Severodvinsk nuclear sub tests will end in 2012 - Navy commander
ST. PETERSBURG. Aug 17 (Interfax-AVN) - A fourth-generation multirole nuclear submarine is due to enter service before the end of 2012, Russian Navy Commander-in-chief Admiral Viktor Chirkov said on Friday.
He was attending a laying down ceremony for the Project 636.3 Stary Oskol submarine at the Admiralteiskiye Verfi shipyard on Friday.
"Tests under the Yasen project are going as per the program. We hope the Navy's flag will be raised above the Severodvinsk before the end of the year," Chirkov said.
The Severodvinsk, a fourth-generation multirole nuclear submarine built as part of the Yasen Project 885, will not enter service in the Russian Navy before 2013 due to problems with the nuclear propulsion unit, a source from the defense industry told Interfax-AVN earlier.
"Severodvinsk tests found that its nuclear propulsion unit is not yielding the needed capacity. Also, the submarine does not provide the required noise level. A ship with such serious flaws cannot enter service in the navy," the source said.
Moreover, the Dagdizel company has yet to supply a new self-guided torpedo for Yasen class submarines, he said. "The new torpedo with the required characteristics has not been supplied yet. The product that was created is explosive, so it cannot be used for arming the submarine," the source said.
If there is a further delay in the supply of the new torpedo, the Severodvinsk could be armed with a torpedo that was used on Kursk type submarines, he said.
The Severodvinsk submarine will be armed with unique supersonic cruise missiles, Kalibr (Caliber) with a maximum flight range of over 2,500 kilometers, another source from the defense industry told Interfax-AVN.
"The missile meets all the requirements of the Russian Defense Ministry in terms of range, precision, destructive effect and invulnerability when flying towards a target. No one else in the world has such a missile because of its unique tactical and technical characteristics," the source said.
"The missile will be carrying a one-piece warhead. If the warhead is conventional, the maximum missile flight range will be more than 2,500 kilometers. If it is a nuclear kiloton warhead, the flight range will be slightly less," the source said.
"Kalibr is a high-precision weapon, its likely deviation from target does not exceed two or three meters," he said.
The Project 885 Yasen's main multirole nuclear submarine was floated on June 15, 2010. In September 2011, the Severodvinsk underwent sea trials for the first time.
The second ship currently in construction, Kazan, is being built under the improved Project 885M Yasen-M. At least eight submarines are due to enter service before 2020.
The nuclear submarine must have the following characteristics: underwater speed - over 30 knots; maximum submersion depth - 600 meters; cruising capacity - 100 days; crew - 90 members (32 officers). The Severodvinsk is worth around 47 billion rubles.
Yasen class submarines are expected to have a noise level comparable to that of U.S. Virginia class submarines.
