Submarines with cruise missiles solve world-scale tasks
The improvement of anti-submarine warfare forces and means, which pushed back the boundaries of submarine strikes on surface ships (NC), the rapid development of guided missile weapons (URO), which ensures the defeat of both surface and coastal targets, prompted the fleets of the leading countries of the world to turn to equipping submarines with a new type of non–strategic missile weapons - cruise missiles (KR).
The USSR and the USA conducted the most active work on the creation of diesel-electric (DPL), and then nuclear (NPL) submarines with cruise missiles (PLARC). And it is in our country that they have received the greatest development.
AHEAD OF TIME
The first attempt to create a submarine with the RK was made shortly after the Second World War. In 1949, on the instructions of the Ministry of Shipbuilding Industry of the USSR (SME), the staff of the Central Design Bureau No. 18 (TSKB-18, then LPMB Rubin, today TSKB MT Rubin), under the leadership of Fyodor Kaverin, carried out a research study of several variants of the DPL carrier of ballistic and/or cruise missiles.
The design feature of the P-2 project was to be the placement of seven strong hulls in a single lightweight hull: an idea that was successfully implemented decades later in the Typhoon program (Project 941 missile carriers). At the same time, in the central and aft parts of the submarine, in its light hull, it was planned to place three strong module blocks with a replaceable payload - that is, with missiles.
Ballistic missiles (liquid R-1) were to be located in four vertical modules in the central part of the submarine. Rocket firing was conducted in a surface position from a stabilized launch pad. The filling of the oxidizer (liquid oxygen) was carried out immediately before the missile firing.
Cruise missiles 10KHN (modification of the rocket 10X "Swallow", created in the Design Bureau of plant No. 51 under the leadership of Vladimir Chelomey) in the marching position (refueled, but with undocked wings) were stored in horizontal strong blocks-modules in the central part of the submarine. For firing in the stern there was an inclined launcher (PU) with a starting 20-meter track. Shooting – in the surface position, in the stern, with the help of a launch trolley with solid-fuel engines.
The number of missiles in three modules could be: ballistic – from four (if there are other missile and torpedo weapon systems on the submarine) to 12 (only SLBMs); cruise – from 16 (combined armament) to 51 (only KR). There were also torpedo and artillery weapons, and in the central part of the light hull, three ultra-small submarines for special forces could be placed in strong containers.
In fact, back in the late 1940s, our designers worked deeply on the idea of creating a multi-purpose submarine armed with various missile and torpedo weapon systems and capable of providing special forces operations. The United States was able to solve such a task only in the new century – by converting four Ohio-type SSBMS into carriers of the Tomahawk missile defense system and groups of special operations forces.
The essence of this idea is the transformation of a submarine into a "hammer and scalpel". The Hammer is a long–range missile capable of hitting surface and coastal targets, and the scalpel is a special forces group that penetrates through enemy defenses and strikes at its very heart. But soon the work on the P-2 was stopped: the idea was ahead of its time.
The failure also befell the work on the DPL of project 624. Its pre-design study in several variants was carried out in 1950 in the TSKB-18 under the leadership of Fedor Kaverin. On the submarine (designed on the basis of the torpedo DPL project 611), it was supposed to place the P-40 CR with a ramjet engine (RAMJET), developed in the OKB-301 Semyon Lavochkin (today - NPO Lavochkin) to destroy coastal objects.
The KR had a flight mass of 3.2 tons, a length of 9 m, a wingspan of 4.04 m and a flight range of about 300 km. The missiles were placed on the submarine with the wing consoles piled up, which allowed them to be fed from the aft compartment through a special hatch. One CR was in a container in the superstructure, the rest were in the aft compartment. Shooting – from a surface position.
The second version of the submarine missile carrier based on the project 611 DPL received the designation P-611 and was intended for the CRO of the design bureau of Georgy Beriev – the long-range CR P-10, ideologically similar to the CRMB, which were created in the United States (the Regulus complex). The rocket is hangar storage, before firing it had to be rolled out and prepared for launch. The flight range is 600 km, the combat equipment is nuclear (RDS-4).
