Submarine "Borey": description and technical characteristics. Atomic submarines "Borey"

The first strategic nuclear submarine of the Borey project was adopted in 2013 by the Russian Navy. The submarine, a photo of which was published by domestic and foreign media, is called "Yuri Dolgoruky." At that time it was the only one launched in the previous 12 years. In addition, it was the first similar cruiser-type ship built in the new Russia.

Who is Borey?

In translation from the Greek "borey" means "northern". But this geographical concept, which in part corresponds to the operational region of "Yuri Dolgoruky", the meaning of the title of the project is not exhausted. Each submarine of the Borey project personifies the power of the ancient Greek mythological deity, Brother Nota and Zephyr, the son of Astrea and Eos, the formidable ruler of the north wind. About him wrote Homer in the Iliad, he was a favorite hero of the masters of ancient Hellas, who depicted him in many works of art that have survived to our times. Mighty, winged, bearded, long-haired, he lived in the "seven-year-old grotto" (that is, rather secretly) and did what he wanted. When he decided to marry, he kidnapped Orphia, the royal daughter, by the way. This point was later reflected on their canvases by many artists. The imaginary image of the deity of Boreas (also Zephyr) is also in the picture "Spring" of Botticelli himself. This name is an atomic submarine to much obliges.

History of the project

The submarine "Borey" was originally conceived for a specific type of strategic nuclear carrier - the solid-propellant missile "Bark" (R-39UTTX), developed in the mid-eighties as a counterweight to the American "Pershingam-2." As it turned out later, the shipbuilders coped with the task better than the rocket launchers, which did not go well at all. In the end, the project "Bark" decided to refuse, the new submarine should be armed with something else. One option was to equip it with cruise missiles, but the Ministry of Defense insisted on continuing research in the field of solid-fuel missiles that had a number of advantages over previously produced liquid samples in the USSR. In the meantime, the submarine continued to build. The country faced difficult times.

Long-term Yeltsin era

The project was ready after the collapse of the USSR. The first submarine of the Borey class was laid in 1996 and ... became a real long-term construction. Two years later, when the failure with the Barki became obvious, the ready-made drawings had to be revised. The construction of a durable and light hull in the conditions of the financial crisis and the financing gap lasted twelve years. Only in 2008, the solemn launching of Yuri Dolgoruky took place, but a full-fledged five-year calendar was required to complete the finishing works and transfer the ship to the Northern Fleet of the Russian Federation. But all these efforts to overcome difficulties can be considered justified. The Borey nuclear submarine has unique seaworthiness.

What is this ship?

The depth of immersion is four hundred meters (480 maximum). Underwater course - 29 knots, above-water -15 knots. Displacement (full) - 24 thousand tons. Each square meter of the body, made of alloyed superstrengthened austenitic steel AK-100, withstands a 40-ton load. The length of the ship is 170 meters. Drinking water is extracted from the side by desalination plants, and from there oxygen is taken, which is necessary for enriching the air inside the ship. On the surface you can not climb for months. For the crew, excellent living conditions were created. The nuclear submarine "Borey" sees and hears everything that moves at a distance of many tens of miles around, has a stable connection over encoded acoustic channels and is always ready to carry out a combat mission. The purpose of the ship, unlike many universal colleagues, is strategic. On the orders of the president, he must inflict a massive nuclear missile strike, the capacity of which is quite enough to turn the whole continent into a lifeless desert. For this, the cruiser must be secretly present in any area of the World Ocean, at an unknown depth for the probable enemy with unpredictable coordinates for him. Few defense facilities are covered with such a mysterious shade as the Borey submarine. Technical specifications are classified, they are known very little, and even then only because of the main purpose of any defense system of this level - the intimidation of a possible aggressor.

The task of a strategic underwater missile carrier does not include hunting for transport or combat formations of hostile fleets. It provides exclusively nuclear deterrence with the threat of an imminent retaliatory strike in the event of an attack.

About shipbuilding "donation"

Material difficulties forced the creators of the first series ship ("Yuri Dolgoruky") to use for its construction a section of the submarines "Cougar" project 971 (also known as "Pike-B"). In the design of "Alexander Nevsky" similar modules were borrowed from "Lynx", and in the case of "Vladimir Monomakh" - from "Ak Bars". The press leaked information that the Barnaul submarine, which had been prematurely decommissioned, became a kind of donor for new ships, which gave grounds to some critics of the Russian defense industry to draw conclusions about the technical backwardness of the Russian fleet. Pessimistic assumptions were made that the submarines of Project 955 "Borey" are not at all the last word of military shipbuilding, but are collected from secondary raw materials and units removed from the arsenal of submarines. In practice, the use of fully usable shells of a strong case is a justifiable measure designed to reduce material costs. On the combat capability of new ships this does not affect.

