• Forum
• SITREP

• Military

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space
• Public Eye

Further Reading

Special-Designation Submarines
[Podvodnaya Lodkae Spetsial'nogo Naznacheniya - PLSN]

As of 2009 the Russian Navy had at least seven "Special-Designation Submarines" [Podvodnaya Lodkae Spetsial'nogo Naznacheniya] designed for testing of new technologies and weaponry. The term "Spetsial'nogo Naznacheniya" [aka Spetsnaz] is also rendered as Special Purpose, Specialised Designation, Special Operations, or Special Forces. Some but not all of the Spetsial'nogo Naznacheniya submarines support special operations, others are deeper submergence "ocean engineering", a few are engineering test programs, while the exact purpose of some remains obscure.

The Russian Navy does not seem to have a single standard designation for this diverse collection of submarines. Some designations include Large Test submarine [Bolshaya Opytovaya Podvodnaya Lodka] for the Project 20120 Sarov Experimental Submarine (Auxiliary submarine (SSA(N)) and Small nuclear-powered submarines [Malaya Atomnaya Podvodnaya Lodka] for the Project 1083 "Paltus" (Turbot).

The "Dronovskiye" Special Purpose Submarine Unit is one of the most classified units of the Defense Ministry. This unit is based in one of the bays along the coastline of one of the northern seas, not far from the home station of one of the Russian fleets. Actually, this unit is not subordinated to the fleet, but rather is subordinated directly to one of the main directorates of the General Staff. The name of this unit is not known to very many in the fleet. They know that it has special-purpose nuclear submarines.

Small Submarine - Malaya Podvodnaya Lodka

Test submarine - Opytovaya Podvodnaya Lodka

Minisumbarine Carriers

Nomenclature Ambiguity

There is fairly general confusion as to the allocation of the Project 09774 and Project 09780 numbers. Some sources report that Project 09780 is K-403 "Kazan", the Yankee Big Nose ("Akson-2") [deepstorm has never heard of Yankee Big Nose]. Wikipedia favors this theory assigning Project 09774 to both Yankee Pod and Yankee Stretch. This seems improbable, since both Yankee Pod ("Akson-1") Yankee Big Nose ("Akson-2") are the same sonar trials ship, K-403 "Kazan", wheras Yankee Stretch is K-411 "Orenburg", a mini-submarine mother ship. The larger number of more authoritative sources support the 09774 Yankee Stretch and 09780 Yankee Pod nomenclature.

Project 09774 Delta IV Stretch

The rebuild of K-64 Delta IV to the Project 09774 standard began in 1999. This entailed the elimination of the missile launch tubes and the insertion of an additional section from KS-411 (Yankee Stretch) with a length of about 43 meters [140 feet], which significantly increased the size of the unit to approximately 175 meters [about 570 feet]. The space gained would be used for the installation of research equipment, as well as a cabin and housing for researchers. The entire structure was adapted to carry a Paltus project 1083.1 miniature underwater rescue vehicles. BS-64 was slated to return to service in 2010. The ship would be based at Olenya Bay, replacing KS-411 as mothership for the small research submarines.

Project 667AN / Project 978.0 Yankee Stretch
Project 09780 Yankee Stretch class

Project 09780 Yankee-Stretch was carrier of small subs, without weapon. The submarine K-411 "Orenburg" is the sole Yankee Stretch (Project 09780) was a converted 'Yankee' class SSBN, with the missile compartment replaced by an extended hull section. After the signing of the SALT I treaty and the resulting arms reductions, it was decided to renovate the ship to support micro submarines. The submarine was supplied to MP "Asterisk» in October 1983, and completed conversion in June 1990. In 1991 he was admitted to the Navy. In 1999 the submarine received the patronage of the Government of Orenburg region.

The Yankee Stretch (Orienburg) had a lengthened central section extending the hull which is used for underwater research. It served as a "mothership" for "Paltus"-class mini-submarines. It is fully 162.5 m (530 feet) in length, making it the largest of the "Yankee" conversions. Like the Yankee Pod, it lacked missile armament. Its mission was believed to be a combination of oceanographic research, search and rescue, and underwater intelligence-gathering. It had substantially increased cruising capacity, it was better stocked and offered improved living conditions for researchers. Alterations were done by MP Asterisk in cooperation with "Sevmaspredpriâtie", which produced this unit. Not a combatant submarine, the classification is SMPL/AS; SMPL refers to Sverkhmalaya Podvodnavy Lodka (Super-Small Submarine), the AS probably refers to Agenturnaya Spetsial'nogo (Spetsial'nogo is short for Special Designation, while Agenturnaya can be translated as undercover, secret, or more literally agent). The builders were Sevmashpredpriyatiye, Severodvinshk.

