RUSSIA, UKRAINE, EUROPE The Russian Yasen-M Class Submarines Examined

OE Watch Commentary: Recent Russian efforts to revitalize the military have focused on modernization and replacement of key assets. The Russian Navy in particular has come under scrutiny as in need of improvement. To that end, Russian Navy Commander, Admiral Vladimir Korolev is in the process of overseeing the building and implementation of Yasen and Yasen-M multirole nuclear submarines, which he claims “will soon be the most powerful in the Russian navy in terms of strike capacity” as reported on in the accompanying excerpt from Gazeta.ru. According to Admiral Korolev, the first Yasen class submarine, the Severodvinsk, “is already part of the Northern Fleet” and actively engaging in military exercises. The Severodvinsk took 21 years to build and certify, from the time construction began until it officially joined the Russian Navy. However, the article’s author states that subsequent submarines will not take as long to construct. The lengthy process, the author writes, was partially caused by several revisions to the project during the construction period. The author states that the new Yasen-M project submarines use updated technology and designs, including “optimized contours and further noise reduction” and abandon “the use of equipment deliveries from countries of the former USSR.” Additionally, this is the first Russian nuclear submarine to locate the torpedo tubes “behind the control room compartment, which has made it possible to place the antenna of a new sonar system on the nose tip.” The submarines are armed with torpedoes, mines, and cruise missiles. According to the article, the Yasen-M class submarines are comparable to the American Seawolf and Virginia class submarines, the French Barracuda, and the English Astute. The first of the Yasen-M class submarines, the Kazan, was launched over a year ago and will likely be adopted officially into the Russian Navy this year. The third submarine in the Yasen and Yasen-M project, the K-573 Novosibirsk, is expected to join the Navy next year with the K-571 Krasnoyarsk, the K-564 Arkhangelsk, and the Perm (no current number) to enter service by 2020. The Russian Navy hopes to add the Ulyanovsk by 2023. The submarines will enter into service in both the Northern and Pacific fleets. However, according to the article, even if all seven nuclear submarines are produced at the ambitiously declared rate, there will not be enough to supplement one Russian fleet, much less two. End OE Watch Commentary (Johnson) “Submarines of the Yasen-M project are the last word in Russian submarine manufacture. These boats are the quietest and also the most powerfully armed.”

Severodvinsk. Source: Минобороны России/Олег Кулешов Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:АПКР_”Северодвинск”.jpg, CCA By 4.0.

(continued) OE Watch | May 2018 66 RUSSIA, UKRAINE, EUROPE Continued: The Russian Yasen-M Class Submarines Examined

Source: Mikhail Khodarenok, “Практически недосягаемые: у флота появится семь Ясеней,” (Practically Unattainable: The Navy Will Have Seven Yasens),” Gazeta.ru, 19 March 2018. https://www.gazeta.ru/army/2018/03/19/11688343.shtml The contingent of Yasen and Yasen-M multirole nuclear submarines will soon be the most powerful in the Russian Navy in terms of strike capacity, Russian Navy Commander Admiral Vladimir Korolev told the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper….Russian Navy Commander Vladimir Korolev noted that the lead submarine of this project is already part of the Northern Fleet and regularly performs combat service tasks in remote areas of the world’s oceans. The Navy’s commander stressed that the construction and adoption of Yasen-M submarines into both the Northern and Pacific Fleets will be continued. The Yasen project lead submarine — the K-560 Severodvinsk, was laid down at the Severnyy machine-building enterprise on 23 December 1993. In 1996, the construction of the nuclear submarine was halted due to funding problems. Work on completion of the ship resumed only in 2004, when it was already in a finalized project… It took 21 years from when the Severodvinsk was laid down until it joined the Navy’s combat inventory. This dismal record in the practice of Russian shipbuilding is now unlikely ever to be surpassed…”The 08851 Yasen-M project differs from the basic project in respect of updated equipment, optimized contours and further noise reduction,” Aleksandr Khramchikhin, deputy director of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis, reminded Gazeta.Ru… …The third submarine, the K-573 Novosibirsk, was laid down on 26 July 2013 under the Yasen-M project 885. Commissioning is expected in 2019. The fourth submarine, the K-571 Krasnoyarsk, was laid down on 27 July 2014. The fifth submarine, the K-564 Arkhangelsk, was laid down on 19 March 2015. The sixth, the Perm, was laid down on 29 July 2016. The seventh, the Ulyanovsk, was laid down on 28 July 2017. …It is planned to hand over six Yasens by 2020 and the seventh by 2023. “However, such a number of boats will not be enough even for one division,” Aleksandr Khramchikhin believes. At the same time, it should be noted that all seven Yasens will be distributed between two fleets — the Northern and Pacific…. The Yasen-M project multirole nuclear submarines have a displacement of 13,800 tons, immersion depth of 520 meters, underwater speed 31 knots. Endurance at sea is 100 days. It has a crew of 64. The armament includes mines, 533 mm calibre torpedoes, Kalibr and Oniks cruise missiles. “For the first time in Russian shipbuilding the torpedo tubes are located not in the fore part of the ship but behind the control room compartment, which has made it possible to place the antenna of a new sonar system in the nose tip,” Konstantin Makiyenko, deputy director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, told Gazeta.Ru. Eight vertical launchers are used for missiles. The hull of the ship is made of high-strength low-magnetic steel, so the submarine can dive to 600 meters, which puts it practically out of the reach of almost all types of modern antisubmarine weapons. “Submarines of the Yasen-M project are the last word in Russian submarine manufacture. These boats are the quietest and also the most powerfully armed, “Konstantin Makiyenko stressed. According to the expert, Yasen-M submarines in the future will be able to use Tsirkon advanced hypersonic missiles. The next generation after the Yasen-M project will be the fifth- generation Khaski project submarines from the Malakhit Design Bureau that are currently in development. Analogues of the Russian-made Yasen are the American Seawolf and Virgina class multirole nuclear submarines, the French Barracuda, and the English Astute…

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OE Watch | May 2018 67