Russian nuclear sub test-launches cruise missile in Barents Sea
Military & Defense July 05, 5:23 UTC+3
The launch was carried out as part of a scheduled combat training
MURMANSK, July 5. /TASS/. Russia’s Smolensk nuclear-powered submarine has conducted a successful test launch of a cruise missile that hit the designated target in the Barents Sea, the Northern Fleet’s press service said on Wednesday.
"From the underwater position, a Granit missile was fired against a combined sea-based target at a distance of about 400 kilometers," a fleet spokesperson said. "The target was successfully hit."
The launch was carried out as part of a scheduled combat training.
Northern Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, the crew "demonstrated high professionalism and naval skills" during the launch.
The Smolensk is a Project 949A Antey-class submarine built in 1990. The submarines of this class displace 24,000 tons, have an underwater speed of 32 knots and a crew of 107. They are armed with 24 launchers of Granit cruise missiles with a range of about 500m km and six torpedo tubes
Source: tass.com
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Project 949A Antey
The Project 949A Antey, known in NATO as the Oscar II class is a successor to the previous Oscar I class. Out of 19 planned boats 11 were built at Severodvinsk. Three more boats are incomplete, however it is unlikely that these will ever be commissioned. Active Oscar II class submarines are in service with the Northern and Pacific fleets. Currently these are among the most capable Russian submarines.
The Oscar II class has a lengthened hull by some 10 m, possibly for a quieter propulsion and upgraded electronic systems, and an enlarged fin, which improves underwater maneuverability. These boats are the third largest submarines in terms of displacement and length. Only the Soviet Typhoon class and American Ohio class boats are larger. However these are still the largest attack submarines ever constructed.
These cruise missile boats were designed to attack US aircraft carrier battle groups and coastal installations.
The Project 949A Antey is a double-hulled design, which comprises an inner pressure hull and outer hydrodynamic hull. Separation between both hulls provides significant reserve of buoyancy and improved survivability against torpedoes. The outer hull has a weak magnetic signature, which prevents detection by Magnetic Anomaly Detection (MAD) systems. The reinforced sail is intended to break through the Arctic ice.
The Oscar II class SSGNs are armed with 24 P-700 Granit (NATO designation SS-N-19 Shipwreck) supersonic cruise missiles with a range of 550 km. Missile tubes are arranged in two rows with the launchers are placed between the inner and outer hulls and inclined at an angle. Missiles are launched while the submarine is submerged. A warhead of this missile weights 1 000 kg. Under the START treaty nuclear warheads of these missiles have been replaced with high explosive.
These submarines are also fitted with two 650-mm and four 533-mm torpedo tubes, capable of launching both torpedoes and anti-ship missiles. These include the SS-N-16 Stallion anti-ship missiles with a range of 50 km, carrying torpedoes, nuclear warheads or nuclear depth charges for use against surface ships or submarines.
The Oscar II class boats are fitted with a floating antenna buoy to receive satellite navigation signals, target designation data and radio messages at a great depth and under the ice.
Submarines of this class are powered by two pressurized water nuclear reactors, powering two steam turbines. These large boats are slow to dive and to maneuver, however they have a submerged speed of about 30 knots, which is sufficient to keep pace with their targets. Sea endurance is limited only by food supplies.
The famous Kursk was lost with all hands in the Barents sea in 2000. It was one of the first boats completed after the fall of the Soviet Union and was part of the Russian Northern fleet.
| K-410 | №637 | 9.12.1986 | 20.01.1990 | 22.12.1990 | from 6.04.1993 - K-410 Smolensk |
| Entered service | 1986 |
| Crew | 107 men |
| Diving depth (operational) | 500 m |
| Diving depth (maximum) | 830 m |
| Sea endurance | 120 days |
| Dimensions and displacement | |
| Length | 154 m |
| Beam | 18.2 m |
| Draught | 9 m |
| Surfaced displacement | 13 900 tons |
| Submerged displacement | 18 300 tons |
| Propulsion and speed | |
| Surfaced speed | 16 knots |
| Submerged speed | 28 knots |
| Nuclear reactors | 2 x ? |
| Steam turbines | 2 x ? |
| Armament | |
| Missiles | 24 x P-700 Granit (SS-N-19 Shipwreck) cruise missiles |
| Torpedoes | 2 x 650-mm and 4 x 533-mm torpedo tubes for torpedoes and anti-ship missiles |
SS-N-19/3K45 Shipwreck (Granit)
In 1969, work began on a successor to the P-500, which would emerge as the “P-700 Granit” (NATO “SS-N-19 Shipwreck”). The concept was that the P-700 would be guided to its target directly from the satellite network after a mass underwater launch from a group of OSCAR I and OSCAR II submarines, each with 24 missiles, working in conjunction with Tu-22M antiship bombers. The submarines would receive initial targeting coordinates from a longwave communications link to ground bases, launch from a range of about 500 kilometers (310 miles) at a depth of about 30 meters (100 feet), and then depart at high speed. Five submarines launching together could fire 120 missiles, overwhelming carrier group defenses and giving a high probability of “kills” even with conventional warheads.
The guidance and attack scheme used by the P-700 is very similar to that used by the P-500: one missile in the salvo of 24 goes to high altitude and “leads” the rest using active radar seeker mode, while the others stay at low altitude and remain in passive guidance mode. The active seeker is only used in short “peeks” to reduce the chance of interception. High altitude speed is Mach 2.5, while low-altitude speed is Mach 1.5. The missile carries a deception jammer system to enhance penetration of enemy defenses; has a maneuvering guidance system that can follow one of a set of different preprogrammed courses to make its attack less predictable, and can receive guidance updates in flight; and has armor over its vital systems to help thwart carrier-group close-in defenses.
As with the P-500, no images of the P-700 were released until well after the fall of the USSR, and the general belief in the West was that it was an evolutionary descendant of the P-5 / P-35 / P-6. When images were finally released, it turned out to be almost completely unrelated in configuration, with a fuselage like a fat cigar, a jet inlet in the nose, twin delta wings, and cruciform tail surfaces. The P-700 can carry a 750 kilogram (1,650 pound) conventional warhead or a nuclear warhead with a yield of hundreds of kilotonnes. It is of course much more sophisticated, in particular featuring a digital processor with three CPUs. Source craymond.no-ip.info
P-700 GRANIT (SS-N-19 SHIPWRECK):
| GENERAL DATA: | |
| Type: Guided Weapon | Weight: 7360 kg |
| Length: 8.84 m | Span: 2.6 m |
| Diameter: 1.14 | Generation: None |
| Properties: Home On Jam (HOJ), Terrain Following, Search Pattern, Bearing-Only Launch (BOL), Weapon – INS Navigation, Level Cruise Flight |
| Targets: Surface Vessel |
| SENSORS / EW: |
| Active Radar Seeker [J-Band] – (ASM MR, SS-N-19) Radar Weapon Seeker, Active Radar Max Range: 9.3 km |
| Passive Radar Seeker – (SS-N-19/22) ESM Weapon Seeker, Anti-Radiation Max Range: 18.5 km |
| Active Radar Seeker [K-Band] – (ASM MR, SS-N-19) Radar Weapon Seeker, Active Radar Max Range: 9.3 km |
| Generic DECM [Average] – (ASM MR, SS-N-19) ECM DECM, Defensive ECM Max Range: 0 km |
| WEAPONS: |
| SS-N-19 Shipwreck [P-700 Granit] – (1984) Guided Weapon Surface Max: 555.6 km. |
Source cmano-db.com