Reactor and power plant

The heart of the submarine is a 190-megawatt steam generator OK-650V. The main sources of noise, unmasking any nuclear submarine, are the pumps that pump the coolant, and TGZA (turbo-gas-gear set). In the design of the Borey nuclear submarine, these nodes remained the same as those used on the boats of the previous series (including the Yasen project). But this does not mean that the noise level remained the same - it was reduced due to various technical tricks. The propulsor became water-jet, which significantly reduced decibels, all equipment received special shock absorbers. There is an assumption that in conditions that require special secrecy, the GTZA is disconnected from the propeller shaft, and the boat is driven by a special low-noise engine. At least, this is how the question of the secrecy of "Ash" was solved.

The fourth generation

The submarine "Borey" is a ship of the fourth generation. The purpose of its creation was the replacement of submarines produced in the Soviet era, the most modern of which are on alert for a quarter of a century and armed with liquid rockets such as "Sineva." Continuity of structures in this case is fully justified: underwater cruisers are very expensive and have a long service life, and their displacement by new samples occurs gradually. Strategic ocean carriers of nuclear missiles of the American fleet are about the same age as Russian ones, especially since recently in the United States, priority has been given to the creation of multipurpose submarines at the expense of solving global containment problems. The pace of construction of Russian submarines in recent years has grown significantly, although the Soviet standards still do not hold out. So, the second ship (as well as the third one) of the 955 project was put into service only six years after the laying.

Acoustic station

The entire forward part of the Borey nuclear submarine is occupied by the highly sensitive spherical antenna of the MGK-600B hydro-acoustic complex Irtysh-Amfora. No matter how powerful the armament of the underwater giant could be, it would be useless without the ability to objectively assess the surrounding surface and underwater situation. In addition to the usual tasks of noise tracking, target recognition and communication, the airborne HAC can measure ice thickness, detect torpedoes and mines, find polynyas in the northern latitudes, and provide the ship's command with many other useful information invaluable in combat conditions.

Missile installations

The submarine "Borey" has a characteristic silhouette with the influx emerging behind the felling. There are launchers of missiles, which are the main weapon of the underwater cruiser of special purpose. Until the time when the data on the strategic capabilities of the new ship were made public, military experts believed that there were twenty. In fact, this is not so: launchers sixteen, in each of them - a missile "Bulava". The system of precise depth stabilization provides a reliable start from any point of the battle course.

So what about the Bulava?

The submarine "Borey" was created in order to become the carrier of the new Bulava missiles. Since January 2013, the ship is part of the Northern Fleet, but it is still unknown how effective it can be struck. The transition to a new type of ammunition was more difficult than previously thought. Actually, the advantages of solid-fuel missiles are as follows:

- safe storage and almost complete elimination of the possibility of accidental launch;

- relatively low cost;

- ease of launch;

- less vulnerability to missile defense systems.

At the same time, solid-fuel missiles have a smaller radius of combat use than, for the same mass, similar liquid ones. In addition, the technology of their production is characterized by many subtleties.

In 2013, from the side of "Alexander Nevsky" was launched the "Bulava R-30", which ended in failure. The projectile fell two minutes after the start. Prior to this incident, the tests were successful. After troubleshooting, the following starts also did without failures. The conditions of secrecy do not allow making unambiguous conclusions about the combat capability of the Borey nuclear submarine. TTX "Bulava" missiles are known only in general terms, they constitute a state secret. The work to improve and improve reliability continues.

Other boats project 955

Each next submarine of the Borei type, which is launched, differs from the previous one with ever greater perfection. The main ship "Yuri Dolgoruky" from the beginning of 2013 is assigned to the base of the Navy Gadzhievo (SF). "Alexander Nevsky" - the next underwater cruiser - from the end of the same year serves the Pacific Fleet in Viluchinsk, as part of the 25th Division. A year later, in December 2014, the third unit of the series, the nuclear submarine Vladimir Monomakh, arrived on the same base. All three boats do not yet conduct combat duty in operational areas. It is difficult to judge how far this is due to incomplete technical readiness. The normal practice of all the fleets of the world is to carefully develop the skills of the crews and to achieve an ideal possession of the material part of the ships before entering the operational space. The team consists of 55 highly professional officers and 52 sailors, whose training requirements are also very high. On how well coordinated their actions will be, depends not only on the success of the long journey, but also on the life of seamen.

The following "Boreas"

In 2009, Sevmash laid the fourth ship of Project 955, which received the name of St. Nicholas. Currently, equipment and electric machines are being installed inside the finished casing. This version of the submarine missile carrier has the index 955-U.

In 2014 the construction of two more units began - Suvorov and Prince Oleg (version 955-A). The works are at the stage of assembly of strong housings.

For 2015 it is planned to lay two more Borey class nuclear submarines.

Whether the Russian Navy will be limited to eight submarines of the fourth generation is not yet known. Perhaps by 2020 their number will reach ten. Over time, they will be replaced by combat duty "Squids" and "Dolphins" of project 667, which will already serve their time.