Tag Archives: Russia

Russia (USSR) – The death of K-219 sub and Quakers

Leave a reply

Pravda.Ru has written before about the mysterious death of the Soviet nuclear submarine K-219 in the Bermuda Triangle in 1986. Recent reports by scientists confirmed that the K-219 could have perished from an unidentified floating object.

This theory is now often discussed in specialized journals (mainly English) and in Russia. In a recent TV show famous admirals, former employees of the naval intelligence and security services, quite openly talked about miraculous unidentified underwater objects.

That program made me go back to the records of conversations with the untimely deceased famous Soviet submariner, Captain of the first rank Nikolai Tushin, who was a former deputy commander of a brigade that built nuclear-powered boats. In the 1980s, he was part of a rather narrow group of specialists of the Navy tasked with admission of nuclear submarines built in Severodvinsk at Sevmash to the fleet.

Because of his job he had to know all the nuances of underwater accidents that occurred from time to time with Russian atomic submarines. Our very frank discussion took place after his retirement, at a time when little by little secret mysteries of the Soviet oceanic fleet were declassified. He told me about the mysteries sparingly and tactfully, apparently for fear of becoming a source of unnecessary sensationalism. Submariners do not like sensations and only believe their own eyes and ears.

Nikolai had no doubts that the underwater object that collided with the strategic submarine “K-219” carrying two nuclear reactors and 16 ballistic nuclear missiles was not man made. Incidentally, he was the one to tell me about the troubles endured by Soviet (as well as American, British, and French) atomic submarines from the so-called “Quakers.” He said that experienced sailors were quite serious about the talks of underwater unidentified objects.

According to Tushin, he, like many other submarine commanders, saw glowing balls and cylinders in the ocean. Almost every diver has a “cherished” story. It was not customary to talk about it, and no instruments recorded sightings of such objects.

Even now little is known about these croaking invisible objects. They were first heard a few decades ago, when more or less sensitive sonar equipment that could hear the ocean in many sectors of sonar range appeared on submarines, especially nuclear ones.

In the 1970’s, the so-called unidentified floating objects, “Quakers,” became a serious concern for the submariners. The Navy Intelligence even established a special group to organize and analyze all unexplained phenomena occurring in the oceans. The officers who had to collect information gathered all the data that was somehow relevant. There was even a series of special ocean expeditions. The Americans also organized several expeditions, hunting for “Quakers.”

The range of “Quakers” action expanded from the Barents Sea to the Mid-Atlantic, including the Bermuda Triangle, where Russian atomic submarine “K-219” has perished. The theory of the man-made origin of the mysterious underwater object sounds rather weak because even the wealthy United States could not afford such costs.

These mysterious objects persistently pursued Russian (and not only Russian) submarines, and the chase was accompanied by characteristic acoustic signals resembling croaking of frogs.

Secret Soviet intelligence expeditions came to the conclusion that “Quakers” was a secret development of NATO, aimed at tracking Russian submarines. The Americans, too, studied the mysterious phenomenon in detail, and with equal determination reported that this was a top secret development of the USSR for the detection of foreign submarines. Perhaps, had the two countries combined the effort to study this strange phenomenon, the problem would have been solved. But this was the time of the “cold war.”

Those who actually heard the Quakers had a lasting impression that the unknown source of the mysterious sound was aware of its actions. Some even felt that the Quakers, appearing out of the blue, tried hard to make a contact.

In fact, the Quakers did not pose any threat to submarines. Another thing is that some submariners developed a phobia, and were afraid of starting their watch. They were afraid of losing their sanity because of mysterious sounds of “Quakers.”

According toTushin, sometimes submarines thought that the mysterious objects were displaying friendliness.

The famous atomic experienced diver, admitted to the controls of nearly all projects of the Soviet nuclear submarines, admitted that we might be dealing with some unknown underwater civilization. Indeed, the underwater world is explored much less than space.

I used to serve in the submarine fleet for a number of years, and one day, while I was still a lieutenant, had a chance to hear a “Quaker”. Another lieutenant invited me in his operating room and handed me a pair of headphones. I heard “croaking” at a specific, constant frequency. The sound reminded that of an unknown animal.

The boat was moving at a low speed at a depth of 250 meters. Once it moved up to the depth of 120 meters, “croaking” in the headphones stopped. The commander said not to record these sounds in the log.

