander Arsentiev, since 2008 - chief designer of project 677 :

- More than five hundred Russian contractors took part in the creation of Lada: scientific organizations, system designers, suppliers of equipment and materials. This submarine is a high-tech system in which our joint plans are realized.

Due to well-known circumstances, the project was indeed difficult at first, but the first production Lada in its current form is an indisputably positive result, which indicates that the program has taken place. And this is the merit of all participants in the cooperation. During the tests, our ship confirmed its high tactical and technical characteristics.

We are grateful to the military sailors of the Baltic and Northern Fleets who “tested” the lead boat, “St. Petersburg”, and gave us their comments and suggestions for the improved design on which the “Kronstadt” was built. We are glad that we have built a long-standing and very well-coordinated partnership with the Admiralty Shipyards, which allowed us to quickly resolve all issues that arose during construction and testing. The expected raising of the flag on this ship is our common holiday. In the Kronstadt submarine, the scientific, technical and creative potential of domestic shipbuilding found its visible embodiment.

https://rg.ru/2024/01/31/v-sostav-vmf-rossii-peredaiut-pervuiu-serijnuiu-podlodku-proekta-677-lada.html

This submarine would be way better with lithium-ion batteries. I assume they didn't put those in because they don't have a whole supply chain to make fuel batteries (they need to import lithium) and existing lithium batteries made in Russia haven't been qualified to operate on a submarine.

This is something that they clearly need to address. It could be used in later variants of this submarine and the next generation Kalina submarine.

Still this is a huge improvement over the Kilo. They should just cancel building more Kilo subs and replace any orders for the Kilo with orders for this sub. 35 vs 52 crew. You can operate 3 Lada submarines with the crew for 2 Kilo. And it is both more stealthy and has better sensors.

The Japanese subs either have AIP (Stirling engine) or lithium-ion batteries.
But it is not possible to compare the submarine fleets of Russia and Japan because in Japan's case they don't have nuclear subs. Japanese diesel submarines are supposed to be much bigger and have better endurance while Russian diesel subs are expected to operate close to bases.

Other submarines like German-Italian Type 212 or French Scorpene have small crews. 27 crew and 31 crew respectively. And those submarines are the main competitors to the Lada in the international market. Not the Taigei.

There are 11 Project 636.3 boats built for the Russian Navy with 1 under construction.
There are 2 Project 677 built for the Russian Navy with 3 under construction.

There were supposedly 4 more Project 636.3 boats ordered. I just think those orders should be replaced with orders for Project 677.

As for older Kilos it is debatable how many are in an actual operational state. Although it would be possible to do a deep repair they seem to have decided in a lot of cases that it is better to just build new ones.

The export version of the Type 212, the Type 214, was built in much larger numbers. Several NATO or US aligned countries operate them.

The Type 212/214 can carry the Harpoon missile, while the Scorpene can carry the Exocet. So both can carry anti-ship missiles. Yes these anti-ship missiles are less capable than the Kalibr. The Scorpene can also launch MICA anti-air missiles. Which none of the Russian submarines can do.

As much of a success as the Kilo was both in Soviet/Russian service and as an export product let's not exaggerate its capabilities in the current threat environment.

The Lada at least is once again competitive. If you compare it specwise it is roughly analogous to the Spanish S-80 Plus submarine. Which is a much more recent design. But these submarines still need more modern battery storage and perhaps AIP to be more competitive in the export market.

I wouldn't say AIP is useless for Russia either. Imagine if you could move submarines at will by transiting between the Northern and Pacific fleets under the ice at any time of the year. Wouldn't that have some military value?

In terms of hull design the Lada is also behind the German subs. I mean just look at them. The Germans use composites in the upper structure for example. Which means they should be way less radar visible when surfaced.

The French are also developing the Naval SCALP missile.
https://www.navyrecognition.com/index.php?id=2042
https://www.naval-technology.com/projects/mdcn-missile-croisiere-naval/?cf-view


So eventually they will have a land attack cruise missile which can be launched from torpedo tubes. They already offered this missile to India if they buy more Scorpenes.