Project 885 “Yasen” nuclear submarine

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This is a unified multipurpose attack weapons carrying submarine, which is regarded as future basis for the submarine forces.

Project 885 has been developed since 1980ies as a fourth generation multipurpose low-noise submarine — the next to the Project 971 «Schuka-B». The brand-new «Onyx» anti-ship missile system appeared in the late 1980ies but the military were still more skeptical about manufacturing heavy cruise missile carrying submarine, such as Project 949. They were of the same opinion about any other highly specialized projects, which were numerous in the 80-ies.

At the same time, they demanded equipping the boat with a powerful sonar system that required the sub to be large due to its conformal antennas size.

As a result, the Project 885 became a large full-range submarine capable of performing all functions of the multipurpose attack submarine but herein carrying cruise missiles («Onyx» SASCM (supersonic anti-ship cruise missile) and «Granat» ASM). The project witnessed the USSR dissolution in that technical condition.

The «Severodvinsk» leading ship was laid in 1993 by inertia. It was then planned to put it into service with the Navy by 1998, the latest, but all went a bit wrong. As a result, the boat was floated out just in 2010.

The second submarine, «Kazan», was laid in 2009 and is now being developed upon the upgraded Project 885 M (which totally excludes foreign equipment supplies). They started producing the third submarine, «Novosibirsk», in July of 2013; the fourth («Krasnoyarsk») in summer of 2014. The total number of submarines the Navy intends to purchase by 2020 is seven (the initial number was 10 and later reduced to 8). Due to the military-political escalation, that number is likely to increase.

The submarine has partial double hull design. The surface displacement is 8600 t; the underwater displacement is 13800 t. It is powered by nuclear plant with new-type water-cooled and moderated reactor. The top surface speed is 16 knots; the underwater speed is 31 knots. Thanks to automation means, the crew numbers just 85.

As was mentioned, when developing the submarine they put an emphasis on noise reduction. Machines and mechanisms foundations are equipped with piezoelectric active noise control systems.

The MGK-600 «Irtysh-Amphora» sonar system, installed as well on the Project 955 «Borey» missile-carriers, is eyes and ears of the submarine. The system is equipped with a large spherical array (the «Amphora», itself) taking the whole of the forebody and with side conformal arrays of large area. Due to this fact, torpedo launchers, typically placed in the forebody, were moved to the middle body.

The armament includes ten 533 mm torpedo launchers, which can fire torpedoes, «Granat» cruise missiles as well as anti-submarine missiles. However, the «main caliber» of the boat is the vertical launcher of the all-purpose firing system in the middle body (two sets by four modules, each of four missile container-launchers). The ammunition allowance is: the 32 P-800 «Onyx» anti-ship missiles (effective range is up to 300 km) or «Kalibr (Caliber)» complex cruise missiles (the 3M54 supersonic missiles or the 3M14 long range missiles (up to 2600 km range of fire), which are similar in function to the «Tomahawk»).

The Project 885 submarines are now considered a sole substitution of all the multi-purpose submarines of the Russian fleet (projects 671 RTMK, 971, 945/945A and 949/949A).