Akula class submarine

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Russian Federation
Akula class submarine underway in the Baltic Sea
Operators:	Soviet Navy Russian Navy
In service:	1986
Ships in Class
General Characteristics
Class type:	NATO: Nuclear powered attack submarine (SSN) Russian: Podvodnaya Lodka Atomnaya (PLA)
Displacement:	5,700-7,500 tons surfaced 7,900-9,100 tons submerged 7,900-9,500 tons submerged (Akula-II)
Length:	108.0 - 111.7 m (sources vary)
Beam:	13.5 m
Draft:	9.6 m
Propulsion and power:	1 190 MW OK-650B pressurized water nuclear reactor 1 OK-7 steam turbine 43,000 hp (32 MW) 2 OK-2 Turbogenerators producing 2,000 kW 1 seven-bladed propeller 2 retractable electric propulsors for low-speed maneuvering at 3 knots (6 km/h)
Speed:	20 knots (37 km/h) surfaced 35 knots (65 km/h) submerged
Test depth:	450 m test depth 550 m never-exceed depth 600-660 m calculated crush depth
Complement:	25 Officers, 26 Enlisted
Armament:	four 533 mm torpedo tubes (plus six external 533 mm tubes on Improved Akulas and Akula II’s) four 650 mm torpedo tubes storage space for up to forty torpedoes/mines/missiles etc. One SA-18 Igla-M Surface-to-air missile launcher fired from sail. (To be used if the sub is forced to remain surfaced) assorted small arms for security. (Locked away when away from port)
Sonar:	MGK-503-M Skat active/passive suite Flank arrays Pelamida towed array sonar MG-70 mine detection sonar
Countermeasures:	Bukhta ESM/ECM *MG-74 Korund noise simulation decoys (fired from external tubes) MT-70 Sonar intercept receiver Nikhrom-M IFF
Other systems:	Chiblis Surface Search radar Medvyedista-945 Navigation system Molniya-M Satellite communications MGK-80 Underwater communications Tsunami, Kiparis, Anis, Sintez and Kora Communications antennas Paravan Towed VLF Antenna Vspletsk Combat direction system

This article is about the submarine class with NATO reporting name "Akula". For the submarine class with the Soviet name "Akula", see Typhoon class submarine.

NATO reporting name	Soviet project number	Soviet name	Occasionally known as
Akula	971	Shchuka-B	Bars (lead ship)

Project 971 Щука-Б (Shchuka-B, 'Shchuka' meaning pike, NATO reporting name "Akula"), is a nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) first deployed by the Soviet Navy in 1986. The class is sometimes erroneously called the "Bars" class, after one of its members. Note that Akula ("shark") is the Soviet designation of the ballistic missile submarine class designated by NATO as the Typhoon class submarine. They are sometimes bitterly called "the Walker class," referring to John Anthony Walker, whose espionage data related to sonar detection was used to improve this submarine.

There are three sub-classes or flights of Shchuka, consisting of the original seven "Akula I" submarines built between 1982 and 1986, five "Improved Akula" submarines built between 1986 and 1991, and four "Akula II" submarines built from 1991. This information is disputed, however, as the distinction between the Improved Akula and the Akula II class is debated by authoritative sources.

Akula incorporates a double hull system that increases the strength reserve and is able to dive deeper than any other modern SSN. It is the quietest Russian nuclear attack submarine; the noise radiated by the Akula-II class is comparable to that of last versions of the American Improved Los Angeles class.

The distinctive "bulb" or "can" seen on top of the Akula's rudder houses its towed sonar array, when retracted.

All Akulas are armed with four 533 mm torpedo tubes which can use Type 53 torpedoes or the SS-N-15 Starfish missile, and four 650 mm torpedo tubes which can use Type 65 torpedoes or the SS-N-16 Stallion missile. These torpedo tubes are arranged in two rows of four tubes each. Improved Akulas and Akula IIs have an additional six 533 mm torpedo tubes mounted externally, however it is unclear whether these are fully functional external tubes, or if they are only capable of launching Mines and decoys. The external tubes are mounted outside the pressure hull in one row, above the 'Normal' Torpedo tubes, and can only be reloaded in port or with the assistance of a submarine tender. The 650 mm tubes can be fitted with liners to use the 533 mm weaponry. The submarine is also able to use its torpedo tubes to launch mines.

