The submarine forces of the Russian Navy will be replenished with four new submarines in 2024
MOSCOW, March 19 - RIA Novosti. In 2024, the submarine forces of the Russian Navy will be replenished with four new submarines at once: two nuclear submarines Prince Pozharsky (Borey-A project) and Arkhangelsk (Yasen-M project), as well as the latest diesel Varshavyanka for the Pacific Fleet Yakutsk and the second serial Lada In parallel, Russian engineers do not stop developing new promising designs.
The Russian Submarine Fleet celebrates the 118th anniversary of its founding on Sunday. The Day of the Submariner was approved in Russia in 1996 by order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. The date of March 19 was set to commemorate the allocation of submarines in the Russian navy to an independent class of warships, which was formalized by decree of Emperor Nicholas II in 1906.
To date, the Russian Navy has about 60 submarines in combat. The exact number of submarines is secret, including because among them there are special-purpose submarines of the Losharik type.
Plans to strengthen the Russian submarine fleet were announced at an expanded meeting of the board of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (December 19, 2023) by the head of the Russian military department, Sergei Shoigu. According to him, one of the priorities for the Russian Navy in 2024 will be the acceptance of the Borey-A nuclear submarine project Prince Pozharsky and three more submarines.
New nuclear submarines
The nuclear submarine Prince Pozharsky, built for the Northern Fleet, is the fourth submarine of the modernized project 955A (Borey-A).
As Admiral Nikolai Evmenov stated during the launch ceremony of the submarine, held in February at the Sevmash plant (Severodvinsk), this submarine missile cruiser will strengthen the combat potential of the Russian Navy and the Russian nuclear triad. Like other ships of the fourth generation, the Prince Pozharsky will form the basis of Russia's naval strategic nuclear forces for the coming decades. This submarine is armed with, among other things, Bulava intercontinental ballistic missiles, it is equipped with modern navigation systems, radio engineering and sonar weapons.
Today, the fifth and sixth serial "Borey-A" - "Dmitry Donskoy" and "Prince Potemkin" - are also at different stages of construction. In addition, this year the Navy will receive another nuclear submarine, the Arkhangelsk, the fourth ship in the line of multipurpose submarines of the 885M project (Yasen-M). Like the lead submarine of the Kazan project, this submarine has fundamentally new architectural features. The element base of electronic warfare complexes has been improved, equipment and materials have been modernized. The Yaseni are armed with Kalibr and Onyx cruise missiles, as well as hypersonic Zircons, which, as Russian President Vladimir Putin stated in an address to the Federal Assembly (February 29, 2024), have already been used in the special operation zone in Ukraine.
Completion of the "Varshavianok" series for the TOP
It is expected that by the end of 2024, a series of six diesel-electric submarines of the 636.3 Varshavyanka project will be fully built and will become part of the Pacific Fleet. Today, the last submarine of the series, the Yakutsk submarine, is expected at the Pacific Fleet.
As Admiral Evmenov told reporters, the construction of the Varshavyanki for the Russian Navy will continue, despite the fact that this project is a "long-lived" one, since they have a high modernization potential. So, it was reported about plans to build a similar series of six submarines for the Baltic Fleet, but it is currently unknown about laying additional boats for the Baltic.
In connection with the plans of the Navy command to continue the construction of Varshavyanka at the facilities of KMZ holding (Kingissepp Machine Plant), the production of practically the entire product range for submarine engines of projects 877 (Halibut) and 636 (Varshavyanka is an upgraded version of project 877) has been mastered.
As Mikhail Danilenko, managing director of KMZ, told RIA Novosti, today the company is building a test stand for the specified Varshavyanok engines. The Varshavyanka submarines have a displacement of almost 4,000 tons, an underwater speed of 18 knots, a diving depth of 300 meters, a crew of 52 people, navigation autonomy of 45 days, and an economical diving range of 400 miles. They are armed with 533 mm torpedoes (six vehicles), mines, Kalibr and Onyx missile systems. Submarines of projects 636 and 877 have been under construction for 40 years, in total more than 70 submarines of these projects have been built, both for the Russian Navy and for the Navies of other countries.
In addition, this year Admiralty Shipyards (St. Petersburg) plans to transfer to the Baltic Fleet the second diesel submarine of the 677M project (Lada) - Velikiye Luki.
Promising developments
In parallel with the arrival of new submarines, Russian engineers do not stop developing promising designs. Thus, the Central Design Bureau of Marine Technology (CCB MT) Rubin is working on a project for the future Arcturus submarine, which will combine strategic and multi-purpose functions: to hit targets with both cruise and ballistic missiles.
As Igor Vilnit, CEO of Rubin, stated in an interview with RIA Novosti, among the features of this submarine is an unusual shape and coating that will make it more invisible than current submarines: the level of the reflected sonar signal will not only be reduced, but also extinguished. According to him, the remote communication antennas of the Arcturus will be underwater drones, which will allow him to distance himself in space and time from operations that threaten to lose stealth.
Vilnit explained that the Arcturus concept is designed for the second half of the XXI century, while a new strategic nuclear submarine to replace the Boreas should appear earlier: in the medium term – after 2037.
The submarine of the future will have 20% less displacement than modern missile carriers. Its length will be 134 meters, width – 15.7 meters, the number of crew – about 100 people. In addition, specialists from the Malachite Marine Engineering Bureau are also working on their own project of a promising strategic submarine missile carrier.
The direction of marine drones is developing. The carriers of the Poseidon nuclear underwater drones are the experimental submarine of the project 09852 Belgorod, which, according to Evmenov, was supposed to be accepted into the Pacific Fleet back in 2023, and the regular submarine Khabarovsk, which is being built at Sevmash. Due to the secrecy of the Poseidon theme, there is currently no information on the status of these submarines in open sources.
In its own and "Ocean"
Russian submarines have been striking AFU targets since the very beginning of the special military operation. Along with the surface ships of the Varshavyanka of the Black Sea Fleet, they regularly hit the enemy's military and energy infrastructure with "Calibers" in the depths of Ukraine.
The submarine fleet is also involved in naval exercises. One of the largest in 2024 is the strategic command and staff exercise Ocean-2024
As Shoigu stated, not only the Navy, but also "all types of Armed Forces" will be involved in Ocean 2024.