By the end of the 1980s the Soviet secret research program “Quaker” was discontinued. There was no available funding in the USSR that at the time was falling apart. The most interesting thing is that the sounds of “Quaker” in the ocean disappeared by the time, as if someone told the “unidentified” objects that they were no longer interesting. Since the 1990’s there have been no official reports of meetings with them.

The group of scouts and scientists was disbanded, and all of the materials were classified. It remains unclear why the group was disbanded so suddenly and what they were able to learn about the “Quakers”. Unfortunately, this information is still classified both in Russia and the U.S., and only occasionally the information about it leaks to the press.

But back to the collapse of the Soviet submarine “K-219” in the Bermuda Triangle not far from the land borders of the United States. As established by a special commission, the cause of the accident was an “incident” in the missile silo that for some reason became unsealed, and the subsequent leak of poisonous rocket fuel into the rocket section. Then there was a fire.

As a result of experimental tests, simulations and careful analysis, it was shown that it was not the fault of the crew but the impact of external factors. The official reports have pictures that prove that the body of “K-219” had a large groove. The committee that investigated the incident concluded that the external impact was a foreign submarine. Soviet intelligence reported that not a single NATO submarine was repaired after the collision.

Those who thought of the unidentified objects as the reason of the accident were afraid to speak up not to be considered insane.

Tushin was convinced that “К-219” was sunk by a mysterious force, but at the time could not admit it out loud. The unidentified floating objects remain a mystery of the ocean.

Source – Pravda

Also read: K-219: The sub that scared Reagan and Gorbachev

 

 

 

 

Eyewitness: Tragedy of Soviet nuclear submarine K-27

Leave a reply

Group of K-27 sailors (pic: Vyacheslav Mazurenko)

Vyacheslav Mazurenko with K-27 comrades in 1968 – he is second from right

The Russian authorities are investigating whether a sunken Soviet nuclear-powered submarine, the K-27, can be safely raised so that the uranium in its reactors may be removed.

At the height of the Cold War, in 1968, the K-27 met with disaster when radiation escaped from one of its reactors during a voyage in the Arctic.

Vyacheslav Mazurenko, then 22, was serving as a chief warrant officer (CWO) on the vessel, which now lies abandoned in the Arctic’s Kara Sea. Today he lives in Ukraine and he told BBC Russian what happened.

“We were on a five-day trip to check everything was working normally, before a 70-day round-the-world mission without resurfacing,” he said.

“It was the end of the third day and everything seemed to be going well. The crew was really tired.”

The mission would be to collect data about Nato and other enemy bases. K-27 had two experimental liquid metal-cooled reactors – a design never tried before in the Soviet navy. Nuclear power enabled the sub to stay underwater for weeks without resurfacing and without having to refuel.

K-27 sub being towed prior to being scuttled off Novaya Zemlya, 1981
The K-27 was sunk in the Kara Sea in 1981 (pic: Vyacheslav Mazurenko)

 

“At 11:35 everything was peaceful,” he said.

“The bulkheads were open. I was in the fifth compartment, next to the fourth compartment with the two nuclear reactors, talking to some crew members there. We suddenly noticed some people running.

“We had a radiation detector in the compartment, but it was switched off. To be honest, we hadn’t paid much attention to the radiation dosimeters we were given. But then, our radiation supervisor switched on the detector in the compartment and it went off the scale. He looked surprised and worried.”

They did not understand what had happened immediately because the radioactive gas had no odour or colour. But two hours later, some crewmen came out of the fourth compartment – and some of them had to be carried, because they could not walk, CWO Mazurenko said.

He put it down to fatigue, because the crew had spent three days with almost no sleep.

The submarine headed back to its base on the Kola Peninsula, by the Barents Sea, which took five hours.

As the sub approached, the base’s command fled the dockside, because special radiation alarms onshore were emitting a deafening roar, CWO Mazurenko recalled.

Soon after, the base commander picked up the captain in a car, but most of the crew had to walk 2km (1.2 miles) back to their barracks under their own steam.

Several specialist crew members were left on board the toxic sub for about a day, because they were under orders to keep watch.

Some have blamed K-27’s Capt Pavel Leonov over the accident, but CWO Mazurenko says the captain faced a life-or-death choice.

“When the sub surfaced to make the trip back to the docks, the division ordered it to cut its engines and await special instructions. The captain, however, decided to keep going, because if the sub stopped for several hours nobody would survive long enough to get it back to base.”