1 Current status
2 Appearances in fiction
3 External links

[edit] Current status

Information on the status of the Akula Class submarines is sketchy at best. Information provided by several internet sites varies widely.

[edit] Akula-I submarines

Of the seven original Akula-I submarines, only three are known to still be in service. The lead boat of the class, K-284 'Akula' was decommissioned in 1995, apparently to help save money in the cash-strapped Russian Navy. Three others, K-322 'Kashalot', K-480 'Bars' [Currently Ak Bars], and K-317 'Pantera' are all thought to be in reserve. K-480 'Bars' will be completely overhauled in 2007-2008 by the Zvezdotshka shipyard.

[edit] Akula-I Improved submarines

The five Akulas of this class are all thought to be in service. There is some debate about the hull number of the 5th submarine. Some sources report it as K-267, while others say K-295. Most however agree on the name 'Drakon'. Sources also disagree as to whether construction of this class has been suspended, or if there are a further two units planned. Improved Akula-I Hulls: Volk, Tigr, Narval. There is a new class, a development of the Akula being slowly developed, the Graney class.

[edit] Akula-II submarines

The Akula-II 'Vepr' is the only Akula-II known to be in service at present. The 'Gepard' is in service and was launched a short time after the Kursk submarine disaster, along with the halted 'Kuguar' (Akula-I) and 'Rys'. The 1999-2000 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships listed the Akula-IIs then as Viper (Vepr), commissioned July 1995, Gepard, launched 1999 and expected to commission in 2000, and Nerpa, launched in May 1994 and expected to commission in 1999. Another source has Nerpa listed as having been under construction for eleven years, and effectively having its building suspended. The 'Gepard' is known to have a slightly smaller and streamlined Towed Array Sonar Dispenser than the other submarines of the class. Gepard also appears to have a longer sail than other Akula class submarines. President Vladimir Putin was on board Gepard during his commission after the Kursk incident.

[edit] Alleged leasing to India

All such allegations remain speculative as no official confirmation has yet been made. January 2007, the CINC of the Indian Navy, Adm. Sureesh Mehta, interviewed by the Jane's Defense Weekly, denied any intention on India's part to lease Russian nuclear submarines [1] (Jane's Defense Weekly, January 26, 2007). Accordindly, the Russian Government has no intention to lease nuclear powered vessels in the coming years, especially considering the improved economical environment in Russia and for obvious political reasons. It is however possible that a mixed Russian-Indian crew will operate a Russian submarine for some years, giving the Indian side experience for their own indigenous programme.

Originally, it was reported in December, 2005 that Russia may be preparing to lease two Akulas to India^{[citation needed]}, that Indian Navy personnel have completed training in Russia to run the boats^{[citation needed]}, and that India is paying for the completion of two additional Akulas^{[citation needed]}.

Again it was reported on 1 July 2006 that a nuclear-powered Nerpa submarine that will be leased to India was launched at a shipyard in the Russian Far East^{[citation needed]}. Nerpa is an older Project 971 third-generation submarine hull to be modernised to the Akula-II standard.

Whereas the Russian Navy's Akula-II submarines are equipped with 28 nuclear-capable cruise missiles with a striking range of 3,000 km, the Indian version was reportedly expected to be armed with the 300 km Klub nuclear-capable missiles.[2]. Missiles longer than 500km in range cannot be exported due to arms control restrictions.

[edit] Appearances in fiction

An Akula-class submarine appears in the film Crimson Tide. She engages a U.S. Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine but is destroyed.
A fictional Akula-class submarine 'Viper' appears in Patrick Robinson's novel 'Ghost Force'. In it, the Viper sinks a British Carrier in a fictional account of a war between Great Britain and Argentina over the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas).
The fictional Akula-class submarine Admiral Lunin sinks the USS Maine SSBN near the end of Tom Clancy's novel The Sum of All Fears.
In the 1987 book Skydancer by Geoffrey Archer, the Akula is depicted as having a silent propulsion system similar to that of the Red October (another fictional submarine). It is discovered by the fictional British Resolution-class submarine HMS Retribution.