The first serial Yasen-M-class (Project 885M) nuclear-powered submarine, the Novosibirsk, will be handed over to the Russian Navy in late 2021, Russian news agency TASS reported.
“The nuclear submarine will be handed over to the fleet in the fourth quarter of 2021. Before that, the Novosibirsk is to complete the manufacturer’s sea trials and state trials,” the agency’s source said, adding that the trials would include launches of the Oniks and Kalibr-PL missiles.
Yet, there is no official confirmation of delivery.
Later this year, Russia’s JSC Sevmash Shipyard (a part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation) is preparing to hand over to the Russian Navy the first Project 885M submarine, the Kazan. Six more submarines of this project are currently at various stages of completion at the shipyard.
The seventh and eighth submarines of Project 885M were laid down on July 20, 2020.
Project 885M (Yasen-M-class) submarines:
Project 885M Yasen-M, also referred to as Graney class, is a series of the newest nuclear-powered cruise missile submarines designed by Malakhit and Sevmash the Russian Navy. Based on the Akula class and Alfa class designs, the Yasen class is projected to replace the Russian Navy’s current Soviet-era nuclear attack submarines.
Project 885/885M submarines are armed with Kalibr-PL and (or) Oniks cruise missiles and will eventually carry Tsirkon hypersonic missiles as their basic weapons.
Each submarine can carry 32 Kalibr or 24 Oniks (other sources claim 40 Kalibr and 32 Oniks) cruise missiles which are stored in eight (ten for 855M) vertical launchers (additional missiles may be carried in the torpedo room at the expense of torpedoes). It will also have ten 533 mm tubes and mines and anti-submarine missiles such as the RPK-7.
The first Russian submarine class is equipped with a spherical sonar, designated as MGK-600 Irtysh-Amfora. The device (allegedly the Irtysh/Amfora sonar system) was tested on a modified Yankee-class submarine. The sonar system consists of a spherical bow array, flank arrays, and a towed array.
Yasen-class submarines are the first to be equipped with a fourth-generation nuclear reactor. The reactor, built by Afrikantov OKBM, will allegedly have a 25-30-year core life and will not have to be refueled.
