07.11.2022
Izvestia.ru
Strategic decision: what will give Russia a new submarine of the project "Borey-A"Image source: Photo: Sevmash Press Service
Missile carrier "Generalissimo Suvorov" in the framework of state tests fired a ballistic missile "Bulava"
At the end of October, the Project 955A Borei-A submarine strategic missile carrier Generalissimus Suvorov left Severodvinsk for the White Sea for the third time for sea trials. This is the third ship of the modernized series, which in the coming decades will become the basis of the naval component of the Russian nuclear triad. What is the Borey-A strategic missile carrier, how is it different from the usual Boreys, and what did the Generalissimo Suvorov test on November 3 - in the material of Izvestia.
Third went"Generalissimo Suvorov" (serial number 206) became the third missile nuclear submarine of project 955A "Borey-A". The first two ships of this series - K-549 "Prince Vladimir" and K-552 "Prince Oleg" - were accepted by the Russian fleet in 2020 and 2021. Following the Generalissimo Suvorov, four more boats of the project are being built, and in the coming months, it is possible to lay the foundation for two more missile carriers. In total, the Russian Navy in the 2020s can receive nine “strategists” of the Borey-A project, which will complement the three nuclear submarines of the original Project 955 Borey already adopted by the fleet. In total, this family will thus have 12 nuclear missile carriers.
Their common name is "Nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines" or SSBNs. In the Russian Navy, they are called RPKSN - missile submarine cruisers of strategic purpose.
Rocket launch "Bulava"
Image source: Photo: RIA Novosti / Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
The main weapons of submarines of the Borei family are 16 intercontinental ballistic missiles 3M-30 Bulava developed by the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering. Today, Bulava is one of the most highly effective solid-propellant ballistic missiles in the world. Three march stages, a payload breeding stage, and three to six individually targetable warheads. Each such block is directed by a rocket at its target and carries a thermonuclear charge with a capacity of 150 kilotons.
In order for all blocks to reach the target without loss, the Bulava can carry a set of means to overcome anti-missile defense. These can be light inflatable decoys that mask warheads in the atmospheric part of the trajectory. And heavy false targets can also be used, which enter the atmosphere along with warheads and take on the blows of the last line of anti-missile defense.
Such a missile submarine can send 96 warheads in one salvo to the target. And 12 Boreevs can keep up to 1152 warheads in total on combat duty.
Long road to the seaThe lead boat of the Borey project, the K-535 Yuri Dolgoruky, was laid down in Severodvinsk on November 2, 1996, 26 years ago. The boat was built under the missiles of the Makeev GRTs from Miass "Bark" until 1998, when it was decided to replace the "Bark" with the "Bulava" unified with the then newest ICBM "Topol-M".
The Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering in difficult times came up with trump cards - unification in terms of missiles, combat equipment, savings and high efficiency of new types of solid fuel, multiplied by MIT's vast experience in the development of compact intercontinental missiles. And "Borey" began to remake under the "Mace (Bulava)". Along the way, realizing that there were no resources to build boats from scratch, a decision was made that made it possible to release a series of SSBNs of project 955 - in their design, hull parts of unfinished and decommissioned nuclear-powered ships of other projects were used. This compromise made it possible to release the first Boreas into the sea and bring the construction of the series to the end.
The crew of the strategic missile submarine (SSBN) "Yuri Dolgoruky"
Image source: Photo: TASS/Lev Fedoseev
In 2003, the Yuri Dolgoruky was relaunched at the Sevmash production facility in Severodvinsk, and the fleet received the first three Boreas in 2012, 2013 and 2014. At the same time, the dramatic tests of the Bulava were successfully completed, which at first were difficult - with accidents. But in the end, the fleet received both Borea and Bulava.
During the 2000s, work was underway on the new Borey-A project, which Sevmash was supposed to build completely from scratch, only Russian and without any constructive compromises. A more advanced case design, completely new equipment, modern electronics - no borrowing from previous projects.
Visually, the Borey-A differs markedly from the old Boreys - other hull lines, the wheelhouse has been changed, the horizontal rudders and the keel have been changed, which has become all-moving. "Borey-A" has become even less noisy than the boats of the basic project. More advanced sonar equipment and torpedo armament allow not only to defend against enemy submarines, but also to engage in duels almost on an equal footing. Of course, the main task of SSBNs is to carry a strategic missile arsenal and accurately use it in a retaliatory or retaliatory nuclear strike.
The lead "Borey-A" K-549 "Prince Vladimir" is serving in the Northern Fleet. The first serial ship of the project - K-552 "Prince Oleg" - in the Pacific Ocean. The second serial and the third general submarine of the project, the Generalissimo Suvorov, was launched in January of this year and has been undergoing sea trials in the White Sea since July. In the intervals between test exits, the ship returns to Sevmash to eliminate the identified comments - this is a common practice in the construction of ships. And now, when the Generalissimo Suvorov went to sea for the third time, as part of state tests, it successfully fired a Bulava missile at the Kura training ground, the Ministry of Defense announced on November 3.
The crew of the submarine cruiser "Yuri Dolgoruky", from which the missiles "Bulava" are launched at the Kura range
Image source: Photo: RIA Novosti / Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
The Kura test site in Kamchatka was ready to receive warheads. The flight path of the rocket too. All necessary areas in the White Sea and along the route were cleared of civil aircraft. Even our overseas "partners" kept their "cobra dein" in the air, which monitored the arrival of warheads on the Kura. The launch of the Bulava should complete the testing of SSBNs and ensure that the fleet receives the sixth Borey.
The production cycle of a submarine of this class is quite long. The complexity of modern submarines makes itself felt - with the coordinated work of hundreds of allied enterprises and the uninterrupted supply of components and materials, the production cycle of SSBNs is about seven years, from the moment of laying to the receipt of the nuclear-powered ship by the fleet. And, of course, nuclear submarine missile carriers remain and will remain one of the most stable components of the strategic nuclear triad - they are difficult to detect and destroy, and they can deliver a decisive blow. And this will not change in the coming decades - thanks to Borey-A.
Dmitry Kornev
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