The crew of 144 were poisoned – nine died of radiation sickness soon after the emergency, and the others were ill for years before their premature deaths.

‘Little Golden Fish’

K-27 went into service in 1963, about five years after construction had started. It was very expensive and took longer to build than other Soviet nuclear submarines. So the sailors called it the “Little Golden Fish” – or “Zolotaya Rybka” in Russian – after a magical, fairy-tale fish which makes people’s wishes come true.

Volodya Gusev (left) and Anatoly Kulakov - two K-27 sailors now dead
These two K-27 sailors died later from radiation sickness (pic: Vyacheslav Mazurenko)

 

“In Soviet times, we were told that our subs were the best, and we had to be different from the ‘imperialists’. But the first subs were far from perfect. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev said: ‘We’ll catch up with you and overtake you’. They kept churning out new subs, regardless of the risk to people,” CWO Mazurenko said.

The crew were part of the military elite. They got lemons and oranges – citrus fruit that most Soviet citizens, battling daily with shortages, never saw.

The crew were told that their reactors were extremely safe and could not suffer the breakdowns that had plagued some other Russian submarines in the past, CWO Mazurenko said.

“When the assessment commission came round, its members were often afraid to visit the reactor compartment. They always tried to avoid it, but Captain Leonov actually sat on one of the reactors, to show them how safe it was.”

However, CWO Mazurenko says radioactive particles had been detected aboard the submarine from the very start.

Medical negligence

He was among 10 lucky crew members to be sent to a Leningrad hospital within a day of the disaster. The fate of the rest of the crew was in the hands of the Communist Party in Moscow.

Five days after the accident, the rest were taken to Leningrad – now called St Petersburg. They were each isolated from the outside world.

K-27 survivors with wives
Some survivors and their wives meet up to remember old times (pic: Vyacheslav Mazurenko)

 

Many Soviet sailors and officers were ordered to donate blood and bone marrow, knowing nothing about the accident, which remained an official secret for three decades.

K-27 officers were later warned they should not have children for five years and were given regular check-ups, but there was no proper medical follow-up for the ordinary submariners, according to CWO Mazurenko. Many of them were declared “healthy” by military doctors, despite their illnesses, he added.

On the medical certificate they received 25 years after the disaster, it simply read: “Participated in nuclear accident elimination on the submarine. Exposed to radiation.”

Despite what happened, Vyacheslav Mazurenko told the BBC: “I do not regret that I served almost four years on this submarine, with these people.”

Of the original 144 crew, only 56 are still alive. Most of them became physically handicapped and they still do not know the level of radiation they were exposed to.

In 1981, K-27 was sunk at a depth of just 30m (99ft) in the Kara Sea – far shallower than the depth required by international guidelines.

Source – BBC News

Russia explores old nuclear waste dumps in Arctic – Video Clip

2 Replies

By Laurence PeterBBC News

K-27 sub being towed prior to being scuttled off Novaya Zemlya, 1981
The Soviet K-27 submarine was sunk in the Kara Sea in 1981 after a fatal nuclear leak (pic: Vyacheslav Mazurenko)

The toxic legacy of the Cold War lives on in Russia’s Arctic, where the Soviet military dumped many tonnes of radioactive hardware at sea.

For more than a decade, Western governments have been helping Russia to remove nuclear fuel from decommissioned submarines docked in the Kola Peninsula – the region closest to Scandinavia.

But further east lies an intact nuclear submarine at the bottom of the Kara Sea, and its highly enriched uranium fuel is a potential time bomb.

This year the Russian authorities want to see if the K-27 sub can be safely raised, so that the uranium – sealed inside the reactors – can be removed.

They also plan to survey numerous other nuclear dumps in the Kara Sea, where Russia’s energy giant Rosneft and its US partner Exxon Mobil are now exploring for oil and gas.

Kara Sea map

Seismic tests have been done and drilling of exploratory wells is likely to begin next year, so Russia does not want any radiation hazard to overshadow that. Rosneft estimates the offshore fossil fuel reserves to be about 21.5bn tonnes.

‘Strategic imperative’

The Kara Sea region is remote, sparsely populated and bitterly cold, frozen over for much of the year. The hostile climate would make cleaning up a big oil spill hugely challenging, environmentalists say.

Those fears were heightened recently by the Kulluk accident – a Shell oil rig that ran aground in Alaska.

