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Russia’s Project 949A Oscar-II Submarines to be Modified for Kalibr Missile Systems

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Naval Forces News - Russia
 
 
 
Russia’s Project 949A Oscar-II Submarines to be Modified for Kalibr Missile Systems
 
Project 949A Antey nuclear-powered submarines will be rearmed with Kalibr missile systems after a profound upgrade at the Zvezda shipyard in the Russian Far East, Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov said on Tuesday.
     
The Russian Navy is planning to upgrade only a part of operational Project 949A (Antey-class, NATO reporting name: Oscar II) nuclear-powered submarines armed with cruise missiles (SSGN), CEO of Russia’s Rubin Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering Igor Vilnit told TASS. Russian Navy Northern Fleet Orel (K-266), a Project 949A SSGN (NATO designation: Oscar II)
     

"The Zvezda shipyard is carrying out profound modernization of Project 949A nuclear submarines, including the replacement of armament with the Kalibr missile complex and also the replacement of navigation, life support and other systems," Borisov said.

Overall, Russia has built 11 Project 949A Antey submarines. Eight of them have remained operational with the Russian Navy. Each submarine has a displacement of 24,000 tonnes and is armed with 24 Granit cruise missile launchers and six torpedo tubes.

CEO of Russia’s Rubin Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering Igor Vilnit told TASS that all the submarines of this type operational with the Navy would undergo upgrade.

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Comments by Navy Recognition
The Project 949A nuclear-powered submarines have a length of 155 meters, a displacement of 24,000 tons, a depth of submersion of 600 meters and an underwater speed of 32 knots. Its crew totals 107. The Project 949A nuclear-powered submarine are armed with six torpedo tubes and 24 launchers to fire Granit cruise missiles with a range of about 500 kilometers (311 miles). Eleven Project 949A Antey submarines were completed at Severodvinsk. To date, two have been retired (K-148 Krasnodar and K-173 Krasnoyarsk) and one was lost (the famous K-141 Kursk). Meaning 8x Oscar-II SSNs would be upgraded.

The Kalibr family of subsonic cruise missiles includes 3M-54 anti-ship (ASM) and 3M-14 land-attack missiles, as well as PT91 anti-submarine warfare (ASW) torpedoes. The export variants of the aforementioned munitions are designated 3M-54E, 3M-14E, and PT91E, respectively [E stands for Export-Oriented, Eksportny].
The 3M-14E land-attack missile has a length of 6.2 m, a diameter of 533 mm, a full weight of 1,770 kg, a warhead of 450 kg, a firing range of 300 km, a cruise speed of Mach 0.8, and a trajectory of 20-150 m.
The PT91E ASW torpedo has a length of 7.65 m, a diameter of 533 mm, a full weight of 2,100 kg, a firing range of 50 km, and a speed of Mach 2.5.
The PT91E2 ASW torpedo has a length of 6.2 m, a diameter of 533 mm, a full weight of 1,200 kg, a firing range of 40 km, and a speed of Mach 2.

The number of Kalibr missiles aboard Oscar-II will likely be the same as Granit: 24x units.
     
K 186 Omsk project 949A OSCAR II Russian Navy submarine Omsk (K-186), a Project 949A SSGN (NATO designation: Oscar II), with all missile hatches opened. Picture via airbase.ru
     

Update 13/03/2017

A number of our readers pointed the fact that Kalibr missile are significantly smaller than Granit. Therefore the number of Kalibrs to be carried by Oscar II submarines post modernization is likely to be over 24 missiles. In addition, the firing range of the Kalibr in its Russian (non export) configuration is estimated to be close to 2000 km (for the land attack variant).