Submarine to Test New Missile

A new nuclear submarine will be ready to test the next generation of intercontinental missiles this year, a military shipbuilding spokesman said Tuesday.

The Yury Dolgoruky, the first of the country's new Borei class of submarines, has yet to fire the Bulava missile it was made to carry because of numerous failures during testing.

"By the beginning of the navigation season, all ships will be ready to carry out tests of the Bulava," said Alexander Kholodov, a representative of submarine-building shipyard Sevmash.


"This refers above all to the submarines Dmitry Donskoi and Yury Dolgoruky," he said.


The Dmitry Donskoi is an older Akula-class vessel used for previous Bulava tests while Borei-class submarines were undergoing testing.

The Bulava was designed to be carried on submarines like the Yury Dolgoruky, but repeated failures of the missile during tests have called the costly project into question.

The submarine's entry into service, carrying the Bulava, will be a major step forward for the military, which hopes to use rising oil revenues to increase its clout.

Russian strategic sub recalled for inspection

One of Russia's premier nuclear submarines, slated to carry its next generation of strategic missiles, has been called back from sea trials, possibly delaying deployment, a top weapons designer said on Monday.

The Yuri Dolgoruky, Russia's first Borei-class submarine, was designed to carry the nuclear-capable Bulava intercontinental missiles, which the Kremlin hopes to make the cornerstone of its arsenal over the next decade.

"Right now the cruiser is returning to the shop. I think the work will last half a year," Yuri Solomonov, a top engineer at Moscow's weapons design Institute of Thermotechnics, told a news conference.

The Yuri Dolgoruky had been undergoing sea trials and was expected to go into service in the first half of 2011, and its recall to the dock for further inspections will likely delay its adoption into service by the navy.

The multi-billion dollar project is the most ambitious in the Russian fleet's post-Soviet history, but has been repeatedly delayed by a string of unsuccessful Bulava missile launches. Seven out of 14 test launches have failed.

Russia Launches Upgraded Submarine Missile Cruiser

The Russian Zvezdochka Shipbuilder has launched the K-407 Novomoskovsk, strategic submarine missile cruiser after an interim overhaul and modernisation programme.

Novomoskovsk is the last strategic nuclear submarine to undergo modernisation at the shipyard, and is to be delivered to the Russian Navy.

The vessel is the sixth missile submarine of Project 667BDRM (Delfin Class, Delta-4 by Nato classification), whose service life has been extended by ten years after the overhaul.

The Delfin Class submarines are armed with 16 intercontinental ballistic missiles and form the basis of the Russian sea-based strategic nuclear forces, according to ITAR-TASS News Agency.

The submarines that have undergone similar modernisation include K-51 Verkhoturye, K-84 Yekaterinburg, K-114 Tula, K-117 Bryansk and K-18 Karelia. (Source naval-technology)

Russia delays Bulava nuclear missile test to 2011

Russia has delayed the next submarine test launch of its troubled intercontinental nuclear missile Bulava until 2011, Itar-Tass state news agency reported.

Russia has delayed the next submarine test launch of its troubled intercontinental nuclear missile Bulava until 2011, Itar-Tass state news agency reported on Wednesday.

The Bulava missile, which Moscow plans to make the cornerstone of its nuclear arsenal over the next decade, has failed seven of its previous 14 tests, endangering the future of the project which is estimated to cost at least $3 billion.

The next test had been scheduled for Dec. 17.

"The White Sea region, from where the Bulava was to be launched, is covered with ice," Itar-Tass quoted an unidentified defence industry source, who had been due to attend the test launch, as saying.

"The exact date of the next test launch of the Bulava in 2011 is not yet decided, but it will take place in the first half of the year," he said.

Test launches have sent the nearly 37-tonne missile from Russia's border with Finland to the peninsula of Kamchatka, in Russia's Far East.

Testing of a New Submarine to Start

“Alexander Nevsky” submarine has been launched at a plant in Severodvinsk. The vehicle is ready for final tests.
     
