Project 971: Akula class

Project 955A and 855M submarines and probably Belgorod, Khabarovsk use completely new turbine reactors, gears.

RTN wrote:

Be that as it may, OK-650 family of reactors need to be replaced with more state of the art reactors. They have had a long run and probably served their purpose but new inventions should follow.

The use of the OK-650 family of reactors started with the introduction of the Sierra class subs, but with each subsequent class of submarines a more advanced version of the 650 reactor was developed. That means that the reactor used in the Yasen class is far more advanced than the one in the Sierra boats. It's called e-v-o-l-u-t-i-o-n.

Basically the same thing happened with the Los Angeles and Sea Wolf class subs - same family but the Sea Wolf's S6 reactors are more advanced than the Los Angeles.

Russia made a huge revolutionary jump in reactor technology by developing miniaturized reactors that can be used in cruise missiles, torpedoes and small sized submarines. No one else seems to have been able to duplicate this technology at the moment?

Take SSKs for instance, just when AIPs were being touted as the holy grail of underwater warfare the Japs came up with lithium ion batteries for their SSKs.

No disrespect meant, but I think they are in a much better place to make decisions than people like us on the internet.

If you go a few dozen pages back on an SSK thread you will see that Russia is falling behind on AIPs and if they don't get a new AIP into the water and operating soon then they will be 20 years behind in SSK technology and no one will buy their subs.

Well obviously they know more about things that we do and it seems the Japanese who were I guess therefore world leaders in SSK design because they had subs with AIP units in them, have now gone in a different direction and dropped the AIPs and just gone with more li ion batteries instead... now imagine if we did control the Russian Navy... they would be working super hard to get AIPs into their next lot of Lada class subs, whose export name is Amur... so wasting lots of time and effort only to likely get the damn thing into the water at enormous expense only to find that it would have made more sense to go with more lithium ion batteries instead, or maybe they have another new battery technology in the wings that is even better.

If the French make very small SSNs it would normally because their nuclear power unit is not very powerful and they don't want to use more of them because it would make their subs too big... not a huge problem... a small SSN is not the worst thing in the world... the Alpha SSNs were rather good for what they were.

The French reactors are smaller but less powerful - they also require refueling much sooner at around 5-7 years. However given their operational requirements it's not a big issue as they mostly operate in the Mediterranean and North-Eastern Atlantic. They don't need big nuclear subs that can run at 30+knots across vast oceans.

As for the new silent drives for submarines. An interesting solution was used on the new units of the 955A project. It is an additional / emergency drive. I think it can be used as a very quiet drive. This is the rim driver thruster. The propeller is also the engine. The rotor is a screw and the stator is a rim. As a result, the drive does not need a gearbox, etc. It is enough to provide only the power supply and of course the appropriate control. Borey A has four such propellers. I don't know what speed he can reach on this. I think that in the future such propulsion will be found on other submarines.

971 used the very same system, with two retractable OK-300 electric propulsors.
Those systems have a dual purpose, one being quiet march at up to 5kt speed, while the other is easing off the harbor maneuvering.

The nuclear submarine "Leopard", after repair and modernization, will be tested in 2022
According to a TASS source, after the repair and modernization of Project 971 nuclear submarines, their arsenal of weapons on board will remain the same - 40 units of missiles and torpedoes, but it will be expanded with the Caliber-PL cruise missiles.


https://tass-ru.translate.goog/armiya-i-opk/13148653?_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en

The final dates for the return of the nuclear submarine"Samara" of project 971 (code "Shchuka-B") of the Pacific Fleet to the Russian Navy after repair and modernization have not yet been determined. This was reported to TASS by a source in the military-industrial complex.

https://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk

K-157 Vepr

Leopard

Arrow wrote:Leopard

How much modernization was done?

If propeller is covered it means practically complete rebuild to today's levels

Yasen style sonars, extremely silent and cruise missile capability

Also armed with Kalibr missiles.

Arrow wrote:Leopard

But that white ladder must be very loud under water.

Can any Russian-language speakers pls identify this 971? I can't reconcile the name on the gangway against known 971 names, past and present.

Big_Gazza wrote:Can any Russian-language speakers pls identify this 971? I can't reconcile the name on the gangway against known 971 names, past and present.

It is K-461 VOLK

Isos wrote:
Sell and use the money for a new yasen. And indians will pay for the maintenance and the destruction of the ships at the end.

