In January 2015, correspondents of the Russian version of Top Gear conducted a planned shooting on the shores of the White Sea. And what was their surprise when they found out that the most secret of the Russian submarines - the project 10831 nuclear deep-sea station AS-31, affectionately dubbed "Losharik", had accidentally got into the lens of their camera. And more recently, the station gained a sad glory - as a result of a fire on board, sailors were killed …
She's not your boat
Calling "Losharik" a submarine will not be entirely correct. In official documents, it is called the Project 10831 Nuclear Deep-Water Station (AGS), code "Gate". In the navy, she was assigned the AS-31 index, but because of the extremely unusual design of the hull, the boat is called "Losharik".
The beginning of work on the design of this unique device falls on the distant 1965. To carry out the task, a special unit was created in Moscow, subordinate directly to the USSR Ministry of Defense, the so-called 19th center of the Ministry of Defense. The first brainchild of the center was the Archipelag deep-water complex, created on the basis of a Project 611 submarine. Then, in 1968, the first autonomous deep-water station AS-23 Nelma was put into operation. By the way, "Losharik" is not the latest development of the center, in 1995 the AS-35 "Halibut" station was commissioned. The design work of "Losharik" in the 1980s was carried out by the Leningrad design bureau "Malakhit".
The construction of the boat began in 1988, but in the penniless 90s it was frozen and resumed only in 2000. Three years later, on August 13, 2003, the AGS was launched on one of the stocks of the Sevmash plant.
Balloons
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Today AS-31 "Losharik" is the smallest nuclear submarine in the world. However, its small size is its main advantage. The fact is that this is the only submarine capable of descending to a depth of 6,000 meters. The rest of the submarines of traditional design for the most part can submerge an average of 800-900 meters.
The reason for such unprecedented capabilities of "Losharik" is in its design. In general, the boat is called "Losharik" for a reason. The fact is that its robust body consists of six round titanium spheres, which are connected by a light, streamlined body. According to legend, this is why the workers of Sevmash nicknamed the boat “Losharik”, after a character from a Soviet cartoon whose body consisted of colored balls. For this reason, "Losharik" cannot be called an ordinary boat, rather it is a kind of hybrid of a deep-sea bathyscaphe and a submarine. Six durable titanium spheres are the boat's habitable compartments. Thanks to this design, the AC-31 can sink even to the ocean floor.
But there are most likely no weapons on board the boat - at such a depth she simply has no one to fight with, except with the inhabitants of the seabed. In addition, the huge water column so reliably hides the device from prying eyes and ears that you can absolutely not be afraid of a sudden attack from a potential enemy.
No weapons
Why was it necessary to build such an apparatus? Most experts assume that the main task for which the Losharik was built was to carry out rescue operations on sunken submarines. But the list of its capabilities is certainly not limited to this.
We can confidently say that the AS-31 is perfectly adapted for performing various sabotage operations: for example, placing mines in the fairway where enemy ships are sailing. Or cut out and take home a piece of the secret cable. Or vice versa: put a special listening device on someone else's cable. American experts seriously fear that the AS-31 could cause serious damage to the deep-sea components of the SOSU5 submarine tracking system. However, quite often "Losharik" is involved in performing purely scientific, peaceful tasks. For example, it was AS-31 that collected a huge number of rock samples from the bottom of the Arctic Ocean from a depth of 2.5-3 km, thanks to which our scientists were able to prove that its shelf belongs to the same tectonic structure as the land part of Russia. The unique operation to collect soil from the ocean floor took about 20 days.
In recent years, there have been rumors in NATO military circles that a wheeled propeller can be installed on the Losharik, turning the submarine into a bottom all-terrain vehicle. Well, just like in the novel "The Secret of Tuscarora". In this case, rolling along the ocean floor, "Losharik" becomes completely invisible to all possible means of detection, from acoustic to magnetometric.
“Kalmar” and I walk in pairs
One of the main features of "Losharik", which distinguishes it from foreign analogues, is the presence of its own carrier boat. The AS-31 does not need to be chapped across the ocean to the place of a combat mission. On the contrary, he will "get there", comfortably perched under the belly of a special-purpose submarine BS-136 "Orenburg" of project 09786 (667 BDR "Kalmar"). Thus, the resource of its own reactor is saved, and the crew of Losharik, when crossing the ocean, lives in rather comfortable cabins, and not in cramped compartments clogged with equipment.
Due to the presence of a carrier boat, the designers managed to significantly expand the range and autonomy of the Losharik.
The AS-31 has practically no analogues abroad. With a slight stretch, Losharik's competitor can be considered the American submarine NR-1, launched in 1969, but it is still listed as an experimental ship. Besides, it is already outdated. And she can dive only 1000 meters.
In conclusion, I would only like to note with regret that if the construction of the AS-31 had not been frozen for a long ten years, then perhaps it would have been able to save the crew of the Kursk submarine.
Evgeny POPOV