      The missile-carrying nuclear submarine “Alexander Nevsky” belongs to the newest generation of Russian submarines of the “Boreas” project. The vehicle will carry 16 “Bulava” ballistic missiles, as well as torpedoes for self-protecting.
     
      The submarine creators, who used cutting-edge technologies for building the submarine, believe that their vehicle would pass all tests successfully. Seven more missile-carrying nuclear submarines are 4expected to appear within the “Boreas” project. 

(Source : RIA Novosti)

Watch videos about “Aleksander Nevsky” on RIA Novosti

The nuclear submarine Aleksander Nevsky (Photo from RIA Novosti)

Russia plans to build eight subs of the Borey class. The first one, “Yury Dolgoruky”, has already gone through tests and is currently preparing for launch of its first Bulava missile. The third sub in the series, “Vladimir Monomakh” is under construction. The fourth, “Svyatitel Nikolay”, has also been started, but will be modernized and constructed under new modification compared to the three others.

Putin pledges $860b to modernise military

Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said today that the government had pledged $860 billion through 2020 to modernise and re-arm Russia's military.
   
Russia's armed forces have demanded an increase in spending to modernise ageing infrastructure and weapons systems after years of insufficient funding, which undermined performance in local conflicts after the break-up of the Soviet Union.
   
"We are allocating very serious, significant funds for the rearmament programme. I am even scared to pronounce this figure, 20 trillion roubles," Putin told government ministers and top military officers.
   
"We need to finally overcome consequences of those years when army and navy were seriously underfinanced," Putin said at the navy shipyard SevMash in the northern town of Severodvinsk on the White Sea.
  
Putin said the modernisation programme will focus on strategic nuclear forces, air-defence systems, communication, intelligence, a fifth generation fighter plane and on the navy, which would receive about 4.7 trillion roubles.
   
Russia has been struggling for years to reform its armed forces, dogged by low morale and poor living conditions since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. 

While Russia crushed Georgia in a five-day war in 2008, the short conflict exposed technical problems and ageing equipment.
  

Putin also launched the dock trial of Russia's second Borei class nuclear submarine, the Alexander Nevsky, designed to carry Russia's Bulava intercontinental missile.
   
Russia is completing the construction of three Borei-class nuclear submarines.
   
The first one, Yuri Dolgorikiy, is already undergoing sea trials, and is expected to go into service in the first half of 2011, said Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov. 

New Russian submarine to be commissioned in 2011

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin Monday congratulated the dock trials of the Alexander Nevsky nuclear submarine in northern region of Severodvinsk, saying the submarine is due to enter service in Dec. 2011, Xinhua informed.

Alexander Reznikov, a new strategic missile-carrying submarine of the Borei class, is currently under construction at the Sevmash shipyard.

"The nuclear submarine is due to be handed over to the navy in 2011 if work goes at the set pace," Putin was quoted by local media as saying.

"It is precisely that this modern, quality equipment must be supplied to all our Armed Forces in the nearest future," he said.

In addition, Putin also told a meeting in Severodvinsk that Russian Armed Forces will receive over 1,300 types of weaponry in line with a draft arms procurement program until 2020.

"We will need to set up new or expand the existing production lines to manufacture 220 of the new types of weaponry," Putin was quoted by RIA Novosti news agency.

More than 20 trillion rubles (640.7 billion U.S. dollars) will be earmarked for weapons procurement, three times more than the sum allocated in the existing 2007-2015 program, he added.

Russia postpones Bulava missile tests until November

Russia has postponed test launches of the troubled Bulava ballistic missile until November this year, the Russian defense minister said on Friday.

The latest launch of the missile, which Russia hopes will be a key element of its nuclear forces, from the Dmitry Donskoy nuclear submarine in the White Sea ended in failure in early December 2009. Only five of 12 Bulava launches have been officially reported as being successful.

The Russian Navy earlier planned at least four new test launches of the missile at the end of June, but defense industry experts suggested they would need to build three missiles under identical conditions to establish the causes of the failures.

"We should be ready to resume the [Bulava] tests by November, I think," Anatoly Serdyukov said during talks in Italy, which involved the defense and foreign ministers of both countries.

