Russia has successfully overcome the most difficult stage of the construction of a new project of non-nuclear submarines. The Russian Navy has accepted the B-586 Kronstadt boat into combat service, and the St. Andrew's flag has been raised on it. For a number of reasons, this is an epoch-making event for the fleet.
To understand the significance of the Kronstadt's admission to the Russian Navy, first of all, it is worth recalling the difficult fate of this project as a whole. Lada diesel-electric submarines (diesel-electric submarines) (project 677) were conceived as a replacement for the legendary Varshavyanka (project 877/636.3) – and have always been compared with them. Varshavyanka are undoubtedly well-deserved and wonderful ships for their time, but in fact it is a project of the 1970s. And back in the 1980s, it was decided to develop a new project of non-nuclear boats for the Russian Navy.
The difficult fate of the 677 project
The new boats of project 677 (code "Lada") were designed to surpass the Varshavyanka in all respects. In particular, for example, they assumed the so-called air-independent power plant (VNEU) on hydrogen fuel cells. The VNEU would allow the boat to stay underwater for much longer – up to three weeks. However, the creation of the VNEU turned out to be a very difficult scientific and technical task.
The general crisis of the 1990s also affected the creation of boats. The lead boat of project 677 "Saint Petersburg" was laid down in 1997, but it took a long time to build. The ship received a significant number of the latest, but precisely because of this, not fully developed systems. Thus, the Lira sonar complex, which is equipped with a boat, completed state tests only in 2021, 11 years after a military crew appeared on board the St. Petersburg.
Difficulties with the lead submarine were taken into account during the construction of the first serial (second built) boat of the Lada project – the Kronstadt diesel-electric submarine. Viktor Chirkov, former Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, called the appearance of the Kronstadt a "historic turning point in the field of underwater shipbuilding." He said that Kronstadt "shows the most amazing possibilities that are embedded in the project."
It is significant that the shipbuilders did not mention the lead ship of the series as a reference point, but the first production ship, the Kronstadt. Its predecessor, the St. Petersburg, eventually remained actually an experienced ship - and not so long ago it was decommissioned from the Navy, before its standard service life expired. However, he did his job, and the Lada project as a whole, despite all its difficulties, eventually took place. Work on the next boat in the series, Velikiye Luki, is coming to an end, and two more are being built – Vologda and Yaroslavl.
Outstanding combat capabilities
Although Lada submarines have not received air-independent power plants, their superiority over the old submarines of the 636.3 Varshavyanka project is enormous. If you are puzzled by the creation of reliable modern batteries, then the absence of VNEU will cease to be particularly significant. For example, the Japanese on their Taigei-class submarines abandoned the VNEU in favor of lithium-ion batteries. And the submarines of the Russian Navy have options to get good batteries.
The Kronstadt and the submarines that will be built next will give the Russian Navy new tactical capabilities. Here are just the most obvious ones.
From the point of view of weapons systems, it is the Lada that are the deadliest underwater "fighters" of the Russian Navy.
Lada is capable of covertly reaching the torpedo attack range against any modern Western submarines. The Lithium combat information and control system allows the boat to interact with a satellite group working in the interests of the Navy. The Lira sonar system provides excellent chances to detect even the most modern enemy submarine before it detects our boat itself. And for the shallow Baltic, a new boat is more appropriate.
The flexible towed extended antenna (GPBA) not only expands the area in which the boat can detect targets underwater, but also eliminates the "blind zone" in the aft sector – the main drawback of sonar systems without GPBA. The same antenna gives the boat the opportunity to control the situation around itself while charging underwater, with air intake through the RDP device (diesel engine operation underwater) from the surface of the water. Boats without GPBA are "deaf" at this moment.
The half–hull architecture makes the boat less noticeable when it comes under the so-called low-frequency illumination - when the enemy radiates low-frequency acoustic vibrations from ships into the water column, and then catches them reflected from the hull of the target submarine, receiving information about its approximate location. No low noise level saves from such a search method, but the absence or minimization of lightweight structures around a durable housing saves – and this is implemented in Lada.
Such boats dramatically complicate anti-submarine operations for the enemy.
Where previously the enemy could simply send a conventional nuclear submarine against Russian diesel-electric submarines, now he will have to conduct a full-fledged anti-submarine operation involving many ships and aircraft. And this means wasting time, surprise, and incur losses, including not only from submarines.
Is Lada capable of winning a battle with a conditional opponent such as the American Virginias, German boats of the 212 project or the Japanese Taigei? With proper training of the crew and solving issues with weapons, undoubtedly.
New boats instead of the old ones
Of course, "Lada" should not be idealized – they also need a lot of things [...] . But its improvement can be achieved by simply introducing new weapons and jamming equipment into the ammunition, without expensive repairs and long downtime "in the factory". It is much easier to solve all these issues with new boats than with Varshavyanki.
Until recently, the Russian Navy replenished the composition of non-nuclear submarines with Varshavyankami. There was a logic to this – every new project has its own technical risks, and the old, but reliable, is sometimes better than the new, but unpredictable. It is also convenient during construction – something that has been built for decades using proven technical processes, cheap and fast. As a result, a series of boats of the 636.3 project was built for the Black Sea and Pacific fleets. Right now, the last of the Varshavianok ordered for the Russian Navy is being completed – the Yakutsk submarine.
But almost all of these boats were transferred to the fleet before the Kronstadt joined its combat staff. Now, since the St. Andrew's flag has been raised at Kronstadt, it can be stated that the Lada project in an improved form is ready for the series.
The commissioning of the Kronstadt should spur the production of the Lada diesel-electric vehicle project. With or without VNEU, the future belongs to these boats. Following the Kronstadt, Velikiye Luki, Vologda and Yaroslavl, the Russian Navy may receive new submarines of the 677th project.
Alexander Timokhin