For most of the 45 years of the Cold War, the Soviet submarine force was a major factor in the political-military confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States. At times numbering more than 400 submarines, including highly innovative nuclear, cruise-missile, and ballistic-missile units, in many respects Soviet undersea craft dominated U.S. Navy thinking and strategy.
Today, little more than two decades after the end of the Cold War, Russian submarines—with perhaps a score of units in full commission—rarely operate beyond coastal waters. And despite grandiose plans and pronouncements by politicians and naval officials, Russian submarine and related missile programs lag many years behind schedule.
The Russian Navy currently has just over 60 submarines “on the books.” Many of these boats are not fully operational because of shortages in trained personnel, support facilities, and material problems, or they are undergoing lengthy overhauls or awaiting them. The current submarine force is listed in the accompanying table. Advanced submarines are in the offing. However, the Soviet shipbuilding industry, which had produced some 12 nuclear-propelled submarines per year during the height of the Cold War, has fallen far behind in even the reduced expectations.
A series of problems has led to this situation, among them: a lack of realistic pricing techniques for military production between the various shipyards, supporting industries, and the Ministry of Defence; excessively high tax rates for the shipbuilding industry; and lack of experienced defense technology and equipment managers in the Ministry of Defence.
The pride of the next-generation Russian undersea fleet is the Project 955/Borey-class ballistic missile submarine (SSBN). This is an evolving class in which the second and third units now under construction are identified as Project 955A and the fourth as Project 955U. The current plan is to provide the fleet with eight of these submarines by 2020.
The first of these SSBNs is reported to displace some 19,400 tons submerged, is almost 560 feet long, and will carry 16 of the new Bulava (“Mace”) submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs). The missile has a range of about 5,000 nautical miles.
The lead submarine—the Yuri Dolgoruky—was laid down in 1996 and rolled out of the building shed in 2008, and apparently completed in 201l, a construction time—admittedly with redesign delays—of more than 15 years! During that period work stopped on several occasions with major design modifications taking place, thus “actual construction” took far less time.
While the submarine may have been ready for sea last year, the Bulava missile was not. Adapted from the land-launched Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile, the Bulava has been in the flight-test stage since 2004. Despite press reports, the missile’s test record includes six successful flights in 2010–2011. (Previously there were seven failures and five successes.) Then-President Dmitry Medvedev declared that the SLBM and the Yuri Dolgoruky would be operational this year. There was no announcement of the submarine going to sea as this issue of Proceedings went to press.
Beginning with the fourth unit, the Borey SSBNs will carry 20 missiles.Eight Borey-class SSBNs, each with 16 or 20 SS-N-30 Bulava missiles fitted with six to ten nuclear warheads, would account for more than one-half of Russia’s planned 1,500 strategic nuclear warheads. But it is highly unlikely that the Russians can produce these SSBNs on schedule.
The delay requires continued reliance on nine older Delta-series SSBNs as the nation’s sea-based strategic force. Six Delta IV submarines are in the Northern Fleet and three Delta III submarines are in the Pacific Fleet. The latter were to have been retired several years ago, replaced by the initial Borey SSBNs. (Also, one of the giant Project 941/Typhoon-class SSBNs is in service as a test ship for the Bulava missile; two other units—of four originally built—are laid up.)
The situation with respect to the next-generation attack-submarine (SSN/SSGN) design—the Project 885/Yasen class—is similar. Six of these submarines are planned for completion by 2020. The lead ship, the Severodvinsk, was begun in 1993, but, like the Yuri Dulgoruky, funding and other problems led to continued delays. And she, too, underwent several design changes while being built. She was completed in 2010—a theoretical construction time of almost 17 years! At least one other unit is already under construction.
Displacing 14,000 tons submerged and almost 400 feet long, the Severodvinsk has eight large, vertical missile-launch cells aft of the sail structure, each of which can accommodate three Onyx- or five Klub-series antiship cruise missiles. The submarine also has torpedoes and tube-launched missiles. Thus, the Yasen-class submarines will combine the SSN/SSGN roles in a single hull.
Because of the lengthy construction periods, the bureaus that designed these submarines have been updating the craft—the Borey by the Rubin design bureau and the Yasen by the Malachite design bureau, both in Saint Petersburg. The two submarine designs have several advanced features and are highly automated. Among those features is the shape of the Borey’s sail structure. At first glance it appears to be counterintuitive to 20th-century concepts of acoustic quieting. However, when considered from the perspective of both hydroacoustic and hydrodynamic stealth, the new sail design appears to be another success in developing low-signature sail structures. While details are not available, it appears that both the Borey and Yasen designs have advanced propulsors. The automation level of these submarines is indicated by the Yuri Dolgoruky having a crew of about 110 men and the Severodvinsk 85 men, significantly less than their U.S. counterparts.
Problems also have been encountered in the diesel-electric submarines, which still are being constructed in Russian shipyards. The first Project 677/Lada-class submarine, named Sankt Peterburg, was completed in 2010. Her construction time was 13 years! However, the submarine’s trials have not been successful and she is not yet operational. Reportedly, work on the two other Lada units has been slowed if not halted, and other planned units have been canceled. There also are indications that work on the two later submarines may have slowed to permit installation of a fuel-cell air-independent propulsion (AIP) system. (The Soviets experimented with AIP systems from the 1930s and produced an AIP submarine series—the Project 615/Quebec class—during the 1950s.)
The Russian government has attempted to sell Lada-class submarines—with and without AIP—to Third World navies. So far this effort has not met with success.
Construction of advanced variants of the earlier Kilo-class attack submarines continues, with about four units in Russian service as well as just over a dozen of the earlier Kilo design. The Kilo has been a very successful export submarine with units currently in service with Algeria, China, India, Iran, Poland, and Romania. Six Project 636 units are under construction for Vietnam.
One Kilo, named the Alrosa, is the only Russian submarine now assigned to the Black Sea Fleet. That submarine recently participated in a multination submarine rescue exercise in the eastern Atlantic, the first such participation by a Russian undersea craft. Most significant, the submarine has been fitted with a series of innovative propulsors, obviously serving as a test bed for advanced propulsion systems.
Three improved Project 636.3/Kilo-class submarines are under construction for the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Additional units may be planned. (Neither the Soviet Union nor Russia has operated nuclear-propelled submarines in the Black Sea and Baltic fleets.)
Beyond these combat submarines, the Russian Navy operates several nuclear-propelled research submarines (AGSSN) and the one-of-a-kind Project 20120/Sarov, also known as the Kalitka. The latter is a diesel-electric submarine with a small nuclear reactor employed as a supplementary power generator to charge batteries—a type of AIP configuration—said to provide a silent-running endurance of up to 20 days. The boat is employed in systems trials, including hydrodynamic and hydroacoustic silencing.
Also of interest is the Delta III-class SSBN that apparently has been converted to a mother ship for the Project 1083/X-Ray deep-diving research craft, which are somewhat akin to the U.S. Navy’s recently discarded NR-1 nuclear submersible. The seventh Delta IV SSBN, stricken several years ago, also is undergoing conversion to an AGSSN configuration.
Looking at the history of Soviet shipyards and the many advanced submarine designs produced by Malachite and Rubin, there is the real possibility that Russia will have a significant and credible submarine force later in the 21st century.