Serdyukov said that the problems with the missile apparently originate from the faulty assembly process.

"It all comes from the poor quality of assembly. But each failed launch has experienced different problems," the minister said, adding that only the testing of three identical missiles would allow the experts to pinpoint the cause of failures.

The Bulava (SS-NX-30) is a three-stage liquid and solid-propellant submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). It carries up to 10 MIRV warheads and has a range of over 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles).

The missile has been specifically designed for Russia's new Borey class nuclear submarines.

The future development of Bulava has been questioned by some lawmakers and defense industry officials who suggest that the Russian Navy should keep using the more reliable Sineva SLBM.

The Russian military has insisted that there is no alternative to the Bulava and pledged to continue testing the missile until it is ready to be deployed with the Navy. (RIA Novosti)

Russia to build submarine-detecting satellite

Russia could build a satellite for the detection and tracking of submarines from space, a defense industry spokesman said on Thursday, according to RIA Novosti.

Vladimir Boldyrev, of the Kosmonit science and technology center, said the group had developed a space satellite module that could carry out remote sensing of the sea and "detect submerged submarines."

"Hopefully, it will be tested in space as early as 2011," he said, adding that work on the module started over a decade ago.

He offered no indication as to when the new satellite would enter service with the Russian Armed Forces.

Boldyrev added that the dual-use module would be used for both defense and civilian purposes, in particular, providing meteorological data. (RIA Novosti)

Launch of new submarine delayed

Russia will not float out a new nuclear-powered multipurpose attack submarine as planned on May 7 due to technical reasons, a source in the shipbuilding industry said on Tuesday.

Construction of the Severodvinsk, the first Project 885 Yasen (Graney) class submarine, began in 1993 at the Sevmash shipyard in the northern Russian city of Severodvinsk but has since been dogged by financial setbacks. Russia planned to float out the submarine on May 7 to mark the 65th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in May 1945.

"The launch of the new Severodvinsk submarine has been delayed for technical reasons," the source said, adding that the sub would be floated out and pass sea trials later this year.

Graney class nuclear submarines are designed to launch a variety of long-range cruise missiles (up to 3,100 miles or 5,000 km) with nuclear warheads, and effectively engage submarines, surface warships and land-based targets.

The submarine's armament includes 24 cruise missiles, including the 3M51 Alfa SLCM, the SS-NX-26 Oniks SLCM or the SS-N-21 Granat/Sampson SLCM. It is also equipped with eight torpedo launchers, as well as mines and anti-ship missiles such as SS-N-16 Stallion.

The Severodvinsk is expected to enter service with the Russian Navy by late 2010 - early 2011.

Last year, work started on the second sub in the series, the Kazan, which will feature more advanced equipment and weaponry.

Russia's Navy commander, Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky, has called the construction of new-generation nuclear-powered ballistic missile and attack submarines a top priority for the Russian Navy.

RIA NOVOSTI 

Modernizing spy-sub “Sarov”

Less than two years after it entered service in the Fleet, the top-secret spy-sub B-90 “Sarov” is at the White Sea Navy Base in Severodvinsk for modernization, Russian media reports.According to newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta, a representative of the Zvezdochka yard in Severodvinsk confirms that the vessel is in the area for upcoming upgrades.

The B-90 "Sarov" (photo: Sevmash)

The upgrades are made less than two years after the vessel entered service in the Northern Fleet, the newspaper informs. As BarentsObserver has reported, one of the unique features of the spy-sub is its ultra-small nuclear reactor aimed to charge the subs batteries, so it can stay much longer underwater, totally silent, than normal diesel-electric submarines. This is most important for a submarine aimed for spy-voyages not to be detected by foreign vessels, submarines, or detection systems on the seabed.

As also reported by BarentsObserver, it is expected that the “Sarov” is operating in northern waters from bases in the Kola Peninsula.

