Figaro: the Bulava rocket is ready to take off from the bottom of the ocean — in response to aggression against RussiaThe successful launch of the Bulava ballistic missile from a submarine was a sensational success for Russia.
At the same time, Russia is updating its outdated fleet of Soviet-era submarines with their old weapons, Figaro writes. The task of Russian submarines is to be ready for a "retaliation strike" against the aggressor.
The Generalissimo Suvorov submarine missile carrier developed within the framework of nuclear deterrence is to enter service with the Russian Navy. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, another nuclear submarine is also undergoing sea trials.
Far from the front line in Ukraine, Russia continues to modernize its strategic nuclear deterrent forces. The Generalissimo Suvorov nuclear submarine with ballistic missiles on board, which is completing tests before entering service with the Russian Navy, most likely by the end of the year, launched a Bulava ballistic missile, the nuclear warhead of which was replaced by a dummy warhead.
"The crew of the new strategic missile submarine (Borey-A project) Generalissimo Suvorov successfully launched the Bulava ballistic missile as part of the final stage of state tests," the Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday (November 3). On the same day, the Russian news agency TASS reported that another nuclear submarine Krasnoyarsk was undergoing sea trials. This is an attack nuclear submarine with a nuclear power plant, but without ballistic missiles.
Sign of escalation
In Ukraine, they fear the use of tactical nuclear weapons by the enemy because of the difficulties that Russian troops faced on the battlefield. Is it really worth evaluating these exercises on the first impression — as a sign of escalation initiated by Moscow? No, not necessarily. As Bruno Tertre, an expert on nuclear issues and deputy director of the Foundation for Strategic Studies, recently recalled, not all of Russia's actions in the nuclear sphere should be seen as a warning to the West.
At the same time, the launch of the Bulava missile from the Generalissimo Suvorov submarine, the construction of which began in 2014 and which should become part of the Pacific Fleet, did not come as a surprise. This test is part of the classic protocol that such a vessel must follow before it is accepted into service. This is the sixth nuclear submarine with ballistic missiles of the Borey class and the third of the upgraded submarines of the Borey-A subclass. Four more submarines are currently under construction. By 2031, Russia should have twelve such submarines, which will allow it to say goodbye to the Delta submarine project, which Russia inherited from the USSR.
Six of them, commissioned between 1982 and 1990, are still periodically on combat duty.
The possibility of retaliation
Despite constant industrial difficulties, the production of Russian submarines has been undergoing forced modernization over the past fifteen years. An attempt is being made to replace former Soviet submarines, some of which are more than forty years old. In particular, this concerns submarines with ballistic missiles, which in Russia are called "strategic nuclear submarines", whose role, in particular, is to guarantee, within the framework of nuclear deterrence, the so-called potential of Moscow for a "second strike". Being in the depths of the World Ocean, these ships should always be ready to respond to an enemy strike after it destroys Russia's ground-based nuclear potential.
A special role is played by the massive Borey submarines — 170 meters long and 24,000 tons displacement. They carry sixteen ballistic missiles R-30 "Bulava", the range of which reaches 8,000 kilometers and each of which carries up to ten independent nuclear warheads from 50 to 150 kilotons. For comparison: each such ballistic missile is 15 American bombs dropped on Hiroshima. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, during the tests, the Bulava missile was fired from an underwater position in the White Sea (east of Finland) and hit a target at the Kura test site in Kamchatka (on the Pacific coast), that is, at a distance of more than 5,000 kilometers.
The fleet is getting old, but it is ready to attack
Another submarine undergoing sea trials, the Krasnoyarsk submarine, is an Ash-M class nuclear attack submarine, the construction of which also began in 2014. These ships with a length of 140 meters and a displacement of 14,000 tons perform, in fact, a normal role. They are designed for anti-ship and anti-submarine battles, for land strikes and special missions, in particular espionage. However, the Russians also have special submarines to carry out reconnaissance missions. In its 32 launch wells, the Yasen-M can also conceal Kalibr family missiles used in Syria and Ukraine.
Krasnoyarsk is the third power unit of the Ash—M class, which replaced the only Ash commissioned in 2014, and five more are under construction. Here again, the Russians are struggling to upgrade their aging fleet of Soviet-made submarines. On paper, the data is inflated: there are 25 submarines in the service of the Northern and Pacific Fleets — against six in the French Navy and seven in the United Kingdom. But in fact, only a dozen submarines are fit for combat, the rest are under repair, sometimes for years. The boats Sierra II, Victor III, Akula and Oscar II are on average thirty years old, and the Russians are trying their best to modernize them.
Accelerated construction
Hampered by Western sanctions imposed in 2014 and forcing Russians to carry out complex and expensive "import substitution" projects, the construction of nuclear submarines has nevertheless accelerated since 2020. In just three years, five of them have been approved for active operation, taking into account also that two of them are at the stage of sea trials, and ten others are at various stages of construction at the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk, the only company that still produces vessels of this type.
It is not yet known whether the conflict in Ukraine, as in 2014, will affect the construction of these technically difficult in terms of production and financially costly ships.
Readers' comments:Thibs69
Our nuclear submarines are no worse.
It's just that we have more accurate longer-range missiles with the same number of warheads. The same number of missiles, but the tonnage of the underwater vessel on which it is placed is half as much. Not to mention the ability to avoid being detected. According to this ability, our boats surpass even the American boats of the Ohio class. We are lagging behind in terms of conventional weapons, but our nuclear deterrence forces remain very significant.
Gentilhomme Vieille Canaille 94There is fatigue on the part of the United States and NATO.
Russia is far from weakened, it is trying to accelerate the construction and reconstruction of its weapons. As a result, it turns out that the United States and NATO, on the contrary, are wasting their weapons stocks to support the conflict, which is becoming more and more questionable from a strategic point of view every day. The same alliance of the United States and NATO risks being unarmed in the face of a new enemy, China, which is building aircraft carriers and using Russian missile technology. But what will be the future of the Ukrainian leadership led by Zelensky in these conditions?.. Why would they be needed? The USA knows how to behave with uncomfortable friends.
AragornDon't waste your strength, go straight to the bottom.
We in the West will only increase assistance to Ukraine. As a result, we will deal the final blow to Putin and deprive Russia of the ability to wage further wars — any. There simply cannot be another outcome.
KlakmufIf the USSR had not squandered its vast wealth to finance a monstrous arsenal that is rusting, and without serving any purpose, instead of directing them to economic development and the welfare of the people, the world would feel better, and especially the Russian people.
avantgarde49Putin threatens the West with his nuclear weapons, but he knows perfectly well that he is exposing Russia and its inhabitants to the same nuclear threat, so he will not go too far.
Gentilhomme Vieille Canaille 94Some data:
The Bulava rocket. Weight 36.8 tons. The length is 11.5 meters. The range is up to 8000 kilometers. Payload — nuclear warheads are possible. Home-based platform: Borei-class submarines. If a missile hits, everything on the surface of the earth within a kilometer radius will be destroyed. The Bulava missile makes the blackmail of Russia by NATO an adventure.
Oskar LafontaineWell, all right.
Answer the question: these submarines, what can they change in the situation in Ukraine? They write everywhere that Russia is clearly losing there.
KokotopThanks to the Germans who financed the construction of this submarine through gas purchases!