I think selling military nuclear propulsion technology would be against russian military export laws and interests. Since OK-650 design reactors are in active use selling this ( and so loosing any control who studies the design in detail ) seems to be not an option at all.

Russia is the only country to even lease an active nuclear sub , i,m pretty sure the indians were confronted with strict contract rules of just using it and not study it . Operation of the sub was very likely limited to performance numbers dictaded by russia in regards to permissible operating depth and speed - i guess way below 971 true capabilities .

Acr wrote:

Isos wrote:
Sell and use the money for a new yasen. And indians will pay for the maintenance and the destruction of the ships at the end.

I think selling military nuclear propulsion technology would be against russian military export laws and interests. Since OK-650 design reactors are in active use selling this ( and so loosing any control who studies the design in detail ) seems to be not an option at all.

Russia is the only country to even lease an active nuclear sub  , i,m pretty sure the indians were confronted with strict contract rules of just using it and not study it . Operation of the sub was very likely limited to performance numbers dictaded by russia in regards to permissible operating depth and speed - i guess way below 971 true capabilities .

Their Arihant is a copy of the Akula and they even let US admirals onboard of the akula once.

Isos wrote:Their Arihant is a copy of the Akula and they even let US admirals onboard of the akula once.

Arihant is hardly a copy of the 971.



Suttons website does however claim that the Kilo was the basis of the Arihant bow section, and the claim looks to have merit.

Their Arihant is a copy of the Akula and they even let US admirals onboard of the akula once.

I think that rumour is a myth about them letting US personnel on board.

And why that would be so particularly hard to believe in?
In Aug 1988, a secretary of defense Carlucci was visiting a fresh new Tu-160.
Trying to get into a cockpit, he hit an electric panel with its head, so from now on, this panel was called "Carlucci szczitok" - a Carlucci cover".
Tu-160 in 1988 was something much more bizarre than a 971 class sub 30 years later.

"Shark" time: the submarine "Samara" will return to the Pacific Ocean after repairs

Why Project 971 multi-purpose nuclear submarines are considered one of the most dangerous in the world

Steel "shark" will join the Pacific Fleet. The Project 971 nuclear submarine Samara will return to the Pacific Fleet in 2023. It will be repaired and slightly upgraded. In particular, Kalibr missiles will appear on the boat. Meanwhile, the Bratsk submarine of the same type has been declared unfit for repair and will not be restored. Both submarines have not been at sea since the early 2010s. In 2014, as a result of a unique operation, Samara and Bratsk were transported from Kamchatka to Severodvinsk to a factory for repair. Experts note that the submarines of this project remain one of the most dangerous in the world.

"Sharks", not "roaring cows"

As sources in the military department told Izvestia, the Defense Ministry has agreed and approved an updated schedule of work on the nuclear submarine of Project 971 Samara. It is expected that the submarine will be returned to the fleet next year. However, the interlocutors of the publication do not exclude that the transfer period of the submarine may be extended.

As indicated in the supplementary agreement to the existing contract (available to Izvestia), Samara decided to make "repairs in technical condition with an extension of the inter-repair service life". Delivery of the submarine to the Pacific Fleet, according to the document, is scheduled for 2023.

Interlocutors of the publication in the military department explained that new radio-electronic equipment will be installed on the submarine, and a number of components and mechanisms will also be replaced. But the main thing is that the submarine will replenish its arsenal with Kalibr cruise missiles.

At the same time, the Pacific Fleet will remain without the sister ship "Samara" — the nuclear submarine "Bratsk", although its repair was also planned. According to the documents available to Izvestia, on July 26, 2013, the Defense Ministry and JSC Zvezdochka CS signed a contract for the modernization of two nuclear submarines No. 514 Bratsk and No. 517 Samara. But in the end, they decided to abandon the repair of Bratsk . The submarine was excluded from the state contract for modernization after the conclusion of an additional agreement on March 5, 2018.

Earlier, Izvestia reported that after the repair and modernization, Kalibr-PL cruise missiles with the ability to launch from under water will be installed on the Shchuki. This will allow the boats to destroy ground targets. These missiles were first launched in December 2015 by the Rostov-on-Don diesel submarine during the anti-terrorist operation in Syria.