According to RG.ru, the vessel has since it was included in the fleet on 7 August 2008 conducted a number of specialized operations. After each operation, the vessel has undergone technical improvements. None of the newspaper’s sources want to reveal the essence of the latest upgrades. They could however be connected with sub’s new type of reactor, the newspaper writes.

Russia To Test New Unique Project 855 Yasen Nuclear Submarine

Russia will begin tests of its new state-of-the-art multi-purpose nuclear submarine Yasen, Project 855, already in 2010. The unique submarine qualitatively differs from all of its predecessors. Moreover, Yasen will become the first submarine, which was entirely built in Russia during the post-Soviet period, Oleg Burtsev, a senior spokesman for the command of the Russian Navy said.

The new submarine is to be launched in the beginning of May. JSC Sevmash, the company that builds all Russian submarines, is currently busy with making preparations to the landmark moment.

The submarine was named Severodvinsk. Engineers of the company said that it would be quieter and much more powerful than the USA’s Sea Wolf.

Severodvinsk is a twin-hull nuclear submarine with decreased level of acoustic field. The submarine has ten compartments. The cruiser carries an extraordinarily strong complex of arms capable of solving combat tasks with practically any type of modern surface vessels and submarines. For the first time in the history of domestic ship-building, torpedo-launching systems are located behind the compartment of the central station. The new sonar complex Irtysh was installed in the fore end of the sub. Severodvinsk has eight vertical missile-launching systems: each of the systems houses three missiles.

Anti-vessel 3M55 Onix missiles will reportedly become the basic attack weapon of the new submarine. The missile was designed to strike targets at a distance of up to 300 kilometers under the condition of radio-electronic and combat resistance. The missiles are equipped with the system of artificial intelligence and can recognize all electronic images of surface vessels. They destroy the central target in a group, change their tactics and continue to destroy targets on the principle of their importance.

Eight Borei-class subs to be commissioned under state arms program 2007-2015

Russian Navy and particularly submarine force which turned 104 on Friday are getting new nuclear-powered and diesel submarines with new characteristics. Within the framework of state arms program 2007-2015 it is planned to launch full-scale production and to commission eight Borei-class SSBNs which are to become the basis of Russia's naval strategic nuclear forces after 2018, said official from Navy Main HQ. Each nuclear-powered sub will carry 12 Bulava-type ballistic missiles. It is also planned to put into service SSBN Yury Dolgoruky.

According to the official, by 2015 Russian Navy would get several nuclear-powered and diesel submarines of new generation designed by Rubin Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering.

In 2007 4th generation diesel electric submarine St. Petersburg (Lada class) was delivered to the Navy; in 2008 – diesel electric submarine B-90 Sarov built at defense shipyard Sevmash.

Russia and Japan recycle nuclear subs

the recycling of nuclear submarines. Photo: RIA Novosti

A Russian-Japanese project for recycling nuclear submarines has been completed in Russia’s far-eastern Maritime Region. Aimed at reducing the threat of ecological pollution and ensuring nuclear safety in the Pacific, the project was launched in 2006. Five submarines of the Russian Pacific Fleet have been recycled, four at the Zvezda plant in the town of Bolshoi Kamen and one at a Kamchatka plant. A floating platform to process liquid radioactive waste has been built in Russia and the first multi-purpose submarine of the Victor type has been scrapped under the project, which is part of an intergovernmental treaty on cooperation in disarmament.

Source ruvr.ru

Russia: Navy needs at least 50 nuke subs

The Russian navy needs at least 50 nuclear powered submarines to counter overseas threats, a top Russian navy officer says.

Though the navy has about 60 strategic, multifunctional and diesel-powered submarines that are combat ready, "The number of nuclear submarines in Russia's Navy should be no less than 40-50," First Deputy of the Naval General Staff Vice Adm. Oleg Burtsev said, RIA Novosti reported.

Burtsev said France, Britain and the United States have at least nine combat-ready nuclear subs at sea at all times. "In order to counterbalance them, we need to have two or three nuclear-powered submarines (ready at all times). They need to know that we are prepared to respond to any strike," he said.

