Russian Sub to Feature Advanced Quiet Propulsion by 2016

Russia’s latest generation attack submarine will be fitted with an advanced ultra-quiet propulsion system within the next three years, the country’s naval commander said Thursday.
 

Admiral Viktor Chirkov said that the first Lada-class attack submarine will be equipped with the air-independent system by 2016, to increase both its range and stealth.
 

The only operational Lada-class submarine, the Sankt Peterburg, entered into service four years ago after more than a decade of construction and sea trials.
 

The navy briefly suspended production of the vessels in 2012, pending design changes.
 

The new propulsion system is being developed at the northern Sevmash shipyard, the country’s largest.

Air-independent power plants offer significant advantages over diesel-electric submarines, which must surface regularly to recharge their batteries, and nuclear submarines, which must continually run noisy pumps to cool their reactors.
 

 Submarines with such systems can stay submerged for weeks at a time and are already in operation with a number of navies around the world. The United States has so far not employed the technology, however, in favor of the longer endurance and range of nuclear submarines.

 

 

Chirkov said that in the long-term Russia would move towards building submarines in modular fashion to produce a variety of sizes from standard parts, a common practice in the construction of surface ships. He added that future submarines would also increase their degree of automation.

 

Russia’s Newest Diesel Sub to Continue Barents Sea Trials

A Russian fourth-generation diesel-electric Sankt Peterburg submarine arrived Thursday at a Northern Fleet base to continue sea trials, a spokesman for the Western Military District said.

 

The boat will undergo a series of comprehensive trials, including deep water tests in the Barents Sea, Captain First Rank Vadim Serga said.

 

Construction of the Sankt Peterburg, the lead ship of the Project 677 Lada-class of submarines, began in December 1997. It was introduced into the Navy for trial operations in April 2010.

 

Russian daily Izvestia in November 2011 cited navy commanders saying the navy rejected the craft for service after finding fault with various aspects of the boat, including the sonar, the command and control system, and the torpedo. Construction of the class was frozen pending a major redesign.

 

The navy announced last July that construction of the Lada class was set to resume. It also said work would commence on two further Lada-class craft: Kronshtadt and Sevastopol.

 

The submarine, which carries six 533-mm torpedo launchers and can fire cruise missiles, is designed to defend naval bases, coastal waters and sea communication lines. It can be effectively employed against both surface ships and submarines.

 

Russia reportedly plans to complete four to six Lada-class submarines by 2015 and eventually build up a fleet of eight.