Delta III-class submarine


The Project 667BDR Kaľmar Delta III-class submarine is a large ballistic missile submarine operated by the Russian Navy. Like other previous s, the Delta III class is a double hulled design, with a thin low magnetic steel outer hull wrapped around a thicker inner pressure hull.

Design

The technical description and requirements for a new ballistic missile submarine were published in 1972. Development of Project 667BDR was begun at the Rubin Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering under the direction of main designer Sergeiy Nikiticz Kovalev. The submarine was to be a successor to the project 667BD. The Delta III-class subs are significantly quieter and have a higher missile section for newer, longer-ranged missiles.
The hull is divided into ten waterproof sections. The first, third, and tenth sections are emergency sections with escape hatches and transverse struts added to increase pressure resistance. A new modular freon firefighting system was installed. A solarium and gymnasium were to be installed to improve living conditions.
The main propulsion system, OK-700A, consists of two pressurized water reactor VM-4S with two steam turbines giving to two five-bladed, fixed-pitch shrouded propellers with improved hydro-acoustic characteristics. Two back-up TG-3000 turbogenerators were also installed. Average period between refuelling and overhaul is about ten years.
The Delta III class are fitted with a new sonar system, the MGK-400 Rubikon, developed under the leadership of main designer S.M. Shelechov. The Rubikon can operate in infrasound frequencies, and contains automated systems for target classification. Its maximum range in ideal hydrologic conditions is about. The Delta III class are equipped with a new battle management system, the Almaz-BDR torpedo fire control. For improved stealthiness, a new inertial navigation system, Tobol-M-1, with higher accuracy, was installed. Tobol-M works with data from two observatories which are saved for two days, and also contains a hydro-acoustic navigational station, which allows the submarine to determine its position from hydro-acoustic buoys. The Delta III class includes the Molnija-M communications system, with satellite capabilities provided by the Tsunami subsystem.
In February 1973, State Rocket Center Makayev began development of a new two-stage liquid-fueled ballistic missile R-29R. Improvements in the R-29R over the original R-29 include MIRVed capability and upgraded inertial navigation system with satellite-assisted navigation, giving the new missile greater accuracy, increasing its damage potential against all types of military targets whether "soft" or "hard." Fire control for the R-29R is achieved through the D-9R ballistic missile system, which contains sixteen SLBM tubes, just like the preceding Project 667BD. The Delta III class most often carried 16 of the R-29R missiles each carrying 3 MIRVs with a range of about. They also can carry R-29RK with 7 MIRVs and range of about 6,500 km or R-29RL with single warhead and range of about. Coupled with the R-29R's capabilities and the performance of the D-9R, the Russian Navy possesses, for the first time, the ability to launch any number of its missiles in a single salvo with shorter launch intervals.
The submarines have four 533mm bow torpedo tubes and carry sixteen torpedoes of types SET-65, SAET-60M, 53-65K, 53-65M, or any combination thereof.