Russia plans four test launches of Bulava missile in June

The Russian Navy is planning to conduct at least four test launches of the Bulava ballistic missile at the end of June, a senior Navy official told RIA Novosti on Friday.

"Two Bulava launches will be carried out from the Dmitry Donskoy nuclear submarine, followed by two launches from the Yury Dolgoruky nuclear sub," the source said.

"The second test on the Yury Dolgoruky will be a salvo launch," he said.

The Yury Dolgoruky is the first of Russia's Borey class strategic nuclear submarines, which have been exclusively designed for the Bulava, and is currently undergoing sea trials.

The source said that if the tests are successful, both the submarine and the missile could be put into service with the Russian Navy by the end of 2010.

The Bulava (SS-NX-30) is a three-stage liquid and solid-propellant submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). It carries up to 10 MIRV warheads and has a range of over 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles).

The future development of Bulava has been questioned by some lawmakers and defense industry officials following a series of test failures. Only five of 12 Bulava test launches from the Dmitry Donskoy sub have been officially reported as being successful.

Another modernized nuclear submarine to be launched in 2010

The Russian Northern Fleet’s strategic nuclear Delta-IV class submarine K-407 “Novomoskovsk” will be launched after in November after modernization at the Zvezdochka shipyard in Severodvinsk.After a two years long modernization which has prolonged the submarine’s lifetime with approximately ten years, “Novomoskovsk” will be launched in November, news agency ARMS-TASS reports.

K-407 Novomoskovsk

 

This is the sixth nuclear submarine of the Delta-IV class to be modernized at Zvezdochka in course of the last eleven years. Earlier this year, the submarine “Karelia” was put back in service in the Northern Fleet after five years of modernization, as BarentsObserver reported.

“Novomoskovsk” was constructed at the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvnisk, Arkhangelsk Oblast, and delivered to the fleet in 1990. In August 1991 it became the world's first submarine to successfully launch an all-missile salvo, launching 16 ballistic missiles of total weight of almost 700 tons at an interval of several seconds.

In 1996 the submarine conducted the first commercial space launch in the history of the Russian Navy when it launched a carrier rocket with two German scientific micro-satellites while submerged in the Barents Sea.

Safety Issues Linger as Nuclear Reactors Shrink in Size

When the Soviet Union introduced its Alfa class submarine — at the time, the world’s fastest — the subs were the bane of American sailors. Now, the reactors that powered those submarines are being marketed as the next innovation in green power.

A Russian-made nuclear-powered Alfa class submarine, which could go 45 m.p.h. underwater

 

Environmentalists say the technology is outdated and potentially dangerous, and marketing it as green energy is an abuse of nuclear power’s good green name.

The Russians are not alone in pushing the idea that the next generation of nuclear reactors should have more in common with the small power plants on submarines than the sprawling installations of today.

The kinds of marine reactors the Russians are promoting, though, also happen to create a byproduct — used fuel — that no one knows how to handle. Right now, that spent fuel is being stored at naval yards in the Russian Arctic.

In most nuclear facilities, the used fuel, which is highly radioactive, is removed from the reactor and stored in a pool of water. But in the Soviet submarine model currently advanced by a Moscow company, the spent fuel ends up frozen along with the reactor and stored away. No engineering solution has been devised yet to decontaminate the fuel.

In fact, the technology caused a number of mechanical accidents when it was used in Soviet submarines from the 1970s until the early 1990s.

Kirill Danilenko, the director of the Russian company, Akme Engineering, said that the technology could be made safe, with no greater risk of meltdown than that at a larger nuclear plant. His vision is that small reactors will become so common that utilities can connect them and “build power plants like Lego sets.”

Russia marks Submariner Day

Russia marks Submariner Day. In 1906, Emperor Nicholas II decreed the creation of the Russian Navy’s submarine fleet. The first reference dates back to 1718. During the WW II Soviet submarines destroyed 35% of the Fascist ships. As of early 2009, the Russian Fleet operated 60 submarines of different classes. Soon Russia will have new generation strategic submarines of the Borei-class (project 955).

Source ruvr.ru