Like other military equipment, world submarines are historically divided by generation years. Not only six decades have passed from the Nautilus and the Lenin Komsomol to the modern missile-carrying multipurpose low-noise Sea Wolves and Boreevs, during which four generations of submarines have been replaced. The Severodvinsk (K-560) of Project 885 Yasen, a fourth-generation nuclear power submarine, has already entered the arsenal of the Russian Navy. Three more similar ships were laid (Kazan, Novosibirsk, and Krasnoyarsk), and three more are in line. By the end of the decade, they are likely to be at least ten. A new nuclear submarine came off the slipway; photos depicting this event were published by the media around the world, sometimes with friendly comments, but more often as an illustration of Russia's growing military activity. Perhaps this opinion is justified, and our country, arming itself, shows aggressive intentions? Everything is known in comparison, for example, with the values ​​of military budgets and the composition of fleets.
Targets and goals
The current situation in the world, despite the lack of ideological confrontation, has escalated to a "hot" level, comparable to the pre-war expectation of the period of the Caribbean crisis. The independent policy pursued by the Russian leadership in defending the country's geopolitical interests causes irritation of “Western friends”. On the example of some states torn by internal conflicts aggravated by a completely destroyed economy, one can judge the intentions and desires of external forces to take any measures, including direct military intervention, to achieve their goals. The preliminary phase of such aggressive actions is diplomatic pressure, accompanied by threats of the use of force. The US military budget is huge, it is confidently approaching an astronomical and unprecedented level of $ 700 billion. The Russian Federation cannot spend so much money on defense, so it costs less, reacting asymmetrically to threats. The submarines of the Ash project are an example of a strategic approach, according to which quite acceptable parity is achieved without financial overvoltage. Although arguing that they are cheap is also impossible.
Fourth generation story
The general appearance of the fourth-generation nuclear submarines, by and large, was formed at the end of the seventies. At that time, the confrontation between the two superpowers was not masked by talk about the benefits of democracy, but was quite frank in the form of an irreconcilable conflict between the two political and economic systems. The main naval weapons of the United States were aircraft carriers, personifying the entire military power of the West. The second "sword" that threatened the Soviet Union, were considered nuclear submarines. In connection with these two troubling circumstances, a nuclear submarine of the last generation, in repelling possible aggression, could theoretically fulfill two main tasks: the fight against heavy aircraft-carrying ships escorted by escorts and the destruction of enemy submarines. One more important function can be added: a guaranteed retaliatory strike. The USSR made the first commitment not to use nuclear weapons . It was planned to create another type of submarine, universal, also called multipurpose. Submarines of project 885 “Ash”, embodied in metal after the collapse of the USSR, in the 21st century, belong to just such. The political system in the country has changed. The likely opponent has remained the same.
Unification and Universalization
Since the 1950s, the Malachite Design Bureau in the USSR has been developing the latest submarines with a nuclear power plant. A new submarine was developed here in Leningrad. The equipment of the fourth generation differs not only in the year of release of engineering documentation. Many innovative ideas have been applied, they are also conceptual in nature, and relate to individual technical features. The Soviet Navy exploited many submarine projects, which made it difficult to maintain them, train crews, repair, and even manufacture itself. A completely logical idea arose to unify the design of submarines as much as possible so that it could fulfill a number of tasks previously available only to specialized ships, or, at least on the basis of a single model, be able to create units for various purposes. Such an atomic submarine was cheaper (people tried to save money in the USSR as well), and crew training was simplified.
One and a half buildings - how is it?
A conventional submarine, nuclear or diesel, built according to the classical layout, consists of a strong hull containing everything necessary for the performance of combat missions, and a light shell covering the ballast tanks. There are, of course, multihull submarines (the Shark, for example), but they are very large and expensive, so their use is highly specialized, and the task was precisely to create a multi-purpose ship. According to the original scheme, the “Ash” project was built. The submarine has one and a half hulls. What does it mean? Of course, you can’t cut a sturdy hull, it contains all the weapons, mechanisms and machines, control devices, a nuclear reactor, and much more, including the crew. But with the outer shell, engineers from the Design Bureau "Malachite" acted boldly. They covered only the bow of the ship, not counting the superstructure above the missile silos. The front tank of the main ballast is located in the inter-hull space, ten more are distributed as follows: 5 CDBs are located in the seventh compartment and 4 (plus an additional one, designed for quick immersion) in the fifth, missile. Tanks filled with air or water occupy the annular space, bordering equipment and weapons. But the shipbuilders were not limited to the layout features.
Reactor
In the sixth compartment is the "heart" of the ship, an atomic reactor. It is here that a huge amount of thermal energy is released, heating the steam, rotating the turbine. Submarines of the Ash project are equipped with a special power plant built according to the integrated monoblock scheme. Due to this, all the heat generated in the primary circuit (directly in contact with the heat-generating elements) is localized, and long pipelines need not be run anywhere. The installation is compact, its power is two hundred megawatts, and it is less "phonite" (this is a matter of stealth). The reactor is very reliable, this requirement is dictated by difficult access to its zones, the period of guaranteed operation is set by a time of at least thirty years.
