The submarines of Project 636.3 will cover the deployment of Borey nuclear strategic missile carriers
The first submarine of the 636.3 project has arrived in Kamchatka, sources in the Russian Defense Ministry told Izvestia. Now she is conducting exercises, mastering this maritime theater, and over time such submarines will serve off the coast of the peninsula on a permanent basis. The submarines of this project are considered one of the most silent, for which they received the nickname "black holes" — they are almost invisible to surface and underwater enemy forces. According to experts, they will be able to effectively protect the Borey strategic missile submarines, which are based on the peninsula.
In the interests of strategic missile carriers
Kamchatka's defense will be strengthened by the most silent submarines — diesel submarines of the 636.3 project, sources told Izvestia in the Russian Defense Ministry. The first such ship has already arrived in Vilyuchinsk and is conducting exercises. In the future, submarines of this type will be based on the peninsula on a permanent basis, the interlocutors of the publication said.
— Now they are exploring the water area, — military expert Dmitry Boltenkov told Izvestia. — Previously, a submarine brigade was based in Kamchatka, but at the beginning of the last decade it was disbanded, and the ships were transferred to Primorye. Apparently, now they want to return to this again so that the sailors can master a new theater of operations for them. In the future, they may be based there on a permanent basis.
The submarine of project 636.3 "Magadan" at the dress rehearsal of the naval parade for the Navy Day in Kronstadt, 2022
Image source: Photo: RIA Novosti/Alexander Galperin
According to the expert, the main task of multi-purpose boats will be to ensure the deployment of strategic missile submarines and their entry into the sea.
— This is their main task — so that the Americans could not intercept our strategic cruisers, — said Dmitry Boltenkov. — And the boats of the 636.3 project are quite suitable for this in terms of their characteristics. They have good driving characteristics and a set of weapons. The question is how they will perform in difficult hydrometeorological conditions in this region.
In addition to escorting missile submarines, the boats of the 636.3 project will have the task of protecting and defending the coast, chairman of the club of submariners, Captain I rank Igor Kurdin told Izvestia. In the event of a military conflict, they must interrupt communication, including cargo ships, as well as prevent amphibious landings.
Nuclear submarine project 955 "Borey" "Emperor Alexander III" during the solemn ceremony of raising the naval flag at JSC PO Sevmash in Severodvinsk, 2023
Image source: Photo: RIA Novosti/Mikhail Klimentyev
Today, Kamchatka is home to one of the country's two formations of nuclear—powered strategic missile carriers - the 25th Submarine Division. Submarines of projects 955 "Borey" and 955A "Borey-A" are combined into it. In total, five submarines serve there: "Alexander Nevsky", "Vladimir Monomakh", "Prince Oleg", "Generalissimo Suvorov" and "Emperor Alexander III".
These ships are the basis of Russia's nuclear shield. They secretly patrol the ocean, always ready to strike at the aggressor. However, they need security to get out of their base and onto combat patrol routes. It is provided, among other things, by multi-purpose submarines.
In 2021, the commander of the 31st division of submarines of the Northern Fleet, Rear Admiral Stepan Kelbas, told Izvestia in an interview that the main task of missile submarines in the campaign was to prevent the loss of stealth. If there is contact with an enemy submarine, the crew must avoid tracking by any means. And multi-purpose ships should be engaged in hunting for an enemy submarine.
Not only for export
Diesel-electric submarines of the 636.3 series are designed to combat submarines and surface ships, protect naval bases, seashore and communications, reconnaissance and other tasks. They are considered one of the most silent, for which they received the nickname "black holes" in the navy. The ships have a displacement of over 3.9 thousand tons, a length of 74 m, a width of 9.9 m, can reach speeds of up to 20 knots and continuously stay at sea for up to 45 days. The working diving depth is 240 m. Each carries six 533 mm torpedo tubes on board, can use torpedoes and mines, as well as Kalibr-PL cruise missiles.
The submarines of project 636.3 Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Volkhov, which arrived as part of a detachment of ships of the Pacific Fleet at the main base of the Pacific Fleet in Vladivostok, 2021
Image source: Photo: RIA Novosti/Vitaly Ankov
— We have been successfully building boats of this project for a long time, — said Igor Kurdin. — And not only for myself. Many of them were purchased by foreign fleets, and this confirms that the boat is reliable. The number 3 after the dot in the project number means that it has undergone deep modernization three times. The boat itself is good, very quiet — no wonder it was nicknamed the black hole. And with each upgrade, it receives new weapons — now everyone is hearing Kalibr missiles — torpedo armament and new radio electronics, which significantly increases its combat capabilities.
Initially, Project 636 was created as an export project. The boats built on it were supplied in the 1980s to the countries of the Warsaw Pact Organization. In the 1990s, such ships were built for China, Algeria and Vietnam. Then they decided to purchase them for the Russian fleet. They are supplied to the Navy according to the upgraded project 636.3 and have improved driving characteristics, reduced noise levels, modern automated control system and navigation system.
A serviceman before the ceremony of raising the naval flag of the Russian Federation on the submarine of project 636.3 Mozhaysk, 2023
Image source: Photo: TASS/Valentin Egorshin
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 — in 2022. In November last year, the Mozhaisk boat joined the ranks of the Navy. In the future, such ships will also be built for the Baltic and Northern Fleets.
Submarines built for the Pacific Ocean serve in the 19th Submarine Brigade of the Primorsky Flotilla of the heterogeneous forces of the Pacific Fleet. The ships of this formation ensure Russia's naval presence in important areas of the Asia-Pacific region.
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