Foreign assessments of Russian weapons and military equipment are always of some interest. Often, publications on this topic are created taking into account current political trends, which leads to a bias towards the objects under consideration. Nevertheless, other articles of foreign publications seem to be objective. One way or another, regardless of the positions of the authors and other aspects, such publications are worth the attention of readers. They allow you to see the current specifics of the market situation, and also demonstrate the interest of foreign experts and authors in Russian weapons and equipment.
One of these curious articles was published on December 4 by the American edition of The National Interest. In the Buzz section, an article by Sebastian Roblin was published titled "This Russian Nuclear Submarine Has a Very Special Mission: Kill American Aircraft Carriers". The topic of the publication with such a threatening title was the nuclear submarines of projects 949 "Granit" and 949A "Antey", which are one of the main "hunters" in the Russian navy.
At the beginning of his article, the American author recalls the history of nuclear submarines of the 949 family of projects. The huge boats of this project, which have the Russian designations 949 Granite and 949A Antey, as well as the NATO Oscar-class code, were developed during the Cold War. The new submarines had a specific purpose: the hunt for American aircraft carriers, which are the backbone of the strike power of the United States naval forces. Submarines of new types were supposed to search and destroy ships of a potential enemy.
Within the framework of project 949, some features of the American strategy were taken into account. Each US aircraft carrier operates as part of the so-called. an aircraft carrier strike group, which, in addition to it, includes several other ships for various purposes. Some of these ships are intended for anti-submarine defense: they must search and destroy the approaching enemy submarines. This feature of the carrier groups forces the attacking submarines to keep a safe distance.
For this reason, the Soviet "Oscars" as the main strike means were to use not torpedo weapons, but anti-ship cruise missiles capable of destroying surface targets at ranges of hundreds of miles. S. Roblin notes that missiles for submarines of projects 949 / 949A, like their carriers, are large.
The author notes that submarines with cruise missiles (SSG and SSGN in the American classification) were not an original concept at the time of the development of the Granite project. The first submarines of this purpose, in the armament complex of which cruise missiles were introduced, were built on the basis of existing ships back in the fifties of the last century. In 1961, the Soviet Union included in the fleet the lead submarine of the Echo-class type (Project 659 K-45) - it was the first submarine whose main weapon was cruise missiles.
Work on the creation of the project of the third generation nuclear submarine 949 "Granit" started in the mid-seventies of the last century. The project provided for the use of a double-hull scheme, standard for Soviet military shipbuilding: all the main compartments and assemblies were placed inside a strong hull, outside covered with a light streamlined hull. The distance between the hulls in different parts of the submarine varies from 2 inches to 6 feet. The large submarine received an appropriate power plant. Two nuclear reactors generated 73 MW of electricity. The crew of a hundred people was housed in nine or ten compartments (depending on the version of the project) of a robust hull, separated by sealed bulkheads.
According to S. Roblin, the size of the Oscar-class submarine is fully consistent with its heavy and powerful armament. The submarine has a length of one and a half football fields (154 m), in the surface position its displacement reaches 12, 5 thousand tons. Such parameters make the nuclear submarine of project 949 / 949A the fourth largest among all submarines under construction. Despite its large size, the submarine develops a speed of up to 37 knots and can dive to a depth of 500 m. At the same time, it is believed that Soviet / Russian submarines with cruise missiles slowly sink and surface, and also do not have high maneuverability.
The main task of the Project 949 / 949A submarines is to transport and launch the P-700 Granit anti-ship cruise missiles (SS-N-19 according to NATO classification). On the underwater "platform" there are 24 launchers for such weapons. Rockets of the "Granite" type have a length of about 10 m and a launch weight of about 8 tons. Such weapons can be launched from a submerged position at a distance of up to 400 miles from the target. The launch of the rocket and exit from the launcher is carried out using a solid propellant engine; on the cruising phase of the flight, the P-700 product uses a ramjet engine (here the American author made a serious mistake: the Granit rocket is equipped with a short-life turbojet power plant).
Depending on the flight altitude, the rocket develops a speed of up to M = 2, 5. The rocket is guided using satellite navigation. When launched simultaneously, several P-700 missiles can communicate with each other, exchange information and coordinate an attack. It is possible to equip the missile with a special warhead with a capacity of 500 kt.
S. Roblin recalls that in addition to the Antey-class submarines, the Granit missile carriers are Project 1144 heavy nuclear missile cruisers (Kirov-class), as well as the aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov. Nevertheless, unlike submarines, surface ships with missile weapons are more visible to the enemy and, as a result, cannot covertly enter the launch area. Project 949 / 949A nuclear submarines, in turn, can launch missiles from a submerged position, almost without risking becoming the target of a retaliatory strike.
Oscar-class submarines also do not lack short-range weapons. Submarines of this type carry four standard 533-mm torpedo tubes, suitable for firing torpedoes of all available types of the corresponding caliber. Also, these devices can be used as launchers of the RPK-2 "Vyuga" (SS-N-15 Starfish) missile system. In addition, the submarines are equipped with two 650 mm torpedo tubes. Together with torpedoes, these systems can use anti-submarine missiles of the RPK-6M "Waterfall" (SS-N-16 Stallion) complex. Missile and torpedo systems, according to the author of The National Interest, can hit enemy submarines at ranges up to 63 miles. The missiles can be equipped with torpedoes with conventional or special warheads or depth charges of the required type.
