Captain Dygalo said that the Yasen-M submarines will remain modern for decades
Most of the Russian nuclear submarines will meet the Day of the Navy on combat duty. As explained to the "Newspaper.En" military expert captain of the 1st rank of the reserve Vasily Dandykin, now the second front of the special operation actually lies in the ocean. The Yasen submarines are part of the nuclear deterrent force and compete with American Virginia-class submarines. "Newspaper.Ru" tells in what Russian nuclear submarines are inferior and in what they are superior to their rivals from the United States.
Experts of the American edition of The National Interest compared the submarines of the US Navy of the Virginia type and the Russian submarines of the Yasen project, which are considered competitors in their class. Noting the advantages and disadvantages of these two submarines, analysts concluded that the United States is losing ground on the issue of dominance in the ocean. This is despite the fact that there are 19 such American boats, the first representative of which in 2004 was SSN-774 "Virginia". There are only three Russian boats of the 885 and 885-M projects: K-560 Severodvinsk, K-561 Kazan and K-573 Novosibirsk. Six more submarines of the project are expected to enter the Navy by 2028.
The superiority of the Yasen-M project submarines over the Virginia-type submarines is not only in surface and underwater displacement - it is somewhat higher for Russian submarines, mostly due to the weapons on board. Thus, Novosibirsk has on board 10 torpedo tubes and 30 torpedoes of 533 mm caliber to them, as well as 8 silo launchers, each of which houses 4 Onyx, Zircon cruise missiles or 5 smaller-diameter Caliber cruise missiles. American submarines have 4 torpedo tubes (26 torpedoes), which reduces the ability of multiple launch, and 12 launchers, which each house one Tomahawk cruise missile.
The low noise of the two submarines is almost the same - the secrecy of these boats is their main advantage. The Americans consider their submarine to be more advanced, the Sevmash plant does not agree with them and calls its products "the submarine of the XXI century". Despite the fact that both submarines are multi-purpose, the main purpose of the Virginia is to fight submarines and conduct special operations, and the representatives of the Yasen project are to fight enemy surface ships and destroy ground targets with cruise missiles of various types.
With one salvo of supersonic Onyx missiles (speed at an altitude of Mach 2.6), the Yasen project submarine is capable of destroying an enemy naval grouping, even such a protected one as an aircraft carrier strike group. The range of destruction of ground targets is up to 800 kilometers. The combat use of these missiles was noted in November 2016 in Syria using the mobile coastal missile system "Bastion-P". During the special operation in Ukraine, repeated Onyx strikes were carried out on the objects of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The combat use of Onyx missiles, as well as Kalibr missiles (range 2500 km) or Zircon (1000 km), has not been recorded by Russian nuclear submarines - this is still the prerogative of diesel-electric submarines of the Varshavyanka project, which carry Kalibr cruise missiles.
"Our nuclear submarines are a kind of "second front" in the special operation in Ukraine," he told the newspaper.En" military expert captain of the 1st rank of the reserve Vasily Dandykin. - Formally, they do not take part in hostilities, but most of them are now in combat service as part of the nuclear deterrent forces, which have been transferred to a state of almost full combat readiness. Full is already an extreme step. American President Biden also knows about this, who fell asleep at the launching ceremony of the Virginia-class Delaware submarine. Russian President Vladimir Putin also knows - he is sure that his back is covered, there is a serious force behind it, which includes an underwater component.
Not only the submarines of the Yasen-M project have gone to sea, representatives of the Borey, Shark, Pike-B and others projects are in combat service. The newest special-purpose submarine Belgorod with Poseidon nuclear drones on board has disappeared from American radars. I believe that Kazan and Novosibirsk, representatives of the 885-M project, already have hypersonic Zircons, which neither ships nor land targets can dodge, where the US military decision-making centers are located. This is very positive knowledge for all parties, the Pentagon first of all."
The Russian submarines of the 885-M project still remain in the zone of secrecy. Even the propeller of the boat is an object of state secrecy, and its design, together with the power plant, which allows the nuclear-powered vessel to develop an exorbitant speed in an underwater position up to 31 sea knots, is unknown to foreign intelligence services. The autonomy of navigation of such a boat is 100 days - under water it can be on combat duty for more than three months without rising to the surface. While remaining unnoticed by the radar surveillance systems of a potential enemy.
"The underwater nuclear cruisers of the Yasen-M project, including those that are currently at various stages of construction, are a great reserve for the future for the entire Russian submarine fleet," the newspaper reported.Ru" captain of the 1st rank Igor Dygalo. - They are ahead of their time and will be modern for many decades to come. However, they are not the only ones that make up the pride of our current and future fleet. New boats of the Borey-M, Condor, Varshavyanka and Lada diesel projects, and some others, the construction and modernization of which is ongoing, allow us to say that the Russian submarine forces have regained their maritime power."
Victor Sokirko
