Typhoon (class)

History

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The Typhoon class was developed as part of Project 941 as the Russian Akula class (), which means shark. It is sometimes confused with other submarines because Akula is the name NATO used to designate the Russian Project 971 Shchuka-B (-) class attack submarine. The project was developed to match the SLBM weapons of Ohio-class submarines, capable of carrying 192 100-kt nuclear warheads, but with a significantly longer range. To accommodate the increased range, the Soviet SLBM was larger and heavier than its American counterpart (the R-39 Rif was more than twice the weight of the UGM-96 Trident I; it was still the heaviest SLBM in service globally).

Subs have to be scaled accordingly.

In the early 1990s, there were also proposals to convert some Typhoon-class submarines into anti-submarine cargo ships to transport oil, gas and cargo under polar ice to the far north of Russia. These submarines can carry up to 10,000 tons of cargo and deliver it under polar ice to tankers waiting in the Barents Sea.

These vessels are heavily engineered to carry oil from rigs to submarines, and then to waiting tankers, which then carry their cargo around the world.

Six Typhoon-class submarines were built between 1976 and 1985. Initially, submarines were only represented by hull numbers. Later, four ships retained by the Russian Navy were assigned names, sponsored by a city or a company.

The order to build another ship (hull number TK-210) was cancelled and never completed. Only the first of these submarines, Dmitriy Donskoy, is still in service with the Russian Navy as a testbed for the Bulava missile (SS-NX-32). Arkhangelsk (TK-17) and Severs (TK-20) remain in reserve and are currently inactive in the Russian fleet.

All R-39 missiles are retired. Since 2010-2011, typhoons have been replaced by the north wind scale.

In late December 2008, a senior Navy official announced that two spare Typhoon-class submarines, the TK-17 Arkhangelsk and TK-20 Severstal, would not be upgraded with the new Bulava SLBM missile system. However, they can be modified to carry cruise missiles or lay mines, or they can be used for special operations. In late June 2009, Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, told reporters that the two submarines would be reserved for possible future repairs and modernizations. In May 2010, the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy reported that Russia's Typhoon-class submarines would remain in service with the Navy until 2019. In September 2011, the Russian Ministry of Defense decided to write off all Type 941 Akula nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines by 2014.

The reason for the retirement of the Typhoon-class ships is the restrictions imposed by Russia on the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty and the successful testing of the new Borei-class submarines.

Although a replacement for many types of submarines, the Borei class submarines are slightly shorter than the Typhoon class (170 m (560 ft) vs 175 m (574 ft)) and have a smaller crew (107 vs 160) . Part of the purpose of these changes is to reduce the cost of building and maintaining submarines. In addition, the United States and Canada set aside 80 percent of their funds to scrap older Typhoon-class submarines, making it more economical to build new ones.

However, according to other sources in the Russian Ministry of Defense, no such decision has been taken; in this case, the submarine will remain in the Russian Navy.

In 2013, national news agency RIA Novosti announced that the Navy would cancel two typhoons starting in 2018. They are the TK-17 Arkhangelsk and the TK-20 Severstal. As of 2017, the decision to scrap TK-17 and TK-20 is uncertain.

Specification

BASICS

Years of Service

1981

Origins

Soviet Union

supplement

160

staff

Class information

Class

Typhoon

Class Size

8

ships

Class

TK-208;TK-202;TK-12;TK-13;TK-17;TK-20;TK-210

Carrier

Soviet Union

Roles

Underwater Attack

Travel below the surface to find, track and/or attack or explore areas.

Sea Patrol

Active patrolling of critical waterways and sea areas; also serves as a local deterrent against air and maritime threats.

Fleet Support

Provide support (fire or materiel) to major surface fleets in blue water environments.

Dimensions and Weight

Length

574. 1ft

174.99m

Ray

75.5 feet

23.01 m

Draft

39. 3 feet

11.98m

Shift

25,000 t

No. submerged

45,000 t

Power and Performance

Installed Power:

2 x OK-650 nuclear reactors power 2 x VV steam turbines, each producing 49,600 hp and driving 2 x axles.

Surface Velocity

22. 2 nodes

(25.5 km/h)

Underwater speed

27. 0 nodes

(31.1 km/h)

Area

essentially infinite

Weapon

6 x 533 mm (21 in) bow torpedo tubes, carrying Type 53 torpedoes, RPK-2 Viyuga cruise missiles and 20 x RSM-52 submarine-launched missiles. 1 x 9K38 "Igla" surface-to-air missile system

Aircraft

None.