The P-611 project was also developed by TSKB-18 and was approved on March 30, 1956 by a joint decision of the SME and the Navy. It was possible to place only one CR on the submarine – it was stored with a folded wing in a container hangar installed on the deck of the superstructure, aft of the wheelhouse fence. Rocket firing – from a surface position. All actions, including pre–launch training, were carried out by the combat crew remotely - from consoles inside the strong hull of the submarine.
Under the P-10 in 1956-1957, the B-64 PL was converted. In September 1957, she was presented for complex tests and performed four launches of the KR (the first two were unsuccessful). Then the project was closed. Work on the DPLRK of project 642 with two KR was stopped after a year. The same fate befell the project 646, which was being worked out on the basis of the Project 641 DPL in variants with four P-5 and two P-10.
Later, another attempt was made to create a DPL with cruise missiles – Project 651 (TSKB-18, chief designer Abram Kassatsier). It was the first, originally developed as a carrier of KR. This submarine was built in a series of 16 units (transferred to the fleet in 1963-1968). She was armed with a powerful missile (four P-5/P-6) and torpedo armament.
THE FIRST ATOMIC
Atomic energy and the improvement of the URO allowed the admirals to turn their eyes to a promising class of submarines – nuclear-powered, with cruise missiles capable of destroying large surface targets and coastal objects.
In 1956, in SKB-143 (later SPMBM "Malachite"), under the leadership of Vladimir Peregudov, on the basis of the project 627A submarine, work was started on a PLARK with one supersonic KR P-20. The latter was developed by OKB-240 under the leadership of Sergei Ilyushin, had a mass of 30 tons, a range of 3-3.5 thousand km, a marching speed of M = 3 and was equipped with a YABCH (3 Mt). The control system is inertial with astrocorrection, in the future it was planned to install a radar GPS.
The P-20 was placed in a container with a diameter of 4.6 m and a length of 25 m behind the fence of the pilothouse. Rocket firing – from a surface position. Start – from the carriage mounted on the container, start – with the help of a powder accelerator. All procedures were mechanized and performed remotely, from the surfacing of the submarine to its immersion after firing – no more than 6.5 minutes.
The PLARK technical project was completed by the end of 1957. It was planned to build an experimental submarine of the P-627A project, and then – 18 submarines of the improved 653 project with two KR. But the Navy command made a bet on submarines with a more compact CRO with P-5 / P-6 missiles of tactical and operational-tactical range. Then work was stopped on the P-627A and 653 projects, and even on the P-20 that managed to "fly off" several times.
As a result, the first serial PLCs were the ships of project 659, created in TSKB-18 under KR P-5, developed by Vladimir Chelomey's OKB-52 (now NPO Mashinostroeniya). The compact dimensions of the rocket allowed it to be placed in a container with a folded wing, to abandon the launch devices, speed up the firing procedure and increase ammunition. The missile had a maximum range of 350 km and was equipped with a YABCH.
The KRO with the P-5 missile was adopted on June 19, 1959, its carriers were six Project 644 and 644-D DPLS (two P-5 and P-5D type CRS), six Project 665 DPLS (four CRS) created on the basis of the Project 613 DPL, as well as the project 659 PLARK, developed on the basis of the Project 627 submarines (chief designer – Pavel Pustyntsev, then – Nikolai Klimov). The main armament of the latter is six KR P–5, housed in lifting sealed containers in the superstructure. Rocket firing – from a surface position (it took 125 seconds to lift the container), preparation for firing – remotely, from the control panel.
The naval construction plan approved by the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU on October 19, 1957, provided for the construction of 32 submarines, but in the end they were limited to five. All of them were built in Komsomolsk-on-Amur (SSZ No. 199, now Amur Shipbuilding Plant).
An important step forward was the entry into the fleet of a large series of missile carriers of the 675 family, work on which was carried out in the TSKB-18. The main armament of the new PLARK was to be the P-6 CR with a range of up to 380 km to defeat large NK, as well as the P-5M CR with a range of up to 500 km to defeat coastal objects. Eight CRS were placed in containers that rose to the starting position at an angle of 14 degrees. Rocket firing – from a surface position.
