New subs to build up potential of Russian naval force in Mediterranean - Chirkov
MOSCOW. Feb 19 (Interfax-AVN) - The keel of the Krasnodar diesel-electric submarine of Project 636 will be laid at the St. Petersburg Admiralty Shipyards on February 20, a Russian Navy spokesman told Interfax-AVN on Wednesday.
According to Russian Navy Commander Admiral Viktor Chirkov, the six submarines of Project 636 under construction at the Admiralty Shipyards, "will build up the potential and capacity for the accomplishment of tasks by the task force of the Russian Navy deployed in the Mediterranean," he said.
The Krasnodar is the fourth of six submarines, which will be built for the Russian Black Sea Fleet before 2016.
The submarines "will make up a unit of full value and enable the Black Sea Fleet to accomplish complex missions in their zone of operation jointly with warships and anti-submarine aircraft," the commander said.
"The Navy command intends to use the diesel electric submarines as a major undersea component of the fleet units deployed in the close-range maritime zone. The diesel electric submarines are expected to operate in the waters where the use of nuclear submarines is impossible and inexpedient. A task of the diesel electric submarines is to protect shipping lanes. They are performing this task within the North, Pacific, Baltic and Black Sea Fleets," Chirkov continued.
In his words, the diesel electric submarines, which are being constructed and designed, will have improved stealth parameters and higher levels of sea endurance. "An essential quality of non-nuclear submarines is the variety of their use against seaborne, undersea and coastal targets, which is predetermined by the nature of modern maritime warfare," he said.
The lead submarine of the series, the Novorossiysk, had its keel laid in August 2010 and was launched on November 28, 2013.
Submarines of Project 636 have a length of 74 meters, an undersea speed of 20 knots, a diving limit of 300 meters, endurance of 45 days, and a crew of 52 men. They are armed with six torpedo tubes and carry 18 missiles, torpedoes and mines.
Submarines of Project 636 are designed by the St. Petersburg Rubin Naval Design Bureau. Thanks to their low noise, the subs can detect and attack enemy ships from long distances with anti-ship cruise missiles.
NPO Avrora Concern in St. Petersburg developed five submarine systems, among them the Lama automated data and control system, the Palladium submarine control system and the Pirit maneuver control system.