S. Roblin spoke about the process of building and introducing various submarines of the 949 family into the navy. The boats K-525 "Arkhangelsk" and K-206 "Murmansk" were built according to the initial design. The construction of these ships began in the late seventies, in 1980-82 they were handed over to the customer. Then the construction of submarines of the updated project 949A "Antey" (Oscar II) was launched. From 1982 to 1996, the Russian Navy received 11 such ships. The new Antei differed from the Project 949 Granit submarines with an increased hull length, updated avionics and new propellers with seven blades (four-bladed propellers were previously used).
In 1992-94, the Russian shipbuilding company laid down three more submarines, but they were never completed and handed over to the customer. By the time of the cessation of active work, certain parts of their structure had been completed.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian navy focused on preserving the fleet of existing Oscars through timely maintenance and repair of equipment. In addition, the submarines continued to be on duty and patrol specified areas of the World Ocean, searching for ship groupings of a potential enemy. In 1999, in the course of such work, a specific incident occurred. One of the submarines, located near the territorial waters of Spain, cut the nets of a local fishing vessel.
The auto edition of The National Interest reminds that the submarines of projects 949 "Granit" and 949A "Antey", like all post-war submarines, have never participated in real hostilities. However, he has to admit that training activities can also be associated with high risks. One of the tragic pages in the history of the Russian fleet is connected with the submarine of the Antey project.
On August 12, 2000, on board the K-141 Kursk submarine, which took part in exercises in the Barents Sea, an explosion occurred with a yield of 3-7 tons in TNT equivalent. Of the 118 crew members, up to 23 people were able to take refuge in the aft compartment of the ship, but the rescuers did not manage to help them. Investigation into the causes of the tragedy showed that the probable cause of the first explosion in the bow compartment was a hydrogen leak from a 650-mm torpedo. The explosion of the first torpedo led to the detonation of warheads of other similar ammunition. According to other assumptions, insufficient training of the crew could have caused the explosion.
Another incident mentioned by S. Roblin took place on April 7 last year. At this time, the submarine K-266 "Eagle" was being repaired in the dry dock of the enterprise "Zvezdochka" (Severodvinsk). During the welding work, the seal, located between the strong and lightweight body, ignited. There were no weapons and nuclear fuel on board, the fire was extinguished without significant difficulty. Subsequently, all damaged units were restored and the ship's repair continued.
At the moment, according to the calculations of the author of the article, seven or eight Oscar II-class submarines are serving in the Northern and Pacific fleets of the Russian Navy. In the future, these ships will be replaced by the newest nuclear submarines of project 885 Yasen, but by now only the lead boat of this type, K-560 Severodvinsk, has been completed and handed over to the fleet. Thus, the complete rearmament of the submarine forces is a matter of the distant future.
The current plans of Russia include the modernization of at least three submarines of the 949A Antey type under the 949AM project. At least three available boats will be re-equipped by 2020 in order to increase the main characteristics and combat capabilities. The cost of such work is estimated at US $ 180 million for each submarine. The main innovation of the modernization project is the replacement of the P-700 Granit missiles with the newer Onyx and Club / Caliber products. After such modernization, the ammunition load of the strike weapons will increase to 72 cruise missiles. In addition to weapons, it is planned to replace the means of detection, data processing and control, as well as other elements of onboard equipment.
S. Roblin concludes his article "This Russian Nuclear Submarine Has a Very Special Mission: Kill American Aircraft Carriers" with the following conclusion. Oscar II nuclear submarines are no longer "at the forefront of stealthy underwater technology." At the same time, however, they can remain an effective component of the navy. The Antei retain their ability to destroy enemy surface ships with long-range anti-ship cruise missiles.
In general, the latest review of a sample of Russian military equipment made by the American edition of The National Interest looks interesting and objective. At the same time, there were a number of serious mistakes. For example, the information given on the P-700 Granit missiles is seriously different from the real state of affairs. Rockets of this type have a turbojet sustainer engine, and not a ramjet engine named by S. Roblin. In addition, instead of satellite navigation "Granites" use an inertial system and active radar homing heads. It can also be recalled that in practice, massive missile launches with automated target allocation, etc. have never been carried out.
It should be noted that in accordance with the traditions of the publication, the article received the loud title "This Russian Nuclear Submarine Has a Very Special Mission: Kill American Aircraft Carriers" ". However, we should not forget that The National Interest has its own traditions: publications in the Buzz section are rarely complete without a loud or even provocative headline that touches on current topics.
Under the flashy title, there is often an article that is not distinguished by excessive tendentiousness and is not based on dubious, albeit “politically correct,” theses. The same thing happened with a recent publication about Russian submarines. Sebastian Roblin told the readers about the history, capabilities and current state of some of the equipment of the Russian Navy's submarine forces. The American author left the right to draw the necessary conclusions and predict the further development of events.