The Yankee Stretch was based in the Northern Fleet at Olenya Guba, and as of 2005 was expected to decommission soon. This submarine was decommissinoed at the enterprise "Asterisk" on 17-18 January 2009.

Displacement: 11,600 tons submerged Dimensions: 162.5 x 12 x 9 meters/524.9 x 39.4 x 29.5 feet Propulsion: Steam turbines, 2 VM-4/2 reactors, 2 shafts, 52,000 shp, 28 knots Crew: approx. 110 Sonar: unknown Armament: believed none Name Year FLT Homeport Notes KS-411 1970/90 NOR BS-136 (ex K-129) 1994-2002 - conversion to special purpose submarine Project 09786 (carrier of mini-submarine). Active as 2008.

Project 667AK "Akson-1" Yankee-Pod
Project 09774 "Akson-2" Yankee Big Nose

After SALT agreements most submarines were modernized. As well as the Yankee Notch SSN and inactive Yankee SSGN conversions, two other hulls have been converted for research and development roles. The Yankee SSAN (Kazan) formerly known as the Yankee Pod was used for sonar trials (Project Akson-1) from 1983. The prototype Pod towed array was fitted at the stern in 1984 but after refit in 1993-94 the submarine emerged in 1995 without the Pod but with a bulbous bow sonar (Project Akson-2) which is likely to be the prototype for the Severodvinsk (Project 885).

Projects 667AK "Akson-1" Yankee-Pod and 09780 "Akson-2" Yankee-Pod were submarines for new sonar suites and data processing eqiupment testing, they also had no armament. As well as the Yankee Notch SSN and inactive Yankee SSGN conversions, two other hulls have been converted for research and development roles. The Yankee SSAN (Kazan) formerly known as the Yankee Pod was used for sonar trials (Project Akson-1) from 1983. The prototype Pod towed array was fitted at the stern in 1984 but after refit in 1993-94 the submarine emerged in 1995 without the Pod but with a bulbous bow sonar (Project Akson-2) which is likely to be the prototype for the Severodvinsk (Project 885).

403-Kazan (manufacturer's number 450 is a Soviet and Russian 2nd generation submarine, and the first nuclear submarine, bearing the name of the capital Tatarstan. The name Kazan was subsequently awarded the construction of submarine project project 885 "Ash". Originally built between 1969-1971 as a 667 "Yankee class submarine», it was converted and used for testing of the new generations of APL hydroacoustic systems. In 1983 project 667AK "Axon-1 was completed for SJSC for 3rd generation APL, and in 1996 Project 09780 Axon-2 - for the 4th generation.

The new Irtysh-Amfora massive spherical bow array was first tested on Akson-2. The Irtysh-Amfora bow sonar array was expected to resemble the array of the US BQQ-2, in which a spherical active/passive array is flanked by passive receiving hydrophone arrays, but a drawing of the ship published in 1996 showed a standard Russian-style cylindrical bow array (the system dubbed Skat-3) with the torpedo tubes above it. Resource constraints may have forced Russia to abandon the more complex spherical array, which is installed in Yankee Big-Nose trials submarine Kazan (KS-403). Locating a spherical sonar array at the bow requires the torpedo tubes to be relocated further aft, angled outboard, as in U.S. submarine designs since the late 1950s; if the design has been altered to employ a cylindrical array, however, then the tubes will likely have been relocated at the bow.

The Yankee SSAN was based in the Northern Fleet at Yagri Island, and as of 2005 was expected to decommission soon. Disposal of the submarine was conducted at the Zvezda ["Asterisk" or Star] shipyard. In April 2009 the submarine unloaded spent nuclear fuel and prepared for shipment to Mayak Snezhinsk. On 6 October 2009 at 17: 35 CET the disassembly of sonar set using gas cutting ignited insulation materials. Due to the high volume of combustible insulation materials on pockets of fire was broke out at 23:30. Cabin boats arrived in Kazan and was established as a Memorial. The secion length is 22 metres, height of 6 meters, width 3.5 m, weight approximately 70 tons. In addition to the the cockpit, a section equipped with torpedoes was taken out and stationed in Zelenopodolsk.

