Next Friday, 18 December, the seventh class submarine Borei- Progetto955 / A, "Imperator Aleksandr III", will officially enter production. The penultimate boat of the new Russian strategic submarine class will be built at the Severodvinsk shipyard.
The first three Borei-955 project, I am the "Yury Dolgoruky" K535 who joined the Northern Fleet in January of the 2013, followed by the K-550 "Aleksandr Nevskij" at the end of December of the same year. The "Vladimir Monomakh" K-551 entered service in the 2014. The fourth Borei, the "Knyaz Vladimir" (Project 955 / A) has been under construction since July 2012 at the Sevmash shipyard in northern Russia. The construction of the fifth nuclear-powered submarine "Knyaz Oleg" began in July last year. Work on the "Generalissimus Suvorov" began two weeks ago. Next week the seventh will officially start production Borei baptized "Imperator Aleksandr III". The last of the class, the "Knyaz Pozharskiy", should be started in December next year. Despite the rumors, there are no confirmations on two other possible submarines.
Fourth generation class submarines Borei will involve the backbone of the strategic nuclear deterrent of the Russian Navy. They will replace the class submarines Typhoon, Delta-3 e Delta-4. Within the 2020, the Russian Navy plans to operate a total of eight class ballistic submarines Borei: three 955 and five 955-A. Considering the structural changes, it would not be a mistake to define the 955-A submarines as a class Borei-II.
Designed on a hydrodynamic hull designed to reduce noise from broadband, the class Borei it is the first in the Russian navy to use a pump-jet propulsion. Submarines Borei they are long 170 meters, with a diameter of 13 meters and a maximum immersion speed of 46 kilometers per hour conferred by the OK-650 nuclear reactor. The operational depth is attested on the 380 meters (maximum test occurred at 450 meters). To date the whole class cannot yet enter into deterrent service because it does not have the armament to do it. Every Borei it should carry from sixteen to twenty "Bulava" missiles (955A only), each of which has from six to ten Mirv warheads. The Russians have optimism for the "Bulava" missiles and the class submarines Borei, which is responsible for nuclear deterrence at least up to 2050 (after the abandonment of studies on the missile R-39UTTH Bark). Trial launches will be completed by the end of the year. The missiles will be launched from the submarines of the North and Pacific Fleet.
The "Bulava" three-stage missile, codenamed Nato SS-N-30 Mace, is the naval version of the most advanced Russian ballistic missile, the SS-27 Topol-M. It can also be launched in motion. It carries up to 10 Mirv warheads, can hit targets up to eight thousand kilometers away and is designed to exclusively equip class nuclear submarines Borei (changes on Typhoon were deemed too expensive). Despite numerous failures due to manufacturing defects, the Russian army claims that there is no alternative to the "Bulava". Due to the failure during the tests of the new intercontinental missiles "Bulava", i Borei they are not yet able to carry out their primary task, namely nuclear deterrence.
Each Bulava missile (along 12,1 meters, 2,1 meter diameter and heavy 36,8 tons) is armed with 6-10 thermonuclear warheads for 96-196 submarine tested. The possible coverage of sensitive targets, considering the range of eight thousand kilometers, could be the Barents Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk. If the Russians launched from these areas, they could hit any point in the continental United States. The first strategic patrols will be carried out along the southern latitudes to cover possible targets. The first Borei, the "Yury Dolgoruky" K535, cost the Russian government slightly less than 720 million dollars, including research and development chapters.
(photo: MoD Russian Federation)