On the "clamshell", as the new PLARK was nicknamed, for the first time in the world, the possibility of multiple rocket firing was realized, and with the selective defeat of ships in the warrant. Taking into account the time for ascent, preparation for launch and the launch of missiles itself, the PLARK could perform a volley firing of four KR within 15 minutes, and two volleys in 20-30 minutes. In the presence of several carriers of the P-6 complex, it was possible to simultaneously fire at the target of the 12th KR, which made it possible to overcome the air defense of the US Navy aircraft carrier formations.
It was possible to provide unique combat capabilities largely due to the new radar system "Success", located on the Tu-16RTS and Tu-95RTs. Created at the Kiev Research Institute of Radio Electronics (then NPO Kvant) under the leadership of Ivan Kudryavtsev, it provided reconnaissance and targeting of CRO in the ocean zone. In fact, it was the first operational reconnaissance and strike system.
The lead submarine of Project 675 became part of the Northern Fleet in 1963, followed by 28 more submarines. Later, the P-6 complex was replaced by the P-6M, and in 1969, the PLARK received the Molniya station (NII-49) for autonomous over-the-horizon targeting of CRO due to the use of tropospheric scattering of microwave radio waves.
In 1975, the KRO P-500 "Basalt" was adopted by the Navy. An optimized algorithm for selecting the main target in the order was used here. For the first time in the world, the idea of distributing targets between missiles inside a salvo has been implemented. And the missile's radio–technical protection system was used to divert anti-missiles attacking the KR from the course (the developer is the Taganrog Communications Research Institute). The rocket had a launch mass of 4.8 tons, carried a conventional or nuclear warhead and could travel up to 500 km at a speed of M = 2.5.
Ten Project 675 PLCs (projects 675MK and 675MU) were converted for Basalt, which also provided for the installation of equipment for receiving target designation data from the Kasatka-B spacecraft. And at the end of the 1980s, the submarines began rearmament with the P-1000 Vulcan complex with a firing range of 700 km (project 675MKV). Four submarines managed to undergo modernization.
Project 636.3 submarines have repeatedly struck targets in Syria and Ukraine with "Calibers". Photo from the page of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in VKontakte
UNDERWATER LAUNCH
An important stage in the development of domestic submarines was the creation of a CRO with an underwater launch. This made it possible to radically increase the combat potential of the complex and the stealth of the carrier submarine.
The resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR on the development of the world's first underwater launch vehicle (the Amethyst complex with a P-40 CR with a range of 70-80 km) was adopted on April 1, 1959 (the lead developer of OKB-52). And on April 9, the preliminary design of the experimental high-speed submarine of project 661 (code "Anchar") was approved, work on which was opened in the TSKB-16 (chief designer Nikolai Isanin, then Nikolai Shulzhenko).
The submarine K-162 with a strong titanium alloy hull was laid on the slipway of the Northern Machine-Building Enterprise (NSR) in December 1963, and in 1970 it was put into trial operation. During the tests, she showed a record speed of underwater navigation – 44.7 knots (82.8 km / h), which exceeded the speed of all the NC of the Navy of the probable enemy.
The main armament of the Anchar is ten PKRS of the Amethyst complex. They were taken on board in a state equipped for launch and placed in inclined containers – sideways outside the sturdy hull. Shooting – from an underwater position from a depth of 30 m. After the rocket exited the container, the starting engine was turned on and the wing was opened. All the KR could be fired in two volleys with an interval of three minutes.
But the main carrier of the "Amethyst" was the Project 670 submarine ("Scat") with a strong steel hull. The technical task for it in May 1960 was received by TSKB-112 (later TSKB Lazurit; chief designer Vladimir Vorobyov). The main armament is eight P–40 missiles in a container-type PU mounted at an angle in the nose of the submarine outside the sturdy hull.
In 1967-1973, 11 Project 670 submarines were built at the Krasnoe Sormovo SSZ, which were transported in a special dock along the Volga, the Mariinsky Water System and the White Sea Canal to Severodvinsk for completion, testing and delivery to the customer. K-43, one of the Project 670 nuclear-powered vessels, was leased to the Indian Navy and became the first submarine of the Indian Navy.
The development of the 670 project was the 670M project ("Chaika"; chief designer Vladimir Vorobyov, later Alexander Leshchev) with a new CRO "Malachite" with a P-120 CR with a firing range increased to 150 km. The new missile with a conventional or nuclear warhead had improved targeting selectivity and targeting capabilities.