But Charles Emmerson, an Arctic specialist at the Chatham House think tank, says Arctic drilling is a “strategic imperative” for Russia, which relies heavily on oil and gas exports.

It is a bigger priority for Russia than Alaskan energy is for the US, he says, because the US now has a plentiful supply of shale gas. That and environmental concerns make the Arctic more problematic for Americans, he told BBC News.

“In the US the Arctic gets great public scrutiny and it’s highly political, but in Russia there is less public pressure.”

Russia is rapidly developing the energy-rich Yamal Peninsula, on the eastern shore of the Kara Sea. The retreat of Arctic summer sea ice, believed to be evidence of global warming, means liquefied natural gas tankers will be able to reach the far east via Russia’s Northern Sea Route in future.

Secret dumps

“Start Quote

Two sailors from K-27

The captain decided to keep going, because if the sub stopped for several hours nobody would survive long enough to get it back to base”
Vyacheslav MazurenkoK-27 survivor

On the western flank is a closed military zone – the Novaya Zemlya archipelago. It was where the USSR tested hydrogen bombs – above ground in the early days.

Besides K-27, official figures show that the Soviet military dumped a huge quantity of nuclear waste in the Kara Sea: 17,000 containers and 19 vessels with radioactive waste, as well as 14 nuclear reactors, five of which contain hazardous spent fuel. Low-level liquid waste was simply poured into the sea.

Norwegian experts and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are satisfied that there is no evidence of a radiation leak – the Kara Sea’s radioisotope levels are normal.

But Ingar Amundsen, an official at the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority (NRPA), says more checks are needed.

The risk of a leak through seawater corrosion hangs over the future – and that would be especially dangerous in the case of K-27, he told BBC News.

“You cannot exclude the possibility that there is more waste there which we don’t know about,” he said.

Igor Kudrik of the Norwegian environmental group Bellona says there is even a risk that corrosion could trigger a nuclear chain reaction, in the worst-case scenario.

Other wrecks

Kursk wreck in dry dock
In 2001 the ill-fated Kursk was salvaged and put in a Russian dry dock

 

With international help Russia did manage to lift the wreck of the Kursk submarine after it sank in the Barents Sea during exercises in 2000. A torpedo explosion and fire killed 118 Russian sailors, in a drama which gripped the world’s media. The Russian navy was heavily criticised for its slow response.

But another ill-fated Russian nuclear-powered sub – the K-159 – remains at the bottom of the Barents Sea, in international waters.

And in the Norwegian Sea lies the K-278 Komsomolets, reckoned to be too deep to be salvaged.

Mr Amundsen says Russia is finally giving the radioactive waste problem the attention it deserves, and “we’re very happy they are focusing on this now”.

K-27 was an experimental submarine – the first in the Soviet navy to be powered by two reactors cooled by lead-bismuth liquid metal.

Disaster struck in 1968, when radioactive gases escaped from one reactor, poisoning crew members who tried to repair it at sea.

This footage from the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority shows the K-27 submarine underwater

Nine sailors died of radiation sickness, but the Soviet military kept it secret for decades.

Data collection

The navy gave up trying to repair K-27 and scuttled it illegally in 1981 off Novaya Zemlya. It lies just 30m (99ft) beneath the surface of Stepovogo fjord – though international guidelines say decommissioned vessels should be buried at least 3,000m down.

Last September a joint Norwegian-Russian expedition examined the wreck with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) equipped with a video camera. Some other nuclear dump sites were also examined and they found no signs of any leak, but the investigations are continuing.

Beyond the Kara Sea, Russia is forging ahead with exploration of the Arctic seabed, collecting data for a claim to areas beyond its waters.

Other Arctic countries are doing the same, aware of the frozen wilderness’s importance as the planet’s more accessible resources are depleted. A UN body, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)., will adjudicate on the claims.

As if to underline the strategic priorities, Russia is boosting its military presence in the Arctic and the Northern Fleet is getting a new generation of submarines, armed with multiple nuclear warheads.

Source – BBC News

Russia plans to sell multipurpose submarines abroad

Leave a reply

Russia’s military-industrial complex is increasing arms exports through Rosoboronexport, year after year, and the naval component is no exception. However, the latest contract for the supply of non-nuclear submarines is unique.

Russia plans to sell multipurpose submarines abroad
Russia’s military-industrial complex is increasing arms exports through Rosoboronexport, year after year, and the naval component is no exception.

