At present, our country is implementing a program for the construction of diesel-electric submarines, project 636.3 "Varshavyanka". Six of these ships are already serving in the Black Sea Fleet; the construction of the same series for the Pacific is underway. Some of the information about the construction is already known, and recently new details were announced. So, the head diesel-electric submarine of the new series will soon go into service, and the industry will begin the construction of two new ones.
Completed work
The construction of six Varshavyankas for the Pacific Fleet is being carried out in accordance with a contract signed in September 2016. The lead contractor is the Admiralty Shipyard (St. Petersburg), which previously completed a similar order in the interests of the Black Sea Fleet.
The laying of the first two diesel-electric submarines of the new series took place on July 28, 2017. The first boat, B-274 Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, was launched at the end of March 2019. Not so long ago, in August-September, the ship underwent factory sea trials. Then the submarine went to the sea stage of state tests, which was successfully completed on October 10. All characteristics have been confirmed. The test program has been fully completed.
Now "Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky" is undergoing an audit, after which the stage of finishing will begin. After the completion of these works, the ship will be transferred to the navy. The acceptance certificate can be signed before the end of the current year. After that, the lead submarine of the new series will have to go to the duty station.
Near future
Together with diesel-electric submarines B-274 laid the second ship of the series - B-603 "Volkhov". While he is on the assembly yard, the work is nearing completion. On October 28, at a meeting in the Admiralty, the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, announced that the Volkhov would be launched in December. The exact timing of the tests and acceptance of the boat was not specified.
Admiralty Shipyards are preparing to start building the third and fourth submarines of the series, and similar work is almost complete. According to the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, the laying ceremony for the ships Ufa and Magadan will take place on November 1. General Director of the shipyard Alexander Buzakov noted that the simultaneous laying of two diesel-electric submarines is a unique event for shipbuilders and sailors. It shows the capabilities of the enterprise and the achievements in the serial construction of submarines.
New information about the fifth and sixth ships of the series was not announced at a recent meeting. Perhaps new information of this kind will appear in the near future. It is unlikely that such news will have to wait long, since the existing contract provides for the delivery of the entire series of six diesel-electric submarines until 2022 inclusive.
According to the schedule
The 2016 contract provides for the construction of six Varshavyankas for the Pacific Fleet. According to its terms, the lead ship of the series should be delivered in 2019, and the sixth in 2022. Such plans have been announced several times in the past. Judging by the latest reports, they are still relevant, and the industry manages to keep the pace of work. Moreover, in some cases we are talking about ahead of schedule.
Earlier it was stated that the lead submarine "Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky" will be handed over to the fleet in 2019. Recent statements by the Navy command suggest that such plans will be implemented. In the two months remaining until the end of the year, "Admiralty Shipyards" can complete the remaining work and transfer the finished submarine to the fleet.
In the summer of 2017, the management of the Admiralty Shipyards claimed that the second boat of the series, the Volkhov, would be launched in the spring of 2020. A few months later, they were going to hand it over to the customer. According to the latest reports from the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, the launch has shifted several months to the left and will take place before the end of 2019. The signing of the act may also shift accordingly.
Also in 2017, the plant clarified plans for the boats "Magadan" and "Ufa". They were going to be laid in 2019 - these plans will be implemented literally in a few days. The third submarine of the series was planned to be launched in 2020, the fourth in 2021. Delivery of both is scheduled for 2021, with a short interval.
The fifth contracted "Varshavyanka" will be named "Mozhaisk". The sixth is still unnamed. They will be laid only in 2020 with launching in 2021-22. Accordingly, the customer will accept the last ships of the series in 2022, as provided by the existing contract.
Industry successes
According to the existing and successfully implemented plans, a little more than six years will pass from the conclusion of the contract to the delivery of the sixth submarine. From the laying of the lead ship to the delivery of the last one - five years. When performing work, certain difficulties are possible, but so far plans and terms are shifted only to the left, giving reasons for optimism.
For comparison, the construction of six Varshavyankas for the Black Sea Fleet has been underway since 2010, and at the end of 2016 the customer received the last of them. Taking into account the preparatory work, the entire construction took less than seven years, and the order was fully completed.
It is also necessary to compare the construction and testing times of individual ships. Thus, the lead diesel-electric submarine of the first series "Novorossiysk" was laid down in August 2010 and commissioned in November 2014. The sixth sub, Kolpino, was laid down in October 2014 and delivered in November 2016. In terms of construction time, the first ship of the second series is similar to the last of the first. "Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky" has been under construction since July 2017, and will begin service before the beginning of 2020.
All this shows that during the construction of the first series of diesel-electric submarines of pr.636.3, Admiralteyskie Verfi worked out all the necessary technologies and processes, and also gained the necessary experience. Now the competencies are used in the construction of a new series, which is being carried out with the maximum pace and the required quality.
Benefits for the fleet
A series of six Varshavyankas is being built specifically for the Pacific Fleet. Now the Pacific Fleet has six diesel-electric boats of the older project 877 "Halibut". The oldest of them began service in 1988, the newest - in 1994. In the medium term, the Navy will be forced to gradually abandon such equipment due to moral and physical obsolescence.
New diesel-electric submarines pr. 636.3 will help to quantitatively and qualitatively upgrade the non-nuclear part of the Pacific Fleet's submarine forces. At the first stage, six new "Varshavyankas" will ensure a twofold increase in the number of ships. In addition, having certain advantages in on-board systems, weapons, etc., modern submarines will have an impact on the combat effectiveness of the fleet.
In the future, as the "Halibuts" are abandoned, the "Varshavyanka" will take over all their work and become one of the key elements of the Pacific Fleet's submarine forces. They will serve and perform a variety of tasks in the Pacific over the next several decades.
Thanks to the construction of six diesel-electric submarines, project 636.3, the Pacific Fleet will receive new warships with modern strike weapons. The Black Sea Fleet has already demonstrated the potential of its Varshavyanka and their missiles in real operations, and now the Pacific Fleet will have the same capabilities. Against the background of the area of responsibility of the latter and its tasks, such an update looks necessary and timely.
However, the service of the Varshavyanka of the Russian Navy in the Pacific is still a matter of the future, even if it is not too distant. The lead ship of the current series is completing preparations for the start of service and will be handed over to the customer in the coming months. The second boat will have to wait longer. Nevertheless, by the end of 2022, the fleet will receive all the necessary ships. The recent successes of shipbuilders allow us to be sure of this.