In 1974-1981, six 670M project PLARKS were built at the Krasnoe Sormovo SSZ, one of which was later converted to the Onyx CRO for its testing.
In the mid-1960s, the possibility of creating a CRO carrier "Malachite" – a project 686 submarine based on the project 705K was being worked out, but the work did not go further than sketches.
"METEORITE", "GARNET" and "GRANITE"
Ships of the 667AT and 667M projects, created within the framework of the integrated program for the development of strategic air, sea and land-based missile defense systems, stand separately in the row of PLCs.
The first PLARK was created for subsonic CRMB for firing from TA (PK-55 "Granat", developed by OKB "Innovator"), and the second – for a more powerful supersonic missile, which was fired from a special PU (P-750 "Meteorite-M", developed by NPO Mashinostroeniya). Both missile carriers were designed on the basis of the "strategist" project 667A.
The PK-55 "Grenade" with the 3M-10 CR with underwater launch was adopted in 1984. Its first carriers were the project 667AT PLARK ("Pear", the designer of the LPMB "Rubin", chief designer Osher Margolin), created on the basis of the "superfluous" project 667A submarines, which were withdrawn from the fleet under the Strategic Arms Limitation Agreement. Three missile carriers were allocated for the program – K-423, K-253 and K-395. Plans for the conversion of three more nuclear-powered ships failed to be implemented.
On the Severodvinsk GMP "Zvezdochka", a missile compartment with a SLBM was cut out from the submarine, instead of it a new two-compartment unit with eight 533-mm TA located at an angle to the diametrical plane of the ship, as well as with racks for 24 missiles and a quick recharge device was installed. New compartments were manufactured at the NSR. The ammunition of the "Grenades" consisted of 32 missiles (starting weight 1700 kg, firing range up to 3000 km), equipped with YABCH. PLARK received modern navigation and other systems. The last "Pear" was decommissioned in 2002.
The P-750 Meteor-M with a 3M-25 supersonic CR with an underwater launch and a range of more than 5,000 km was started development in 1976. Its only carrier was the 667M project PLARK (Andromeda, designer of the Rubin LPMB, chief designer Osher Margolin, later Evgeny Goriglejan), created on the basis of the K-420.
The technical design of the PLARK was developed in early 1979, and in September of the same year, the conversion of the nuclear-powered vessel began at Sevmash. Instead of a compartment with a SLBM, a section of greater length was placed, the width of which protruded beyond the light hull of the submarine. In the section, which had three compartments, there were 12 inclined PU (between strong and light hulls, six on board), equipment and crew quarters. The central post of the PL was also redesigned. Shooting – from underwater or above-water position.
On October 15, 1982, the PLARK was launched. During the tests of the Malachit-M CRO, 50 launches were carried out from ground and submersible stands, from the board of the PLARK. But in December 1989, the work was stopped, the equipment was removed, and the submarine re-entered the fleet as a torpedo (KS-420).
The next step was the creation of the KRO P-700 "Granit" (developer OKB-52) and its carriers – underwater "anti-aircraft" missile carriers. The tactical and technical task for the project 949 PLARK was received in 1969 by the LPMB "Rubin" (chief designer Pavel Pustyntsev, later Igor Baranov).
The following concept was envisaged: the number of missiles in a salvo of one PLARC should ensure the guaranteed defeat of an aircraft carrier as part of an aircraft carrier strike group (AUG); the number of PLARCS in the Navy should be at least the possible number of AUGS of a probable enemy, taking into account the necessary reserve; the characteristics of the PLARC should ensure the deployment of anti-aircraft carrier forces of the fleet in any area of the World Ocean with ensuring contact with AUG at any of her maneuvers.
The Granit CRO was created on the basis of the 3M-45 supersonic CR with a launch mass of about 7 tons and a range of up to 550 km, the maximum flight speed at high altitude is M = 2.5, at low altitude – up to M = 1.5. The warhead is high–explosive (750 kg) or nuclear (500 kg).
A special feature of the complex was the system of collective intelligence, which assigns a "leading" missile in a salvo and distributes targets among the KR in order to facilitate the overcoming of air defense /missile defense systems. "Granites" performed a flight on the marching section in full radio silence mode. The rocket features a complex flight path, high noise immunity and a system for withdrawing enemy guided missiles.
