The largest nuclear submarine in the world is under construction in Russia. According to Izvestia, this is a project 09852 Belgorod submarine, developed by the Rubin-Sever Design Bureau, the Severodvinsk branch of the Rubin Central Design Bureau in St. Petersburg.
True, the record will be set not for displacement, but for the length of the boat. The longest submarine in the world is Project 941 Akula, which is 172.5 meters long. Belgorod has almost 12 meters more - 184.
“Belgorod” is the submarine “Antey” (project of submarines with cruise missiles 949A), completed according to the updated project, the construction of which was frozen in Severodvinsk in 2006. The boat was 76% ready.
The laying ceremony for a new boat using the unfinished hull took place in December 2012. In official sources, "Belgorod" is called a large research nuclear submarine that carries manned and unmanned underwater vehicles. Its customer is considered to be the Main Directorate for Deep Sea Research (GUGI) of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
It is assumed that Belgorod will study the bottom of the Russian Arctic shelf, search for minerals at great depths, and also lay underwater communications. In particular, with the help of deep-sea vehicles, nuclear underwater modules will be installed on the seabed to charge unmanned underwater vehicles. The submarine will provide the deployment of a global underwater control system that the military is building on the bottom of the Arctic seas.
The representatives of the Navy list all this functionality with indispensable reservations: "according to some information", "there is reason to assume", "probably" … This is due to the fact that the Belgorod, as well as another submarine of project 09851 Khabarovsk under construction in Severodvinsk "Are the most secret boats of the Russian Navy.
And the Main Directorate of Deep Sea Research has nothing to do with them. This is eloquently evidenced by the fact that not a single representative of the GUGI was present at the solemn laying of these two boats. There is reason to suppose, rather weighty, based on the facts, that these boats will become carriers of a strategic unmanned torpedo with a nuclear reactor as a power plant, with a unique range, artificial intelligence and a 100-megaton warhead. This torpedo was named "Status-6".
There are two main pieces of evidence that allow us to speak about the reality of the existence of "Status-6". In late November last year, Washington Free Beacon columnist Bill Hertz published an article citing a US intelligence source that Russian sailors had successfully tested "an unmanned nuclear submarine capable of carrying a multi-megaton nuclear warhead." A special purpose submarine B-90 "Sarov" took part in the tests. Hertz calls this weapon revolutionary, since the designers of the United States and other technologically advanced countries of the world have not yet approached this idea.
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Hertz only confirmed the existence of "Status-6". And for the first time it became known about him at the end of 2015, when during the television broadcast of the meeting, Vladimir Putin had a "leak of top-secret information." Undoubtedly, it was planned: it sent a signal across the Atlantic that the new weapon was capable of guaranteed breach in North America's defenses and wreak havoc on the scale of an attack by several well-known ICBMs. That is, this is not just an asymmetric response to the construction of a European missile defense system, but a decision that repeatedly overlaps both the missile defense system and NATO battalions in Poland and the Baltic states, and other potentially aggressive actions by Washington towards Russia.
The deciphering by Western experts of the slide that flashed on two central TV channels gave enough information to understand what the Status-6 unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV), developed at the Rubin Central Design Bureau, is. The following words were read: "Purpose - destruction of important objects of the enemy's economy in the coastal area and inflicting guaranteed unacceptable damage to the country's territory by creating zones of extensive radioactive contamination, unsuitable for military, economic, and other activities in these zones for a long time."
The idea of a nuclear super torpedo is not new. In the 60s, the development of the T-15 with a 100-megaton warhead began in the Soviet Union. However, at that time, there were no components and technologies that could bring the idea to a specific product. Electric motors on batteries of limited capacity made it possible to deliver a 40-ton colossus 24 meters long no further than 30 kilometers. That is, the T-15 carrier boat had to overcome the massive anti-submarine defense of the US coast, which was extremely difficult. And the detonation of such a charge at a distance of 30 kilometers was a guaranteed suicide for the boat.
Since then, technology has gone a long way. On the NPA, as it follows from the deciphered slide, an 8 MW nuclear reactor is installed, which provides an almost unlimited cruising range. That is, for Status 6, the distance between Europe and America is not a problem. The reactor has a liquid metal coolant, which makes it possible to increase the efficiency, as well as significantly reduce noise. It is estimated that this kind of apparatus can be detected with the most sensitive sonars no further than at a distance of 2-3 kilometers. That is, Status-6 emits weaker acoustic noises than the world's quietest submarine Varshavyanka.
Water jet propellers allow a maximum speed ranging from 100 km / h to 185 km / h. Working depth - 1000 meters. And one more advantage of "Status-6" is that it is, in fact, an underwater robot with artificial intelligence and capable of acting independently, depending on the current situation.
Due to its excellent characteristics in travel speed, stealth and depth, "Status-6" has an increased ability to overcome the US anti-submarine defense. Even if it is detected by the SOSSUS sonar anti-submarine system, which monitors the US coast for an underwater invasion, the UAV will easily get away from any NATO torpedo at maximum speed. Besides, possessing intelligence, "Status-6" is capable of performing complex maneuvers.
The fastest American torpedo Mark 54 has a speed of 74 km / h, that is, according to minimum estimates, it is less by 26 km / h. The deepest European torpedo MU90 Hard Kill, launched in pursuit, at a maximum speed of 90 km / h is capable of traveling no more than 10 km.
The strategy for using "Status-6" can be different. The device can act both as a strike weapon and as a weapon of guaranteed deterrence. In the second case, the UAV can arrive at the destination and lay low, waiting for the signal to detonate the warhead. The signal can be transmitted over an ultra-long-wave channel, since only ultra-long waves penetrate the water column. The result is a deterrent, ready to go off instantly. Without spending time on approach and "swim".
And this will be a very powerful deterrent that cannot be ignored. Because the Status-6 warhead, which has a cobalt section, is designed for maximum radioactive contamination of a vast territory. It is estimated that at a wind speed of 26 km / h, a radioactive cloud will poison a 1700 × 300 km rectangle of the coast.
"Status-6" is capable of destroying naval bases, aircraft carrier strike groups, ground air bases. All this has been experimentally verified by the Americans themselves. In 1946, the US Navy tested a 23 kiloton underwater atomic explosion. The result was the loss of a completely new aircraft carrier, Independence, launched in 1942. After four years of unsuccessful decontamination attempts, it was flooded. But the "Status" warhead contains several orders of magnitude more radioactive fission products of cobalt.