Better than yesterday
The submarine of project 955 "Borey" is in every sense significant: it was this ship that became the first strategic missile submarine of the fourth (last) generation in history. The advantages of such nuclear submarines are well known. The main thing can be called an even higher secrecy, which is achieved due to the maximum reduced noise level.
Why did the US not want to get its own new strategic boat before others? One can argue on this score for a long time, but the main argument seems to be that the potential inherent in the Ohio-class submarines allows them to remain the basis of the entire US nuclear triad even now. Recall that one such submarine in a strategic version (some of the Ohio-class submarines were previously converted to carry cruise missiles) carries 24 solid-propellant ballistic missiles UGM-133A Trident II (D5), which is distinguished by the largest among all modern ballistic missiles of submarines (SLBMs) thrown weight.
As in the case of the United States, the Russian naval component of the nuclear triad builds on the legacy of the Cold War. We are talking about different representatives of the family of Project 667 submarines, which are at the junction of the second and third generations. Now these boats are rapidly becoming obsolete. This is what prompted the country's leadership to seriously engage in rearmament of its fleet, and to start with strategic missile submarine cruisers. There is certainly logic in this. A little more, and Russia could finally say goodbye to the capabilities of the fleet as a deterrent. Some say that this would be a logical conclusion to the degradation of the fleet, and, generally speaking, there is nothing bad here. But this is hardly true.
Nowadays, it is not difficult to trace the ground-based mining and mobile-based complexes. And although they pose a real threat to the West, the phrase "nuclear triad" has not lost its significance even today. Although, for obvious reasons (the strategic capabilities of cruise missiles are relatively modest), the aviation component has lost ground. And not only in Russia.
"Northwind" of all seas
In total, the Russian Navy now has three Project 955 boats: K-535 Yuri Dolgoruky, K-550 Alexander Nevsky and K-551 Vladimir Monomakh. On November 28, 2018, for the first time, the lead nuclear-powered strategic missile cruiser of the modified project 09552 (code "Borey-A") was brought to sea from Severodvinsk for factory sea trials. The official laying of the new submarine K-549 "Prince Vladimir" was made at the Northern Machine-Building Enterprise in Severodvinsk on July 30, 2012. The construction was carried out under a separate contract between the Russian Ministry of Defense and the United Shipbuilding Corporation JSC.
The main intrigue, of course, was the "stuffing" of the submarine. Unfortunately, the exact differences between the new boat and the previous ships of the project 955 are unknown. We can say with great confidence that the basic capabilities of the boat, in general, have remained unchanged. Like its predecessors, the submarine carries sixteen R-30 Bulava missiles.
It is worth recalling that earlier it became known about plans to modernize this product. In January 2017, a source in the military-industrial complex said that the payload of the R-30 could more than double, and the flight range could increase to 12 thousand km (now it is 9300 km). Also, according to the source, the potential in the complex makes it possible to equip boats with an improved missile without serious alteration of nuclear submarines.
It is not known whether these requirements were taken into account in the design of the Knyaz Vladimir submarine, however, it is quite obvious that an increase in the technical characteristics of the R-30 missile will be the next important stage on the path of its improvement, following an increase in reliability. In general, in order to assert something specific in this case, official confirmation is needed. We will also remind that earlier there were rumors about an increase in the number of missile silos on the Borey-A submarines from sixteen to twenty. However, back in 2013, this information was denied.
There are, however, more confirmed data. Known differences of "Prince Vladimir" from three previously built submarines: reduced noise, improved maneuverability and retention at depth, as well as new weapons control systems. The former Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky, spoke about this at one time. According to a number of media reports, better stealth for the new submarine will provide a lower level of physical fields (electric, acoustic, infrared, magnetic and some other fields inherent in the ship as a material object). In practice, this means that it will become even more difficult to identify the submarine. In addition, the developers sought to maximize the conditions for the crew, which is extremely important for long trips.
The further fate of the Borei-A submarines seems to be relatively cloudless, which cannot be said about the improved version in the person of Borey-B (however, everything in order). After the submarine K-549, they intend to commission four more nuclear submarines "Borey-A". In addition, on November 30, 2018, TASS, citing an anonymous source, reported that by 2028 Russia would build at the Northern Machine-Building Enterprise two more serial nuclear-powered strategic submarines of Project 955A Borey-A, so that the total number of Borey submarines of all modifications will be increased to ten. Without a doubt, this will allow completely abandoning the Project 667BDRM Dolphin submarines, having received a modern and, in theory, highly efficient component of the nuclear triad.
Unfulfilled hopes
The aforementioned Borey-B project seems to have finally sunk into oblivion. Back in May of this year, TASS, citing one of the sources, reported that this submarine did not meet the criteria of "price-efficiency". It is not known for certain what exactly the new submarine could boast. According to reports, they wanted to install a new water jet propeller on it and equip it with more advanced equipment. The rejection of the modernized Borei should not be surprising: this is far from the first (and, one must assume, far from the last) Russian military project that will become hostage to the "new economic policy".
Modern Russia, unlike the Russia of past years, is forced to scrupulously count the money spent on defense. Otherwise, she runs the risk of being left with nothing at all. It is also worth noting that the presence of the most unified fleet of strategic boats and the same approach in relation to multipurpose submarines (meaning submarines of the project 885 "Ash") will get rid of many of the problems associated with the operation of a large number of various boats and their modifications inherited inherited from the USSR. De facto, Russia quite reasonably strives to have two types of nuclear submarines at its disposal in the future: Project 885 boats and Project 955 submarines (including the Borey-A version, of course). We can observe a similar picture in the example of the United States, although the Americans, as you know, in contrast to Russia, refused to build non-nuclear submarines. So in their case it's even easier.