The new MCRC Legend global space system provided all-weather surveillance of surface targets throughout the World Ocean and the issuance of target designation with data transmission to weapons carriers (NK and PL) and ground (ship) command posts. OKB-52 became the main developer of the system, but in May 1969, work on it was transferred to the Leningrad Arsenal Design Bureau named after Frunze.
The developers managed to provide Granit with the ability to reliably hit a wide range of targets – from NK of all classes to coastal objects, and in conditions of active electronic countermeasures and the presence of a strong enemy air defense / missile defense system. Missiles can be fired singly and in a volley – up to the entire ammunition and at a high rate.
On the submarine, the missiles are placed in 24 paired inclined container-type PU outside the strong hull of the submarine on the sides of its cabin. This placement gave the hull of the PLARK a characteristic expanded shape, for which the submarines were nicknamed "loaves". The launch of rockets is of the "wet" type.
It was planned to build a series of 20 Project 949 submarines, but in the end only 13 ships were delivered to the fleet (project 949 – two, project 949A – 11). Starting from the third building, the PLARK was built according to the improved project 949A ("Antey") with an additional compartment. The internal layout of weapons and equipment has improved, the level of visibility has decreased.
According to the published data, after modernization, the remaining Antei will receive new Kalibr–PL, Onyx and Zircon missiles.
DEADLY "ASH"
The development of the concept of submarine nuclear–powered carriers of the KR was the project 885 ("Ash") and its improved version of the project 885M ("Ash-M"). The development was carried out by SPMBM "Malachite" (chief designer Gennady Moskalev, later Vladimir Pyalov).
The first studies of a new generation of submarines were started at Malachite in 1976, preliminary design – in 1980. Initially, the ship was planned with a classic torpedo-missile armament without vertical launchers for the KR. It was planned to build 30 submarines in ten years.
"However, by this time, both the USSR and the USA had created long–range cruise missiles that could be used from multi-purpose torpedo tubes," writes Vladimir Pyalov. "The relevant studies ... were carried out in the bureau and gave the basis for expanding the strike armament of multi–purpose submarines due to additional torpedo tubes, and then vertical launchers for cruise missiles."
The draft design of the PLARK with the P-800 "Onyx" complexes (developed by NPO Mashinostroeniya, chief designer Herbert Efremov) and RK-55 "Garnet" was ready on June 4, 1986, and the technical one – on August 31, 1988. In 1989, a number of changes were made to the technical project.
On December 21, 1993, the lead ship Severodvinsk (K–329, then K-560) was laid down in Severodvinsk. According to the plans of the time, its transfer to the fleet was planned for 1998, but the actual launching of Severodvinsk took place only on June 15, 2010, and it entered the Navy on June 17, 2014.
The PLARK of the project 885/885M is made one–and-a-half-hull: a light hull is available in the bow of the submarine and in the form of a superstructure - behind the wheelhouse fence. In the central part of the hull there is a missile compartment, where along the sides there are eight PU for the Onyx and Kalibr–PL KR. All of them are assembled into two modules (one for each side). The module includes four packages of four CR each (total ammunition – 32 CR). In October 2021, the launch of the new Zircon spacecraft was successfully carried out from the Severodvinsk.
The PLARK of the project 885/885M also has a powerful torpedo armament. Moreover, torpedo tubes for the first time on domestic serial submarines are placed in the central part of the hull – sideways at an angle to the diametrical plane of the submarine. This was done due to the installation of a large-sized conformal spherical antenna of a new generation in the nose. So it was possible to ensure a low level of interference of the GAC and increase its search potential.
"We will be dealing with very serious potential adversaries," Rear Admiral David Johnson, then head of submarine shipbuilding programs in the US Navy, said at a symposium of the American League of Submariners in 2014. – To understand this, just look at the Severodvinsk, the Russian version of a nuclear submarine with cruise missiles. I am so impressed with this ship that I asked to make a model of it based on the available unclassified information."
Rear Admiral Johnson put this model in the hall near his office to pay attention to it whenever he goes to work. And this is the brightest recognition of the success of the creators of "Ash".
Vladimir Shcherbakov
Deputy Executive Editor of HBO
Vladimir Leonidovich Shcherbakov is a military expert, historian, and writer.
