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One of these interesting articles was published on December 4 by the American publication The National Interest. In the Buzz section, Sebastian Roblin’s material entitled “This Russian Nuclear Submarine Has a Very Special Mission: Kill American Aircraft Carriers” was published (“This Russian nuclear submarine has a special task: to destroy American aircraft carriers”). The topic of the publication with such a menacing title was the nuclear submarines of projects 949 "Granite" and 949A "Antei", which are one of the main "hunters" in the naval fleet Russia.
At the beginning of his article, the American author recalls history Submarine projects of the 949 family. The huge boats of this project, which has the Russian designation 949 "Granit" and 949A "Antey", as well as the NATO code Oscar-class, were developed during the Cold War. New submarines had a specific goal: the hunt for American aircraft carriers, which are the basis of the strike power of the naval forces of the United States. Submarines of new types were to search and destroy the ships of a potential enemy.
As part of the 949 project, some features of the American strategy were taken into account. Each US aircraft carrier works in the so-called. carrier strike group, which besides it includes several other ships for various purposes. Some of these ships are intended for anti-submarine defense: they must find and destroy the approaching enemy submarines. This feature of carrier groups forces offensive submarines to keep a safe distance.
For this reason, the Soviet Oscars were to use not torpedo weapons, but anti-ship cruise missiles, capable of destroying surface targets at ranges of hundreds of miles, as the main strike weapons. S. Roblin notes that the missiles for submarines of 949 / 949 projects, as well as 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 Granit project. The first submarines of this designation, in the armament complex of which cruise missiles were introduced, were built on the basis of existing ships as early as the fifties of the last century. In 1961, the Soviet Union incorporated the Echo-class type head submarine (K-45 of the 659 project) into the fleet - this was the first submarine, the main weapons which were cruise missiles.
Work on the creation of the third generation nuclear submarine project 949 "Granit" started in the mid-seventies of the last century. The project envisaged the use of the standard for the Soviet military shipbuilding double-shell scheme: all the main compartments and units were placed inside a robust hull, outside covered with a light streamlined hull. The distance between the hulls in different parts of the sub varies from 2 inches to 6 feet. Large submarine received the appropriate power plant. With the help of two nuclear reactors 73 MW of electricity was generated. The crew of hundreds of people was located in nine or ten compartments (depending on the project version) of a solid hull, divided by hermetic bulkheads.
According to S. Robblin, the size of the submarine Oscar-class is fully consistent with its heavy and powerful weapons. The submarine has a length of one and a half football fields (154 m), in its surface position its displacement reaches 12,5 thousand tons. Such parameters make the submarine of the 949 / 949А project the fourth largest among all submarines under construction. Despite its large size, the submarine reaches speeds up to 37 knots and can sink to depths up to 500 m. At the same time, it is believed that Soviet / Russian submarines with cruise missiles slowly sink and float, and also do not have high maneuverability.
The main objective of the 949 / 949А submarines is the transportation and launch of the Granit P-700 anti-ship cruise missiles (SS-N-19 according to NATO classification). On the underwater "platform" placed 24 launchers for such weapons. Rockets of the “Granit” type have a length of about 10 m and a starting weight of the order of 8 t. Such a weapon can be launched from a submerged position at a distance of up to 400 miles from the target. The rocket’s launch and exit from the launcher are carried out using a solid-fuel engine, the P-700 product uses a ramjet jet engine on the cruise flight (here the American author made a serious mistake: the Granit rocket is equipped with a short-life turbojet power plant).
Depending on the height of the flight, the rocket accelerates to M = 2,5. Rocket guidance is carried out using satellite navigation. When launched simultaneously, several P-700 missiles can communicate with each other, exchange information and coordinate the attack. It is possible to equip the missile with a special warhead with an 500 CT.
S. Robblin reminds that in addition to the Antey type submarines, carriers of the Granit missiles are the 1144 (Kirov-class) heavy nuclear missile cruisers, as well as the Admiral of the Soviet Navy Kuznetsov aircraft carrying cruiser. However, unlike submarines, surface ships with missile weapons are more visible to the enemy and, as a result, cannot secretly enter the launch area. The submarines of the 949 / 949А project, in turn, can launch rockets from a submerged position, almost without risk of becoming the target of a retaliatory strike.
Oscar-class submarines also do not lack a short-range weapon. NPS 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 missile complex RPK-2 "Blizzard" (SS-N-15 Starfish). In addition, the submarines are equipped with two torpedo tubes caliber 650 mm. Together with torpedoes, these systems can use anti-submarine missiles from the RPK-6M Vodopad complex (SS-N-16 Stallion). Missile-torpedo complexes, according to the author of The National Interest, can hit enemy submarines at distances up to 63 miles. Missiles can be equipped with torpedoes with a conventional or special warhead or depth bombs of the required type.