http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?t=55466&page=6 After SALT agreements most Yankee submarines were modernized. 6 submarines were fitted with 32 RK-55 Granat (SS-N-21 Sampson) land attack cruise missiles (Project 667AT "Grusha" Yankee-Notch SSGN). After SALT agreements most Yankee submarines were modernized. Project 667M "Andromeda" Yankee-Sidecar was single sub for testing Meteorit-M (SS-N-24 Scorpion) cruise missiles. The system was canceled and sub returned to navy only with torpedo armament. For centuries, man attempted to descend into the oceans for scientific observation, salvage and rescue operations, animal and mineral harvesting, and attacking enemy ships in times of war. Often, such activities require vessels capable of submerging to great depths. Thus, the foremost concern in designing and fabricating the hull of a deep submergence vessel is that the hull be strong enough to resist the large crushing forces resulting from hydrostatic pressure. For this reason, submarines have been typically constructed of welded steel that is several inches thick.

However, there are many disadvantages of such construction. The thickness of the hull makes rolling and welding operations extremely difficult. Also, the resulting weight of the welded steel structure is immense and it impacts buoyancy and maneuverability. Furthermore, the substantially tubular, elongated structure of a typical submarine hull is impossible to shape without specialized components.

The high strength-to-weight ratio and outstanding seawater corrosion resistance of titanium alloys have long been recognized and have marked titanium as an important structural material in future ocean systems. A specific application in which alloy titanium has several potential advantages over high-strength steels is in the construction of pressure hulls for deep submergence vehicles. Prior to utilizing alloy titanium for this application, however, definite advances must be made in fabrication technology to provide more economical procedures for joining titanium into structural components. Specific factors which control the economics of joining titanium alloys include the need for extreme cleanliness and careful gas shielding to prevent harmful contamination during fusion welding, the high cost of available weld filler materials (approximately $40 per pound), and the unavailability of an electrode for shielded-metal-arc welding (SMAW).

The earliest referenced practice of diving occuring in the Iliad. Pearl and sponge diving and salvage operations have been engaged in since Greek and Roman times. Early divers were sometimes provided with devices for drawing air from above the water such as through a tube, one end of which would be carried in the mouth while the other end was made to float on the surface. In 17th century England, rudamentary diving bells were developed. When a container is immersed in water, with its opening pointing downward, the volume of air enclosed in it diminishes in proportion to its depth in the water, the air pressure being balanced by the pressure of the water at its own level. If, however, air is compressed in a container at a pressure slightly above the already existing pressure, the level of the water inside will drop until the air escapes from the lower rim of the vessel.

Greater mobility for the submerged diver has been provided in more recent times with the advent of the self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (scuba), wherein tanks of compressed air are worn on the diver's back and, when combined with a diving mask, a weighted belt and a means of propulsion, enabled men to swim and explore under water with greater freedom. Apparatus designed by J. Y. Costeau and E. A. Ghenan which provide a demand valve regulator for supplying air to the diver only on inhalation, have come into common usage. The scuba diver, however, has a limited diving time of approximately one hour, the duration of which depends on the average depth of his dive, and this limits the distances over which he can explore while submerged.

The bathyscaph first constructed by Piccard and Cosyns in 1948, was a sealed steel cabin equipped with Plexiglas observation protholes, and was a self-contained submarine vessel equipped with its own means of propulsion. The principal application of a bathyscaph is for relatively deep diving at depth in excess of 1,000 feet. The devices of the above-mentioned type however present some disadvantages involving either the need for embarking an operating and/or observation crew or of working in blind conditions. In the case of a manned device, said crew incurs great risks due, in particular, to the high compressive forces exerted by the hydrostatic pressure prevailing in the medium in which the device is being operated, and also to the explosion hazards when it is operated in the vicinity of explosive charges (mines or others). In the absence of a crew, the device maneuvers are not highly dependable and the work done is often of poor quality.

A submarine at shallow depths derive their buoyancy from the leaktight seal of the hull and which, for great depths, use buoyancy products resistant to very high pressures, to constitute a "wet submarine". This vehicle comprises, in addition to the resistant sealed capsule in which the passengers are housed if the vehicle is manned, a structure forming a tubular or other form of framework connecting the various weighty parts to one another. The buoyancy product in the form of blocks of small or moderate dimensions is generally fixed to this framework. These wet submarines may or may not comprise a hydrodynamic hull which, if provided, is in the form of a thin hull, but the hull does not, under any circumstances, coincide with the outer surface of the buoyancy product.