Rosoboronexport is in continued talks with Italy on the supply of S1000 submarines. However, these boats will not see action in either the Russian or the Italian navy. Instead, they will be sold exclusively to third-party countries.

Experts at the Rubin Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering and Italy’s Fincantieri completed the conceptual design of the S1000 a few years ago. The submarine was always intended for third-party countries. The Italian shipbuilding company presented a mockup in 2008, at the 21st International Naval Defense and Maritime Exhibition and at the Conference Euronaval 2008.

According to Fincantieri Commercial Director Enrico Bonnetti, “the submarine’s architecture has been determined, equipment has been positioned, and an integrated combat system has been designed.”

The S1000 is 56-meters long, with an outside hard-hull diameter of 5.5 meters (18 feet), a submerged displacement of around 1100 tons, a maximum depth of more than 250 meters (820 feet), and a top underwater speed of more than 14 knots. The submarine can carry a crew of 16, plus six special operations troops.

The propulsion system includes two diesel generators, a battery, an electric motor and an AIP system with an electrochemical generator. Both Russian- and Italian-made equipment will be installed in equal amounts.

The S1000 non-nuclear submarine is designed for anti-submarine warfare, reconnaissance missions, special operations support and transporting underwater subversive troops. The submarine can perform these tasks both in shallow coastal waters and in deep-sea conditions. Secondary objectives include anti-ship warfare, mining and naval aircraft support.

The Soviet Union —and later Russia — have traditionally sold non-nuclear, diesel-electric submarines abroad.

“Our key product in this global market segment is the Project 636 submarine, which is the current bestseller. But we are also promoting the new Amur-1500 submarine,”said Rosoboronexport head Anatoly Isaykin.

“This is not a replacement for Project 636; it is an entirely new submarine that we will be promoting in parallel with Project 636. The Amur-1500 will also be in demand from international buyers, as it will be offered in different versions —including a version with an air-independent propulsion system that is becoming increasingly popular in the naval market,” Isaykin said.

He added that sales of naval hardware through Rosoboronexport amounted to 20 percent of total military exports last year and were slightly higher than in 2011.

The Russian navy will soon receive Project 636 submarines, as well.

A keel-laying ceremony for a large diesel-electric Project 636.3 submarine named Stary Oskol was held at the end of last summer, at the Admiralty Shipyard. These submarines are now being built for the Russian navy, after being exported for 20 years.

This submarine is expected to get a version of the new Kalibr missile system (exported as the Club-S) with a range of 1,500 kilometers (932 miles). There is one hitch though: to use this missile complex, a new combat command and control system is needed; its flaws have become one of the reasons behind the delays in building and deploying the Lada-class submarines for Russia’s navy.

Project 636 submarines are armed with six torpedo launchers located in the bow; six torpedoes sit in shafts that are automatically reloaded after each launch. The torpedoes can be replaced with 24 mines, two in each launcher. Two torpedo launchers have been designed to fire high-precision, remotely controlled torpedoes. All launchers and their service systems can fire from both periscope and tactical operating depths.

The launchers can be reloaded within 15 seconds.

According to expert assessments, the submarine is low noise and “sees” better underwater than the most widespread American-made, Los Angeles-class submarines.

Source – Russia Beyond the Headlines

Russia to build 2 nuclear Borei submarines

Leave a reply

АПЛ борей подводная лодка борей 2011 декабрь коллаж

Russia is to start building two new advanced nuclear-powered Borei class submarines before year’s end. Once complete, they will be lurking under the sea with 20 Bulava nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles each.

One of the submarines may be named Aleksandr Suvorov after one of the most decorated generals of the Russian Empire, a source in the defense industry told the media. Its construction is expected to start on July 28, which is Russian Navy Day.

The second vessel is likely to be named after Mikhail Kutuzov, the iconic Russian general of the Napoleonic Wars. Its keel is to be laid down in November.

The vessels are to be built by the shipbuilder Sevmash in Severodvinsk in the north of Russia.

Both submarines are of the Borei class, the most modern strategic nuclear-powered submarines in the Russian Navy. The lead vessel of the class, Yury Dolgoruky, officially entered service on Thursday, with two of his sister-ships currently afloat and undergoing trials.