Bay Compartments
Submarines of the Ash class have a sturdy hull, divided into compartments, this does not differ from all others. There are nine of them, here is a list of them:
1st - CCP. In addition to the central command post, a rescue chamber is located here, in which, if necessary, the ship can leave the crew, sonar post and exit to the cabin. Torpedo tubes, unlike previous projects, are located behind this compartment, giving way to the main "eyes" and "ears" of the ship - an antenna that receives even the weakest signals and provides comprehensive information about the environment. Submarines of project 885 Ash are the most sighted ships of their class.
2nd — torpedo, from here are loaded TA, underwater shells themselves, as well as auxiliary equipment and electric drives of external retractable devices.
3rd, four-deck, saturated with instruments, general ship equipment (generators, coolers, ballast pumps, etc.)
4th — household, here are the crew’s cabins and cabins, the cabin-company, canteens, a first-aid post and other rooms that provide normal conditions during long long trips.
The 5th compartment is called the missile. In addition to the formidable weapons, as indicated above, there are also ballast tanks.
6th - reactor, in addition to the power plant, is equipped with an auxiliary tank to compensate for the starting impulse.
The 7th compartment is called the turbine. This is the place where the hot steam gives off its energy to the propeller shaft. There are also 5 Central City Hospital located here.
In the 8th, mechanical equipment is concentrated, and there is also a rescue hatch.
The 9th compartment is called the tiller. Translated from the marine language, this means that here the horizontal and vertical rudders are controlled by means of hydraulic drives.
Stealth
The nuclear submarine Ash was designed in such a way that its detection was problematic. Typically, the presence of a submarine in any zone of the oceans is “calculated” according to several characteristics: the noise of the propellers and mechanisms, the radiological trail, heat dissipation, and also visually through transparent layers of water. Unmasks the ship and the magnetic field created by the metal. In order to reduce the visibility and danger of detonating a mine with a detonator that responds to changes in static fields, ships in ports and roads are subjected to a demagnetization procedure. The nuclear submarine of the project 885 is made of a special steel alloy, which is close in properties to paramagnets. Noise is minimized, they were reduced by 15 decibels only due to the revolutionary layout of the power system. A special sound-absorbing coating also made the boat “quiet”. Other solutions to reduce visibility have been applied. There is only one propeller , it is made by special technology that ensures low noise.
Armaments
Now about the main thing, about what types of weapons the Ash-tree can use if necessary. The submarine has on board eight silo-type launchers for the Onyx. Since the ship is versatile, they can be replaced with 3M54 (Turquoise) or Caliber 3M14. Each launcher can launch 4 cruise missiles. The complex of armaments is controlled by the 3P-14P system. Missiles can hit ground and surface targets, passing along a flat trajectory, which complicates their detection and missile defense. In their design, the principle of the “wolf pack” is implemented, according to which interface communication is established between flying projectiles at the moment of entering the combat course. The missile, which is higher than others, takes on the role of a leader, coordinating the actions of the entire group. In the event of its defeat by means of enemy missile defense, the leadership function is automatically transferred to another unit. Fighting such a salvo of cruise missiles is almost impossible. For this, "Ash" received the gloomy nickname "Killer Aircraft Carriers."
There are ten torpedo tubes, all of them located on the sides of the second compartment immediately behind the central command post. Ammunition - 30 "Physicists-1" (caliber 533).
If necessary, the ship can set mines, carry out sonar countermeasures (for this there are REPS-324 “Barriers”) and carry out other measures that complicate the operational activity of hostile naval forces.
General characteristics
Not all that is on the ship, you can get information from open sources. Experts are left to judge by their appearance what this submarine is. The photos published in the media allow us to conclude about the size, they are really considerable: the length is 140 meters. Underwater displacement - almost 14 thousand tons. Speed ​​options that this submarine boasts are also available. Characteristics, as usual, differ depending on the degree of submersion of the hull; under water, the ship moves faster (31 knots), and when it ascends it develops 16 knots. The crew consists of 32 officers and 90 sailors and foremen. All of them, in case of danger and the impossibility of a struggle for survival, can leave the boat in a detachable rescue capsule located in the bow. The abundance of retractable antenna systems towering above the cabin is striking. They provide reliable communication with the command and other ships. Information is available on the availability of special equipment on the boat that creates an acoustic information channel that is protected from interception. There is no detailed information on how it works.
The claimed autonomy is one hundred days, but in reality, apparently, it can be more.
Technology and Cost
The fact that ships belong to the same project does not mean their complete identity. Each new unit has certain advantages over the previous one due to improved technologies and the use of more modern types of equipment and weapons. Ships are not built as fast as some other types of equipment, especially such complex ones as the submarine of the Ash project. The submarine Severodvinsk, which was adopted by the Navy last year, cost the treasury 47 billion rubles. “Kazan” will cost the same amount, but it is already known that the contours of this ship are improved, equipment is modernized, and noise is even lower. In addition, the production of all components and components of submarines is now transferred to the territory of the Russian Federation, which reduces the risk of leakage of classified information about their device and increases independence from foreign suppliers. There is reason to believe that the cost of each subsequent unit will decrease as the technological cycle improves. This always happens, but this phenomenon has another side. At the time of achieving the highest perfection, any technology is already outdated, and new developments are already ready for implementation, and this circle repeats endlessly. No matter how successful the 885 Ash project, Russian design bureaus probably already have other ideas. In a few years, they will surely create a new submarine, the characteristics of which will be even better.