The submarine can move from the Baltic to the Pacific Ocean using the Northern Sea Route
The Pacific Fleet will be strengthened with a "black hole" — this is what experts call the 636.3 Ufa diesel submarine, which will become part of the Pacific Fleet in the fall of this year. The submarine was handed over to the fleet last year, but is still in the Baltic. Now the transition of the submarine to the place of permanent basing is planned. In particular, the option of crossing the Northern Sea Route is being considered. The nickname of the project 636.3 boats was received in the fleet due to its ultra-low noise. According to experts, taking into account the situation in the region, ships of this class are needed in the Pacific Ocean.
All North Sea routes
As sources in the military department told Izvestia, the inter-fleet transfer of the Ufa submarine to the Pacific Fleet has already been planned. It is scheduled for autumn. Several route options are being worked out, including along the Northern Sea Route. During the campaign, the crew will conduct several exercises with ships, as well as with naval aviation aircraft.
The submarines of Project 636.3 are recognized as suitable for operations in the Arctic, including on the Northern Sea Route. This decision was made at the end of autumn last year following an analysis of the results of the actions of the submarine of this series in the north-east of Russia. The inspection took place within the framework of the integrated Arctic expedition "Umka-2022". The submarine "Magadan" participated in the tests. She passed by the Northern Sea Route to the Pacific Ocean. In this campaign, the ship performed combat training tasks in the polar latitudes.
Photo: RIA Novosti/press service of JSC Admiralty Shipyards
Image source: iz.ru
— The Northern Fleet has built a powerful extensive support system, — the former commander of the submarine Hero of Russia Vsevolod Khmyrov told Izvestia. — The only thing required for such a transition is structural reinforcement of the light body. The ship is quite capable of performing a planned inter-fleet transition. This will require the skills of sailors, training of personnel. But these are all planned things. And with today's security system, I don't see any uniqueness here.
Needed by the Fleet
In the Pacific, diesel-electric submarines were used, among other things, to protect areas of combat duty by nuclear-powered missile submarines in the Sea of Okhotsk, military expert Vasily Kashin told Izvestia.
"Such boats were used to monitor the straits between the Kuril Islands in order to prevent the penetration of nuclear submarines of a possible enemy that could pose a threat to our missile carriers," he explained. — In addition, in the current conditions, such submarines can use Kalibr missiles and, accordingly, be used in the Russian system of non-nuclear strategic deterrence, if necessary, for missile strikes against various targets in the region. This is relevant because the Asia-Pacific region has become an arena of confrontation between great powers, primarily China and the United States. Therefore, the Pacific Fleet is in a special position in terms of personnel renewal. It needs to be maintained at a certain level.
Photo: RIA Novosti/press service of JSC Admiralty Shipyards
Image source: iz.ru
Initially, the ships of Project 636 were developed for export to the countries of the Warsaw Pact Organization. Since the second half of the 1990s, such boats in various modifications have been built for China, Algeria and Vietnam. Then it was decided to purchase these submarines for the Russian fleet. They are created according to the upgraded version 636.3. From the basic version, they differ in better driving characteristics, a reduced noise level, the presence of a modern automated control system and a modern navigation system.
The submarines of Project 636.3 are considered one of the most silent in the world, for which they were nicknamed black holes in the navy. They are designed to perform a wide range of tasks — to destroy surface and underwater targets, conduct patrols and reconnaissance.
The first series of six ships of the 636.3 project was built from 2014 to 2016, all of them are serving on the Black Sea. In September 2016, a contract was signed for six more submarines for the Pacific Fleet. At the moment, four representatives of the series have been built. Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky was transferred to the fleet in 2019, Volkhov — in 2020, Magadan - in 2021. Ufa joined the fleet last year.
Photo: TASS/press service of JSC Admiralty Shipyards
Image source: iz.ru
Submarines of project 636.3 have a displacement of over 3.9 thousand tons, a length of 74 m, a speed of up to 20 knots. They can be continuously at sea for up to 45 days. Each ship carries six 533-mm torpedo tubes on board, can use torpedoes and mines, as well as Kalibr-PL cruise missiles.
Izvestia Reference
In recent years, the Pacific Fleet, which has not received new ships for a long time, has been significantly updated. At the end of 2020, it included the Gremyashchy corvette, the lead ship of Project 20385, capable of using Kalibr and Onyx missiles. At the same time, the corvette of project 20380 "Hero of the Russian Federation Aldar Tsydenzhapov" entered service. The deep modernization of the large anti-submarine ship Marshal Shaposhnikov was also completed. After installing anti-ship and cruise missiles and strengthening air defense, the former anti-submarine ship changed its specialization and was reclassified into a frigate. In addition, a new base minesweeper "Yakov Balyaev" entered the TOPF in 2020.
Roman Kretsul
Alexey Ramm