The two new vessels are distinct from those three, being of an advanced Borei-A version of the same design. They will carry 20 nuclear ICBMs each, as opposed to 16 on the older submarines. They will also have improved maneuverability and better weapon control systems and will generate less noise.

Russia plans to build five Borei-A submarines. The first of them, Knyaz Vladimir, is already in construction.

Russia’s new submarine: arming for peace

From December 10, Russia is starting to exploit a new military submarine, called “Yuri Dolgoruky”. This is a long-standing project that had been suspended for some time. Then, the old project underwent some modifications. The new submarine has already been successfully tested. It is expected that the submarine will defend Russia’s borders.

This submarine is only a small part of Russia’s large-scale program of rearming itself with military equipment of the newest generation.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin was visiting the city of Severomorsk in Russia’s north, when Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu connected with him through video communication and reported that the new submarine had undergone testing and would soon be exploited.

“This is good news,” the President answered. “But this is not enough. I hope that Russia will continue to further strengthen its navy.”

“It is one of Russia’s top priorities to have a modern, well-developed nuclear navy,” Mr. Putin said. “I hope that we’ll develop both new surface-water ships and submarines. It is planned that in the next few years, Russia will build and start to exploit more than 100 new ships and submarines of various types. I have no doubts that we’ll cope with this task.”

“Yuri Dolgoruky” is a nuclear submarine of the “Borey” type, armed with ballistic missiles. It was built in the Russian city of Severodvinsk, one of Russia’s largest centers of producing nuclear military ships.

Another 3 submarines of the “Borey” type, all named after well-known personalities of old Russian history – “Alexander Nevsky”, “Vladimir Monomakh” and “Knyaz Vladimir” – are still being built. Their equipment will be mainly Russian-made, including radio electronic systems of the latest generation and unique noise reduction transducers.

At present, Russian military submarines are, as a rule, equipped with Russian-made ocean-spanning ballistic missiles “Bulava”. The range capability of such a missile is more than 8,000 kms. One submarine of the “Borey” type can be equipped with 16 “Bulava” missiles.

“It can be said that Russia’s nuclear “shield” consists of three parts – aircraft, navy and land-based missile systems,” Russian military expert Igor Korotchenko says. “Until now, from the point of view of new nuclear equipment, the Russian navy lagged behind the air and the land components of this “triad”. Now, the balance between them will be leveled.”

“The equipment of submarines of the “Borey” type allows to examine the situation under water, to trace and attack various kinds of underwater targets,” Igor Korotchenko continues. “The submarines’ systems of weapons control are also of the latest generation.”

The “Borey” submarines are also more advanced from the point of view of safety than their earlier analogues. In particular, they have a break surface camera where the submarine’s entire crew can be placed in case of emergency.

Russia is planning to build 8 such submarines in the next few years. The construction of each will cost Russia about $ 700 mln.

Speaking about plans for the more distant future, Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu says that Russia will have 15 new nuclear submarines before 2012. These submarines will be of various types and meant for various purposes, but all of them will be of the latest generation.

Russian expert in military technologies Ruslan Pukhov says that it is mainly sea-based missiles that make Russia resistant to possible aggression, because land-based missile systems are more vulnerable.

By arming itself with weapons of the latest generation, Russia strengthens its feeling of safety. After all, it is hard to argue with an old saying that goes, “if you want to live in peace, always be ready for a possible war”.

Source – The Voice of Russia

Russia Sails New Nuclear Submarine While U.S. Continues Fleet Delays

Leave a reply

 

Last week, after long delays, Russia made operational a new ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), or nuclear submarine, for the first time in over 20 years. This marks a significant step forward for the Russian Navy, which has pledged tens of billions of dollars to revitalize its fleet in the near future. The U.S. Navy unfortunately has had trouble both in revitalizing its SSBNs as well as its overall naval fleet.

The Russian navy made the announcement that the Yury Dolgoruky (Project 955)—the first-in-class of the new Borey-class SSBN—made operational status as it prepares for one of its largest naval exercises since the end of the Cold War. In fact, Russia’s commitment to increasing naval strength has been a central theme during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s tenure as president—despite Russia’s historically meager performance as a naval power. The Borey-class subs were first designed in the 1980s and the Yury Dolgoruky construction was launched in 1996.

Meanwhile, the U.S. navy has shrunk significantly since the Reagan years. The days of the 600-ship fleet have long since ended, and now U.S. naval leaders are struggling to find ways to meet a new requirement of around 300 ships. Currently around 285, the fleet will shrink further if more investment isn’t made in naval modernization.

