The Delta III-class submarine, Soviet designation Project 667BDR ''Kaľmar'' (Squid), is a large

ballistic missile submarine A ballistic missile submarine is a submarine capable of deploying submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) with nuclear warheads. These submarines became a major weapon system in the Cold War because of their nuclear deterrence capabi ...

operated by the

Russian Navy The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...

. 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

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 (Сергей Никитич Ковалёв). The submarine was to be a successor to the project 667BD. The Delta III-class submarines 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 Freon ( ) is a registered trademark of the Chemours Company and generic descriptor for a number of halocarbon products. They are stable, nonflammable, low toxicity gases or liquids which have generally been used as refrigerants and as aerosol p ...

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 A pressurized water reactor (PWR) is a type of light-water nuclear reactor. PWRs constitute the large majority of the world's nuclear power plants (with notable exceptions being the UK, Japan, India and Canada). In a PWR, water is used both as ...

VM-4S (2×90 MW) with two steam turbines giving to two five-bladed, fixed-pitch shrouded

propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

s 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 (in submarine ''K-424'', the older MGK-100 Kerch was installed), 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'' (or ''MVU-JZBDR'')

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

fire control. For improved stealthiness, a new inertial navigation system, Tobol-M-1 (on newer ships Tobol-M-2), 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 (''Shmeľ'' or "Bumblebee"), 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 (3M40, RSM-50, SS-N-18). 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 A submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) is a ballistic missile capable of being launched from submarines. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), each of which carries a nuclear warhead ...

tubes, just like the preceding Project 667BD. The Delta III class most often carried 16 of the R-29R (height: ; diameter: ; starting weight: 36.3 tons) missiles each carrying 3 MIRVs (0.2 мт each) with a range of about . They also can carry R-29RK with 7 (0.1 мт) MIRVs and range of about 6,500 km or R-29RL with single (0.45 мт) 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 (Sevmash),

Severodvinsk Severodvinsk (; ) is a city in the north of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located in the delta of the Northern Dvina, west of Arkhangelsk, the administrative center of the oblast. As of the 2021 Census, the population was 157,213. Due to the p ...

, 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 trial A sea trial or trial trip is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on op ...

s in November 1976. Then tests of the new missile system were started in the

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

and

Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; , ; ) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territorial waters.World Wildlife Fund, 2008. It was known earlier among Russi ...

s; 22 missiles were launched (four R-29PL, six R-29R, twelve R-29RK) 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 since 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. 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 Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex () is a Russian shipbuilding company that operates the country's largest shipyard in the town of Bolshoy Kamen in Primorsky Krai across the bay from Vladivostok. Established in 2015 by a consortium of investors led b ...

, 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 (carrier of mini submarine) 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 Kamchatka Peninsula (, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and western coastlines, respectively. Immediately offshore along the Pacific ...

. 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. K-433 ''Svyatoy Georgiy Pobedonosets'' was involved in a collision with a fishing vessel on 22 September 2011. The submarine did not sustain serious damage. 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

# Forward torpedo section # Battery and forward habitable section # Command and control section # Forward missile section # Rear missile section # Auxiliary mechanism and rear habitable section # Nuclear reactor section # Forward turbine section # Rear turbine section # Stern section

Boats

References

External links