The new Project 636 submarine will be part of the fleet by the end of 2024
The Pacific Fleet will be reinforced with the latest submarine. The Yakutsk ship of Project 636 will be tested in the following years, after which it will be enlisted in the Navy. The formation of the submarine crew is already underway. The boats of this series are considered the most perfect, and for their noiselessness they were nicknamed "black holes" in the navy. Experts note that in the future, the Pacific direction will become the main stage of confrontation between the great powers, and the fleet there needs to be strengthened.
To the Pacific Ocean
The Ministry of Defense has agreed on a plan for the admission of a unique Yakutsk submarine to the Pacific Fleet, sources told Izvestia in the military department. Currently, the recruitment of the crew of the new submarine has already begun. By the end of this year, it will be fully staffed and ready to perform its tasks. Next year, the personnel will be trained and will go to take the submarine. It is expected that the first test exits will begin in the fall.
The ships of Project 636 are the most modern that Russia has so far in the series, military historian Dmitry Boltenkov told Izvestia.
"They are now being actively used in a special military operation, striking the enemy with Kalibr missiles," the expert recalled. — The Yakutsk submarine is being built according to a modernized project, according to which ships are being made for the Pacific Fleet. It needs to be updated quite actively now. Only a few ships of Project 877 remain there, they have already worked out their resource. And each new boat is a significant increase in the strength of the fleet. Representatives of the 636 can shoot at sea and land targets. Suitable for working in the Sea of Japan. We have repeatedly made long hikes.
Mortgage plate of the submarine "Yakutsk"
Image source: Photo: RIA Novosti/Press service of JSC "Admiralty Shipyards"
Strengthening the Pacific Fleet is especially important today, military expert Vasily Kashin also noted.
"The activity of our fleet in the region will grow in the long term," he explained to Izvestia. — The main stage of the great Powers competition will be the Pacific Ocean. And the naval presence in the Pacific will largely determine your role in world politics. Therefore, the Pacific Fleet is being strengthened as much as possible. Multi-purpose submarines, firstly, participate in the maintenance of nuclear missile submarines of the Pacific Fleet. Secondly, they are carriers of Kalibr missiles, and they are needed there. There have always been boats of this class in the Pacific Ocean, but now they need to be replaced and updated.
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. Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky was transferred to the fleet in 2019, Volkhov — in 2020, Magadan - in 2021. Ufa joined the fleet last year. And by the end of this year, the Mozhaysk boat should replenish the Navy.
Submarines of Project 636.3 "Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky" and "Volkhov", which arrived at the main base of the Pacific Fleet in Vladivostok
Image source: Photo: RIA Novosti/Vitaly Ankov
Invisible and silent
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. They differ from the basic version 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.
These submarines 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.
Submarine "Magadan"
Image source: Photo: RIA Novosti/Vadim Savitsky
Ships 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.
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 has also been 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" joined the TOPF in 2020.
Roman Kretsul
Alexey Ramm