The U.S. fleet was eroding long before the Budget Control Act and sequestration became part of the equation. In 2010, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported that actual funding levels for 2005–2010 fell below the CBO’s and the Navy’s estimates to achieve fleet goals. Predictions show current funding levels would reduce the fleet to 263 ships. While the sequestration cuts to defense have been temporarily delayed as part of the fiscal cliff deal, they are still a looming possibility and would shrink the fleet to its lowest level since 1915.

While Russia has shown improvements in its strategic SSBN fleet (two more Borey-class subs are under construction), the U.S. has fallen behind its own standards. The legal minimum for the U.S. Navy’s SSBN fleet is 12 boats. Given this fleet’s status as the most survivable leg of the U.S. nuclear triad, the requirement should not be taken lightly. However, the Obama Administration delayed the development of an Ohio-class SSBN replacement for two years, which will in turn cause the fleet to fall below 12 boats for a 14-year period. As rogue states such as Iran and North Korea get closer to having nuclear weapons and increasing ballistic missile technology, the significance of this fleet is certainly not shrinking.

The President has downplayed the size of the fleet by making oversimplified arguments that each ship’s capability makes strength in numbers less significant. Yet with Russia aggressively growing its naval capability, resulting in a greater presence on the high seas, as well as China paying increased attention to naval capability, the U.S. must continue to uphold its status as the dominant global naval power. The fiscal year 2013 National Defense Authorization Act states that “the continuous at-sea deterrence provided by a robust and modern fleet of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines is critical to maintaining nuclear deterrence and assurance and therefore is a central pillar of the national security of the United States.”

Both Congress and the President need to keep this support up to maintain America’s robust naval

Source – The Foundry

Russia, Sweden to Conduct Sub Rescue Drills

Leave a reply

Russia, Sweden to Conduct Sub Rescue Drills

Russia, Sweden to Conduct Sub Rescue Drills


Russian and Swedish naval forces will hold a joint submarine rescue exercise, a Baltic Fleet spokesman said on Saturday.

Later this year experts from the Baltic Fleet’s search and rescue division, in conjunction with Swedish Navy specialists, will rehearse a search and rescue operation for a submarine in distress, Capt. 2nd Rank Vladimir Matveyev said.

The exercise will be conducted under a preliminary agreement reached between Baltic Sea chief Vice Admiral Viktor Kravchuk and Swedish Navy commander Rear Admiral Jan Thörnqvist during their meeting in Kaliningrad this past October.

The exercise will involve the search for “a submarine in distress” lying on the seabed, the exploration of its hull with the use of remote controlled submersibles and the rescue of its crew.

Source – RIANOVOSTI

 

The Launch Of Russia’s New ‘Silent’ Sub Is Just One Step In Rebuilding Its Mighty Military

Leave a reply

Borey

Russia recently launched its near silent nuclear submarine following several years of development. 

The Borey Class submarine, dubbed Vladimir Monomakh, has a next generation nuclear reactor, can dive deeper than 1,200 feet, and carries up to 20 nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM).

Each of these “Bulava” ICBM’s can carry ten detachable MIRV warheads, what they call “re-entry vehicles,” capable of delivering 150 kiloton yields per warhead (luckily, tests of the warheads only yielded 11 “successes” out of almost 20 attempts). Which doesn’t mean they aren’t a concern, MIRV’s are what shook the Cold War to its foundation when they first appeared in the 1970s.

And the Kremlin’s not dissuaded or slowing down with plans to build eight additional Borey’s over the next year, at a very reasonable cost of about $700 million each.

The sub is just one portion of a larger effort at re-arming the Russian navy — the Defence Ministry allocated another $659 billion — for another 50 new warships as well.

Russia’s currently engaged in its largest Naval exercise “in decades,” involving four of its fleets — maneuvering within the Black Sea, Baltic Sea, and the Northern and Pacific Oceans. The exercise is an attempt to strengthen its presence in the Mediterranean.

Finally, Russia launched a new “Voronezh-DM class anti-missile radar system” along its southern borders in what some analysts believe is a response to U.S. Patriot missile systems in Turkey.

One in a string of building responses to what it sees as U.S. provocations within a sphere of the world it’s eager again to take control.