Common Russian submarine names include Beluga (white sturgeon) Losos (salmon) Sudak (perch).

Soviet and Russian Submarines

For two decades from the late 1940s the U.S. Navy contemplated a submarine threat in which, in wartime, Soviet submarines would transit through Western ASW barriers" en route to attack Allied convoys in the North Atlantic, and then return through those same barriers to rearm and refuel at their Arctic bases. These barriers - composed of maritime patrol aircraft and hunter-killer submarines guided or cued by the seafloor Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS) - would sink Soviet submarines as they transited, both going to sea and returning to their bases.2 Also, when attacking Allied convoys, the Soviet submarines would be subjected to the ASW efforts of the convoy escorts.

In reality, by the mid-1950s the Soviets had discarded any intention of waging an anti-shipping campaign in a new Battle of the Atlantic. The U.S. Navy's development of a carrier-based nuclear strike capability in the early 1950s and the deployment of Polaris missile submarines in the early 1960s had led to defense against nuclear strikes from the sea becoming the Soviet Navy's highest priority mission.

The whole history of submarine building is first and foremost, the problem of power supply in a submerged position. Aftermuscle power an electric motor was a revolutionary step, but the submarine is still diving remained rather than underwater. Single engine in the form of diesel for several reasons and could not be an alternative to traditional elektrodvizheniyu, and only buildng a nuclear power plant finally allowed the submarine to be truly underwater.

Nuclear submarines were the determinant factor of the Soviet and then Russian Navy marine power. Their design and construction are unique pages in the history of the world's shipbuilding. Starting 1955, when the construction of the first Soviet nuclear submarine started, over 250 nuclear submarines were built, more than in the rest of the world combined.

In contrast to other countries, the USSR and Russia built three and not two classes of nuclear submarines - strategic armed with ballistic missiles, multipurpose submarines armed with short range missiles and torpedoes, and attack submarines armed with long and middle range cruise missiles. The later were intended to be deployed againsted aircraft carrier groups of the potential enemy and did not have analogues in foreign navies.

CKBMT "Rubin", SPMBM "Malakhit" in Leningrad and CKB "Lazurit" in Gorkiy designed Soviet nuclear submarines. Building of the ships was undertaken at shipyards in Severodvinsk, Komsomolsk-upon-Amur, Leningrad and Gorkiy. At present, the building of nucear submarines is done only at "Seveniy Mashinostroitelniy Zavod" (Northern Machine Building Plant) in Severodvinsk.

The Soviet and Russian nuclear submarines are divided into four generations according to their construction and combat capabilities. The most characteristic features of the first generation submarines (projects 627, 645, 658, 659, 675) are two shaft two reactors energy generator. The benefits of this construction are the high speed and reliability of energy system due to doubling of all systems. The handicap of the first generation submarines - high level of noise and fire hazard caused by the usage of chemical means for carbon-dioxide absorption. When the Project 667A/Yankee SSBNs went to sea in the late 1960s, the Soviet Navy was given another high-priority mission: Strategic (nuclear) strike against the United States and the protection of its own missile submarines by naval forces. But the Soviet Submarines were inferior to American ones in effectiveness of their missile armament.

The second generation of nuclear submarines (projects 667, 670, 671, 705) became a serious step forward. Since their building, the Soviet submarine building industry occupied the leading position in the world both in qualitative (especially in the areas of usage of titanium technologies, liquid metals heat carriers and automation on the submarines of project 705) and quantitative aspects (during the 70s the USSR built three times more submarines than the USA). But still, the Soviet submarines emitted more noise than the American ones.

The nuclear submarines of the third generation (projects 945, 685, 949, 971) were characterized the increased depth of dive and decrease of noise levels. The unique strategic missiles carriers of project 941, the largest submarines in the world, also belong to this generation.

At present, Russia is building the submarines of the fourth generation (projects 885, 955). In their characteristics, including noise levels, they go at par the most modern foreign analogs. But due to unsatisfactory financing, the possibility of their quick completion is rather distant.

http://glubina72m.net.ru/book/submarine1/size36.htm http://commi.narod.ru/bmc/r/viak.htm http://commi.narod.ru/bmc/ The frequently encountered designation [PL] SS-533 - "Forel [Trout]" is erroneous. http://covertshores.blogspot.com/2010/08/russian-soviet-sf-underwater-craft.html 670 Draft 629I ... mine layer. Appointment of the submarine K-113 project 629N I have not been elucidated, but some sources mention of creating a place on the basis of this boat mine layer, called the draft 629I.