Yasen Nuclear-Powered Cruise Missile Submarine to Get Caliber Supersonic Cruise Missiles

Project 885 Yasen nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine (SSGN) Severodvinsk will be armed with Caliber supersonic cruise missiles. With flight range exceeding 2,500 km, the Caliber missile has no analogs worldwide.

The missile meets all specifications of Russian Defense Ministry as of range, accuracy, destructive effect, and in-flight survivability. No other country operates a missile with similar performance characteristics at the present time. Caliber cruise missile can be armed differently and carries a one-piece warhead.

If the warhead is conventional, the missile’s flight range would exceed 2,500 km. If it is kiloton-class nuclear one, flight range would be shorter. Caliber is a high-precision weapon; its probable error is not more than two or three meters while flight range is thousands of kilometers. Export variant of the missile, 3M-14E Club is designed for engagement of land targets and has flight range of 300 km.

However, it was confirmed there are some problems in the submarine’s nuclear powerplant. An insider in Russian defense industry said that “there is a problem of high noisiness both in nuclear powerplant and at power transmission to the screw. It’s not the fault of Sevmash shipwrights; there were designers who developed the nuclear reactor. All what the shipyard did was only planting the reactor into appropriate compartment. And now the matter depends on power engineers. 

They will have to reduce the sub’s noisiness”, the interviewee explained.During the current trials of SSGN Severodvinsk, her nuclear powerplant will be tested at various operational modes. It is planned to insulate the powerplant’s aggregates, put numerous new gaskets, replace bearings and metal. It is not the first time our submarines had such problems with noisiness during trials, but every time they were settled in one way or another. Experts say SSGN Severodvinsk will not be an exception, but they need time to eliminate all defects.

(rusnavy)