Typhoon class SSBNs future:

From RIA

Source: the world's largest nuclear submarine "Dmitry Donskoy" was withdrawn from the Navy

The world's largest nuclear submarine "Dmitry Donskoy" was withdrawn from the Russian Navy

MOSCOW, July 20 - RIA Novosti. The world's largest strategic nuclear submarine "Dmitry Donskoy" was withdrawn from the combat strength of the Russian Navy, a source in the military-industrial complex told RIA Novosti.

He recalled that the name " Dmitry Donskoy " had already been given to another strategic nuclear submarine of the Borey-A class (Project 955A), which was laid down at Sevmash last year .

The nuclear submarine "Dmitry Donskoy" (project 941 UM "Akula", according to NATO classification SSBN Typhoon) entered the fleet in 1980 and was the lead boat of the project. In total, six submarines were built under this project.

In 2002, "Dmitry Donskoy" was modernized and re-equipped with the "Bulava" for testing this missile before being put into service. It is still the largest submarine in the world in terms of displacement - 48 thousand tons.

source

I'd like to think that one could be saved as a museum boat. Not cheap to implement, but Russia is swimming in cash currently, and it would be a shame to deny future generations the opportunity to see the largest sub ever built. It's a true testimony to Russian (*) engineering prowess and sign of what is possible in the future (a nation that can build this mighty behemoth can do anything it puts its efforts to).

(*) Yeah, I know its technically a Soviet achievement, but the degenerate Ukrop have dropped the ball and these days struggle to make washing machines...

The Russians have some amazing military parks... imagine a naval park with retired submarines sitting side by side on the ground... all the secret and sensitive stuff removed of course and where practical replaced with inert dummies to fool western intel of course...

In a few years they will only be able to do it digitally but then you could visit from anywhere on earth if that were the case... you could make it a video game where you can pick up weapons and take them to digital shooting ranges to test fire.... have the subs in dry dock that can be filled with water and go for a sail if you want...

Games like Il-2 Shturmovich already have damn good computer models of armoured vehicles.... you could have online manuals and go through the process of changing or repairing a track for real, or take any Soviet or Russian tank from the very first to the most recent planned models out for a drive... with or without live targets...

There was that American game to recruit new soldiers, this could be a broader more historical system going back centuries with the different uniforms and equipment and weapons.

For clarity for the non Russian speakers the Russian Navy call what the west calls the Typhoon class Akula... which means Shark in Russian.

The sub seems to be rather useful for testing new equipment and systems on it because of the space available... I wonder if they might use it to test their new ballistic hypersonic anti carrier missile... it would be an interesting platform for that... especially if the use of the weapon is expanded to other duties because of its use presumably of a guided terminal warhead of conventional design... targets like carriers, but equally port facilities and even canal facilities or nuclear power stations or hydro electric dam structures or the underground bunkers in the Pentagon or other locations where its high speed would give it the reach that other weapons might lack.

Not sure if you realize, but there was an idea about converting all of them for ... ore carriers

Crazy Ivans considered that a quite brilliant idea, as the ore was extracted somewhere on the northern coast, and that was before NSR get serious attention. So they lacked a sailing corridor there. Submarines were to carry the cargo under the ice.
Holly shit, they did have impressive imagination, admit!

Think how many Poseidons it could have carried... and rather more importantly it is a big sub with excellent onboard space for crew and food... it would be ideal for long patrols in the southern oceans waiting for an order to launch an attack from the south at the north... it would rather complicate western naval plans because they would need to continuously monitor its movements, and it would not have any designated launch positions so it could move anywhere at any time and at any speed it likes... it could sit in one place for a month and for the next day travel enormous distances...

Of course the logistics of moving such a monster somewhere to be displayed as a museum piece would be horrific and complex and probably the reason it wont become a museum piece unless someone with power or money or both intercedes and does something.

In these days of frenzied belligerence from the Western monkey-nation collective, I could see the Kremlin opening their purse on projects to stimulate national pride and encourage a stiffening of resolve & defiance in ordinary Russians. The "Dimtry Donskoi naval museum" would be a great exhibit. K-3 on mega-steroids.

It would be useful to keep a sub of that size for testing new technology but it would not be cheap.

Of course it would no longer be an SSBN so its performance in that role would be irrelevant, so the superiority of Yasen or Borei class subs is not relevant, the Akulas value is in doing jobs that wont take Yasens or Boreis out of operational service to perform... testing new equipment and systems, or becoming a drone carrier... or perhaps even a ship to carry 200 launch tubes for the Thunderbird nuclear powered cruise missile... a type of weapon that can fly low and relatively fast continuously for days or weeks or even months.... it would be the sort of weapon that could be launched from anywhere at any time after a conflict has started, and in actual fact having them being launched from a southern ocean would create the most problems and cause the greatest unease in the west because they have built bases surrounding Russia and are focusing their sensors and people on Russias borders, but a large ship that could sail to the south atlantic or south pacific or antarctic ocean and just sail around fast or slow with extremely long endurance with an enormous food store and a relatively small crew and large numbers of very very long range low flying missiles would be a real problem for the west that could not be ignored.

To get around arms agreements Russia could simply take advantage of Americas cheats and say that the Thunderbird can carry several warheads but can also fly back to where it was launched from and deploy a parachute and be recovered which means instead of being a nuclear armed cruise missile which would have to be included in any START like treaty, that it is actually a very long range very low altitude drone... a LALE... low altitude long endurance drone.

The space for 20 SLBMs could be used for maybe 200 cruise missile tubes maybe, depending on its size... a huge reduction in the crew numbers means it probably wont need all those aviaries and libraries and swimming pools it had on the original sub.

But then they could also use it for arctic research and supporting those new scientific research vessels too.

They could fit a containerised mechanism where the old SLBMs went that could be loaded up with equipment and food etc and the sub can sail to the science vessel and a crane on the vessel can lift on the full pod and replace it with the previous pod they can put their rubbish into and it can take it back to Russia for processing or destruction.

Equally they have a Delta III sub being used as a mothership for drones and as a rescue type sub... maybe they could replace it with this bigger vessel.

This sub uses parts of 667 project hulls&structures.
It is used&old project and keeping it alive in a form other than a museum ship is a waste of resources.
It had a good & long lasting career in the ranks. Let it RIP.