"Samara" and "Bratsk" belong to project 971 "Pike-B". In the West, submarines of this class are called "sharks". These are multi-purpose submarines designed to search, detect, track and destroy nuclear submarines and enemy aircraft carriers, said Igor Kurdin, chairman of the St. Petersburg Club of Submariners, Captain of the first rank of the reserve.

"The boats of this project turned out to be very successful," the expert believes. — For the first time, they were equipped with wake detection equipment, which makes it possible to find the enemy even before entering into sonar contact with him. There is no such equipment on any potential enemy submarine. The "Pike-B" has a large modernization reserve. The rugged hull of the boats is designed for decades of service. When replacing electronics, weapons, radio engineering and sonar systems, the Shchuki-B will remain in service for a long time. The same "Samara" in 2023 will be a modern submarine with high search capabilities. Still, the main task of such submarines is to detect and destroy enemy missile submarines. If war breaks out, they must find and destroy them before they can strike at our territory. In addition, it is much cheaper to upgrade a boat than to make a new one.

"Pikes-B" are low-noise ,which allows them to be the first to detect the enemy, the expert noted. Americans have long appreciated its combat qualities and capabilities — this is the first Soviet nuclear submarine to get rid of the nickname"roaring cow".

"At one time, Vice Admiral Alexey Burilichev, being the captain of such a boat, received the title of Hero of Russia for following the American nuclear submarine for days on the Pike without being noticed," Igor Kurdin reminded.

Project 971 boats played a big role in maintaining the Navy's combat capability, military expert Dmitry Boltenkov told Izvestia.

— In the post-Soviet years, it was these submarines that most often went on hikes among submarines, " he said. - Thanks to them, we managed to preserve and train new officers for the Navy. Naval practice in the management of submarines is very important — such skills are passed down from generation to generation. The ship's commander must personally show and explain the behavior of the submarine and the use of its weapons. Experience plays a huge role here.

The Pikes will be replaced by fourth-generation multi-purpose submarines of the 885 Yasen and 885M Yasen-M projects. They will be able to deal more effectively with enemy submarines, the expert noted.

Let's go the Northern Sea Route

Bratsk and Samara were built at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur ship factory and incorporated into the Pacific Fleet in 1989 and 1994, respectively. Both boats - with a difficult fate.

"Samara" in the 2000s was on the Pacific Fleet itself, as they say in the navy, a" running " boat-it was constantly on hikes. But by 2013, it already required updating. Bratsk was delivered for repair to the North-Eastern Repair Center (SVRC) in Kamchatka in 2003. In 2008, over 250 million rubles were allocated for the necessary work. Upon its completion — in 2012-the boat was supposed to start mooring tests. But in 2013, during the visit of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to the SVRC, it turned out that there were no repairs, only an inventory was carried out on the boat over all these years, and the reduced crew of the nuclear-powered ship of 37 people was actually not engaged in anything.

At the same time, the military department decided to transfer these submarines to one of the factories located in the European part of the country. In 2014, an operation was carried out to transport them to Severodvinsk at the Zvezdochki plant. Both boats were loaded onto the Dutch transport vessel Transshelf dock, which made the transition along the Northern Sea Route in difficult ice conditions.

In total, 15 nuclear submarines were built under Project 971 in its original and modified versions, some of which have already been decommissioned. Submarines of this series have a length of about 110 m, a maximum speed under water-61 km / h, a diving depth of up to 600 m. The crew consists of 73 people. Such submarines are armed with cruise missiles with nuclear warheads PK-55 "Granat", torpedo missiles and underwater missiles.

https://iz.ru/1277878/aleksei-ramm-anton-lavrov-bogdan-stepovoi/akule-pora-podlodka-samara-vernetsia-v-tikhii-okean-posle-remonta

Does anyone remember reading about some light version of the Tsirkon? I am assuming the full version is too thick (maybe 720 mm like the Oniks) to be launched from the torpedo tubes of the 971 and diesel subs of the VMF, (maybe it is right or maybe not, but it would make sense to maximize the use the UKSK cells for range and payload), but if a smaller version for 650 or 533 mm tubes was available in the near future, the offensive options of the VMF would increase notably. There are 9 or 10x 971s in operation or under modernization, that is one decade worth of sub building at Sevmash and their value cannot be underestimated. Even a substantially reduced range or warhead would not prevent it being a practically unstoppable weapon and would make it much harder for the USN to keep all the potential Tsirkon capable subs in a theater under check