S. Robin told about the construction process and the introduction of various submarines of the 949 family into the Navy. According to the initial project, the K-525 "Arkhangelsk" and K-206 "Murmansk" boats were built. 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 renewed project 949A "Antey" (Oscar II) was launched. From 1982 to 1996, the Russian Navy received 11 of such ships. From the 949 “Granit” submarines, the new “Antey” differed in the increased hull length, the updated composition of the onboard radio-electronic equipment and the new propellers with seven blades (four-blade propellers were previously used).
In 1992-94, the Russian shipbuilding plant laid three more submarines, however, they were never completed and handed over to the customer. By the time of the termination of active work, one or another part of their construction was completed.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian navy focused on preserving the fleet of existing Oscars through the timely maintenance and repair of equipment. In addition, the submarines continued to keep watch and conduct patrols of specified areas of the oceans, searching for ship groups of a potential enemy. In 1999, a specific incident occurred during the course of such work. One of the submarines located near the territorial waters of Spain, cut off the network of a local fishing vessel.
Auto Edition The National Interest reminds that the submarines of the 949 "Granit" and 949A "Antey" projects, like all post-war submarines, have never participated in real combat operations. However, he is forced to admit that training activities can also be associated with high risk. One of the tragic pages in the history of the Russian fleet is connected with the submarine of the Antey project.
12 August 2000 on board the Kursk submarine K-141, which participated in the exercises in the Barents Sea, an explosion of 3-7 t in trotyl equivalent occurred. From 118, crew members before 23 were able to hide in the stern compartment of the ship, but the rescuers did not have time to help them. An investigation into the causes of the tragedy revealed that the likely cause of the first explosion in the nose compartment was hydrogen leakage from 650-mm torpedoes. The explosion of the first torpedo led to the detonation of combat units of other similar ammunition. According to other assumptions, the cause of the explosion could be insufficient crew training.
Another incident, mentioned by S. Robin, happened on 7 last April. At this time, the submarine K-266 "Orel" was under repair in the dry dock of the enterprise "Zvezdochka" (Severodvinsk). During welding, there was an ignition of the seal, which is located between a strong and light body. Armament and nuclear fuel on board were absent, the fire was extinguished without significant difficulty. Subsequently, all damaged units were repaired and ship repair continued.
At the moment, according to the calculations of the author of the article, seven or eight submarines of the Oscar II type serve as part of the Northern and Pacific fleets of the Russian Navy. In the future, these ships will be replaced by the newest nuclear submarines of the 885 “Ash” project, but only the main boat of this type, the K-560 “Severodvinsk”, has been completed and transferred to the fleet. Thus, the complete rearmament of submarine forces is a matter of the distant future.
In the current plans of Russia there is a modernization of at least three 949A “Antey” type submarines according to the 949AM project. At least three boats available by the year 2020 will be reequipped in order to improve the basic characteristics and combat capabilities. The cost of such work is estimated at 180 million dollars for each submarine. The main innovation of the modernization project is to replace the P-700 Granit missiles with newer Onyx and Club / Caliber missiles. After such a modernization, the ammunition of 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 the airborne equipment.
S. Roblin concludes his article “This Russian Nuclear Submarine Has a Very Special Mission: Kill American Aircraft Carriers” with the following conclusion. Nuclear-powered submarines of the Oscar II type are no longer "on the forefront of the secretive underwater technology." In this case, however, they can remain an effective component of the Navy. "Antey" retain the ability to defeat enemy surface ships with anti-ship long-range cruise missiles.
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In general, the next review of the sample of Russian military equipment, made by the American edition of The National Interest, looks interesting and objective. At the same time, it was not without some serious mistakes. For example, the information provided on the P-700 Granit missiles is seriously different from the real state of affairs. Missiles of this type have a turbojet propulsion engine, rather than a direct-flow engine, called S. Robin. In addition, instead of satellite navigation, the Granites use an inertial system and active radar homing heads. It can also be recalled that in practice, mass launches of missiles with automated distribution of targets, etc. never implemented.
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”, which from certain points of view can be interpreted as a hint of one of the most current foreign concepts - “Russian aggression ". Nevertheless, we should not forget that The National Interest has its own traditions: publications in the Buzz category rarely do without a loud or even provocative headline that covers current topics.
Under the screaming title often lies an article that does not differ in excessive tendentiousness and is not based on dubious, albeit “politically correct”, theses. The same happened with the recent publication of Russian submarines. Sebastian Robin told readers about the history, capabilities and current status of the submarine equipment of the Russian fleet. The American author left the right to draw the necessary conclusions and predict the further development of events to the readers.
The article "This Russian Nuclear Submarine Has a Very Special Mission: Kill American Aircraft Carriers":
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/russian-nuclear-submarine-has-very-special-mission-kill-18594
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