The industry demonstrates high rates of construction of submarines of various classes
On June 11, on the eve of Russia Day, the next 4th generation nuclear submarine Arkhangelsk left Severodvinsk for factory sea trials. This is the fifth submarine of the 885 and 885M series. Last year, the first such boat for the Pacific Fleet, the Novosibirsk, arrived in Kamchatka. The second ship of the 885M project for the Pacific Fleet, Krasnoyarsk, will make the transition this year. The boats Perm, Ulyanovsk, Vladivostok and Voronezh are being built. How are things going with the renewal of the submarine fleet and which submarines will enter service — in the material of Izvestia.
Attack submarines
Multipurpose nuclear submarine K-561 Kazan of the 885M Yasen-M project in the port of Havana
Image source: Photo: REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini
The ships of Project 885 are attack submarines carrying a variety of missile weapons such as Zircons, Onyx or Calibres and a variety of mine-torpedo weapons. At the moment, the Kazan submarine and the frigate Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov are on a friendly visit to Cuba. It is worth noting that the previous time our nuclear submarines were in Cuba was during the Soviet Union. Currently, Sevmash JSC has reached the pace of construction of boats of the 885M project in 8-9 years, which, of course, is somewhat slower than in the USA with their Virginias, but clearly faster than in countries such as Britain with the Estiute boats or France with their Suffren boats.
Submarines with ballistic missiles on board
The nuclear submarine "Emperor Alexander III" during the solemn ceremony of raising the naval flag at JSC PO Sevmash in Severodvinsk. December 11, 2023
Image source: Photo: RIA Novosti/Mikhail Klimentyev
By the end of this year, a new nuclear submarine with Bulava ballistic missiles on board the Emperor Alexander III of Project 955A, together with the cruiser Krasnoyarsk, will cross the Arctic ice and replenish the composition of the submarine forces of the Pacific Fleet in Kamchatka. The Emperor itself joined the fleet at the end of last year. After putting the boat into operation, it takes some more time for the crews to fully prepare, especially for practicing ice navigation. The Emperor Alexander III will become the fifth cruiser with ballistic missiles on board as part of the 25th Division of submarines of the Pacific Fleet. Last year, the Generalissimo Suvorov cruiser, which joined the Navy in 2022, joined this compound. At the same time, there are only two boats of this project in the Northern Fleet so far. This year, the eighth cruiser of the series, the Prince Pozharsky, was launched, and it will enter service by the end of this year. Two more are under construction — Dmitry Donskoy and Prince Potemkin.
Non-nuclear submarines
The construction of Project 0636 submarines continues. In addition to the six previously built for the Black Sea Fleet, six more are under construction for the Pacific Fleet. Of these, the first four are already part of the 19th Submarine Brigade in Vladivostok. However, the fourth Ufa boat, which joined the fleet in 2022, is part of the Russian fleet in the Mediterranean. The next fifth Mozhaisk boat will be transferred to the Pacific Fleet after the Main Naval Parade. It is still unknown which way she will go to the Far East. Usually, the passage is carried out by the southern sea route, through the Mediterranean Sea, the Indian Ocean and then the seas washing the shores of China. But the Magadan boat was sailing by the Northern Sea Route — for the first time in many decades, a non-nuclear submarine passed through Arctic waters. The last in the series, the sixth Yakutsk boat, is expected to be launched this year.
The Mordovia hovercraft and the Ufa submarine in the fleet demonstration area at the MVMS-2023 International Naval Salon in Kronstadt
Image source: Photo: RIA Novosti/Alexander Galperin
Most likely, after the completion of the construction of these two series, the construction of the 06363 project ships will continue. The Pacific Fleet clearly needs another submarine brigade with a base in Kamchatka. This region is currently of key importance in ensuring the security of Russia in the Far East in general and the northeastern sea passage of the Northern Sea Route in particular.
According to unconfirmed information, there are plans to order six ships of project 03636 for the Northern Fleet, whose non—nuclear submarine forces need to be updated - in fact, apart from two modernized boats of project 877 Kaluga and Vladikavkaz, still Soviet-built, there are no other submarines in the 161st submarine Brigade. Also, due to the entry of Sweden and Finland into NATO, a significant increase in non-nuclear submarine forces and the Baltic Fleet will be required. If earlier the Navy considered it quite possible to have one boat in the Baltic Fleet for testing anti-submarine forces and testing newly built submarines, now the general situation in this region has changed.
The large ocean-going submarine of project 877 "Halibut" B-800 "Kaluga" at the celebration of the Navy Day in Severomorsk
Image source: Photo: RIA Novosti/Pavel Lvov
In addition to the Project 0636 submarines, the Project 677 series is also being built for the Navy, which already belongs to the 4th generation boats. So, this year the first production boat of this project "Kronstadt" joined the fleet. The second one, Velikiye Luki, is also being tested, and it is expected that she will join the fleet this year as well. The construction of the next pair is underway — Vologda and Yaroslavl.
Special submarines
In 2022, the special purpose nuclear submarine Belgorod joined the Navy. This is the last boat from the Soviet reserve. Its tasks are to transport a variety of underwater objects, including Poseidon super torpedoes, Losharik-type autonomous underwater stations or a variety of underwater drones. The boat became part of the Pacific Fleet, but is still based in Severodvinsk. This is probably due either to the continuation of the Poseidon tests, or the infrastructure of the base in Vilyuchensk in Kamchatka is not ready yet. One of the biggest problems of the Soviet Navy was that ships and boats were built faster than their bases were prepared for them. As a result, the ships were on raids and knocked out their engine life, which shortened their lives. The modern Russian Navy first creates berths with everything necessary, housing for crews and solves other issues of ensuring the basing of ships, and only after that it brings a warship or a submarine to a ready place. Another carrier of the Poseidons is the Khabarovsk boat, which is under construction, it will also serve on the Pacific Fleet.
The Belgorod nuclear submarine during launching at JSC PO Sevmash in Severodvinsk. April 23, 2019
Image source: Photo: RIA Novosti/Pavel Lvov
In general, the pace of replenishment of our fleet with the latest submarines, especially in the conditions of its own, is impressive: for example, in 2022 and 2023, the Russian fleet received three submarines each. This year, one has already joined the Navy and three more are on the way.
Dmitry Boltenkov