History

The first ship of the class,, was laid down on 30 January 1974 in Severnoye Mashinostroitelnoye Predpriyatie, Severodvinsk, as the last ship of the Delta II class. During construction the new D-9R missile system was integrated into the Delta II hull without any changes in other equipment. The ship was launched on 11 February 1976 and passed sea trials in November 1976. Then tests of the new missile system were started in the White and Barents Seas; 22 missiles were launched and the missile system was commissioned in September 1978.
Most submarines served in the Pacific fleet at Rybachiy submarine base near Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Seven under-ice Arctic voyages and two along the Southern territories were completed to 1980. Under-ice voyages were very difficult. In some places the depth of the sea is less than and the thickness of ice about. That gives only a few metres around the submarine. Such a voyage can be performed only by manual steering, which imposes a great burden on the crew and commander.
Two submarines served in the Northern Fleet at the Gazhiyevo submarine base and three at the Olenya submarine base. From the 1990s all the Northern Fleet subs were stationed at Gazhiyevo.
All Delta III-class submarines passed general overhaul refuelling and upgrade in Zvezdochka shipyard, Severodvinsk, or in Zvezda shipyard, Bolshoy Kamen, since 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed. An upgraded missile system, D-9R, with lightly modified R-29R missiles, was delivered from 1987 to 1990. On some ships the sonar station Avrora-1 was installed.
Most of the ships were decommissioned from 1995, when their next overhaul became due. Only the newest submarine, K-44 Ryazan, had a second general overhaul and refuelling during 2005–2007, which gave it a potential service life to 2017. It underwent another overhaul in 2012 and returned to service in 2017.
In 1994–2002 the submarine was rebuilt in Zvezdochka shipyard to be a special purpose submarine of Project 09786 and renamed as BS-136 Orenburg.
On 30 September 2008, a Russian Navy spokesman reported that Ryazan had successfully completed a 30-day transit from a base in northern Russia under the Arctic ice cap to the Rybachiy submarine base, Kamchatka Peninsula. The Navy added that Ryazan would soon be assigned to regularly patrol the Pacific Ocean. In July 2008, six Delta III boats were active, of which two were believed to be in the process of decommissioning.
As part of Russia's "Thunder 2019" military exercise, Ryazan attempted to launch two R-29R ballistic missiles on 17 October 2019. However, only one did so successfully while the other remained in its launch tube.

Sections of pressure hull

  1. Forward torpedo section
  2. Battery and forward habitable section
  3. Command and control section
  4. Forward missile section
  5. Rear missile section
  6. Auxiliary mechanism and rear habitable section
  7. Nuclear reactor section
  8. Forward turbine section
  9. Rear turbine section
  10. Stern section

    Boats

#ShipyardNameLaid downLaunchedCommissionedFleetStatus
K-424SEVMASH, SeverodvinskNA30 January 197411 February 197630 December 1976NorthernDecommissioned 28 March 1995 for scrapping
K-441SEVMASH, SeverodvinskNA7 May 197425 May 197631 October 1976PacificDecommissioned 28 March 1995 for scrapping
K-449SEVMASH, SeverodvinskNA19 July 197429 July 19765 February 1977Pacificin reserve from 1996, decommissioned in 2001, scrapped 2008
K-455SEVMASH, SeverodvinskNA16 October 197416 August 197630 December 1976Pacificin reserve from 1998–99, probably decommissioned
K-490SEVMASH, SeverodvinskNA6 March 197527 January 197730 September 1977Pacificin reserve from 1998–99, probably decommissioned
K-487SEVMASH, SeverodvinskNA9 June 19754 April 197727 December 1977Northernin reserve from 1998–99, probably decommissioned
K-496SEVMASH, SeverodvinskBorisoglebsk23 September 197513 August 197730 December 1977Northerndecommissioned on 9 December 2008, fuel discharged.
K-506SEVMASH, SeverodvinskZelenograd29 December 197526 January 197830 November 1978PacificRemoved from service in 2010, Decommissioned in June 2010
K-211SEVMASH, SeverodvinskPetropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy19 August 197613 January 197928 September 1979PacificRemoved from active service in Dec 2010, in reserve 2012
K-223SEVMASH, SeverodvinskPodolsk19 February 197730 April 197927 November 1979PacificRemoved from active service in 2018
K-180SEVMASH, SeverodvinskNA27 December 19778 January 198025 September 1980PacificIn reserve from 2004, Scrapped in 2008
K-433SEVMASH, SeverodvinskSvyatoy Georgiy Pobedonosets24 August 197820 June 198015 December 1980PacificRemoved from active service in 2018
BS-136 SEVMASH, SeverodvinskOrenburg9 April 197915 April 19815 November 1981Northern1994–2002 – conversion to special purpose submarine Project 09786. Active as of 2008
K-44SEVMASH, SeverodvinskRyazan31 January 198019 January 198217 September 1982PacificOverhauled in 2007 and in 2012-2017. Active 2019