 

Borey

Source – Business Insider

 

Silent sub: Russian noiseless Borei class nuclear submarine immersed

Leave a reply

Borei class nuclear submarine Vladimir Monomah at the “Sevmash” shipyard before its launch in Severodvinsk. (RIA Novosti/A. Petrov)

Borei class nuclear submarine Vladimir Monomah at the “Sevmash” shipyard before its launch in Severodvinsk.

Super-modern, powerful and almost noiseless Russian nuclear submarine Vladimir Monomakh has been put in water to become the third ship of the Borei project. The cruiser is about to begin sea trials and mooring to become fully operational in 2013.

Vladimir Monomakh was laid down at Russia’s largest shipbuilding complex Sevmash, located on the shores of the White Sea in the town of Severodvinsk in northern Russia on March 19, 2006 – the 100th anniversary of the Russian submarine fleet.

Borei-class submarine

Length: 170 m
Beam: 13.5 m
Draught: 10 m
Test depth: 450 m
Displacement:
14,720 tons surfaced
24,000 tons submerged
Speed: 29 knots (54 km/h)
Complement: 107 (55 officers)
Armament: 16-20 × Bulava SLBMs
6 × 533 mm torpedo tubes

It belongs to a class of missile strategic submarine cruisers with a new generation of nuclear reactor, which allows the submarine to dive to a depth of 480 meters. It can spend up to three months in autonomous navigation and, thanks to the latest achievements in the reduction of noise, it is almost silent compared to previous generations of submarines.

The submarine is armed with the new missile system, which has from 16 to 20 solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles Bulava (SS-NX-30 by NATO classification). The rocket is able to overcome any prospective missile defense system.

On August 27, 2011, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on a successful test of Bulava to investigate its maximum range. The missile was launched from the White Sea, flew 9,300km in just 33 minutes, and then fell in the specified area in the Pacific Ocean.

All Borei class submarines are equipped with a floating rescue chamber designed to fit in the whole crew.

Nuclear submarine (NS) "Yuri Dolgoruky" undergoing sea trials. (RIA Novosti)
Nuclear submarine (NS) “Yuri Dolgoruky” undergoing sea trials. 

The Borei family

The first and head submarine of Borei class, Yury Dolgoruky, has already completed the test program and is to be officially adopted by the Russian Navy on Sunday. Construction of the missile carrier is approximately estimated at around US$770 million, while other Borei class submarines are believed to cost less.

“The hoisting of the flag and the signing of the acceptance act is to be adopted at the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk on Sunday, December 30,” the Rubin design bureau that designed the submarine said in a statement on Saturday.

Another missile cruiser of this project, the Aleksandr Nevsky, is undergoing tests, according to Borisov. While a fourth, more advanced submarine, the Knyaz Vladimir, with enhanced technical characteristics and increased ammunition is currently being built.

Over the next eight years Russia plans to have built 10 Borei class submarines altogether, according to the state armaments program of 2011-2020. All Borei class submarines are believed to provide a basis of naval strategic nuclear forces of Russia in the coming decades.

The nuclear submarine (NS) "Yuri Dolgoruky" in the area of the JSC "Sevmash". (RIA Novosti)
The nuclear submarine (NS) “Yuri Dolgoruky” in the area of the JSC “Sevmash”. (RIA Novosti)
Source – RT dot Com

Russia builds deep-sea research submarine

3 Replies

Construction of a nuclear-powered deep-sea research submarine has started in Russia. The sub will also be used in search and rescue operations.

Oscar-class submarine

An Oscar-class submarine, on which the design of the new submarine is based.

Designed by the St Petersburg-based Rubin Central Design Bureau, the submarine – dubbed ‘Project 09852’ – is based on the 949A Oscar-class naval submarine. It will be used to conduct multi-purpose research in remote areas of the oceans and to take part in search and rescue operations. The vessel will carry smaller rescue submersibles. In addition, the new submarine will be employed in the installation of subsea equipment and inspections; testing new types of scientific and research equipment; and monitoring transport routes.A ceremony was held at the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk in northwestern Russia on 20 December to mark the start of construction of the vessel. It was attended by the commander of the Russian Navy, Admiral Viktor Chirkov and Sevmash general director Mikhail Budnichenko.

The expected completion date of the submarine was not disclosed.

The Sevmash shipyard’s main activity is the construction of ships and submarines for the Russian Navy. It is the only shipyard in Russia producing nuclear-powered submarines.

Source – WNN