The Laika class, Russian designation Project 545 ''Laika'' (), also referred to as Husky class (), are series of

nuclear-powered Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

modular Module, modular and modularity may refer to the concept of modularity. They may also refer to: Computer science and engineering * Modular design, the engineering discipline of designing complex devices using separately designed sub-components ...

, fifth-generation multi-purpose submarines currently under development by

Malakhit Marine Engineering Bureau Malakhit Marine Engineering Bureau () is a company based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is a subsidiary of the United Shipbuilding Corporation. Malakhit has designed nuclear-powered attack submarines including the November, Victor, Alfa, Akul ...

for 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 ...

History

On 16 December 2014, it became known Malakhit was developing a new fifth-generation nuclear submarine as an internal initiative. On 17 March 2016, the codename ''Husky'' was disclosed, and finally on 8 August 2016, a contract was signed with the

Russian Defence Ministry The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (; MOD) is the governing body of the Russian Armed Forces. The President of Russia is the Commander-in-Chief of the forces and directs the activity of the ministry. The Minister of Defence exerci ...

for development of the submarine. In April 2018, Malakhit

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Vladimir Dorofeyev reported the preliminary design of the prospective Husky class nuclear submarine was complete. A year later, in April 2019, Malakhit announced it had launched R&D work on the submarine under a new codename ''Laika''. On 24 December 2019, during the Russia's Defence Ministry Board session held in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, project number and some technical characteristics of the submarine were revealed. The lead vessel of the class is expected to be built by 2027–2030.

Design

The submarines are reported to combine the roles of multi-purpose and strategic submarines, being able to use both cruise and

ballistic missiles A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are powered only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) typica ...

depending on the task and modular configuration. The submarines will have a smaller displacement than the current fourth-generation s and incorporate the

double hull A double hull is a ship hull design and construction method where the bottom and sides of the ship have two complete layers of watertight hull surface: one outer layer forming the normal hull of the ship, and a second inner hull which is some di ...

design with the outer hull made of

composite material A composite or composite material (also composition material) is a material which is produced from two or more constituent materials. These constituent materials have notably dissimilar chemical or physical properties and are merged to create a ...

s. The composites are also expected to be used for control surfaces and propulsion system. The main armament is to include the

3M-54 Kalibr The Novator Kalibr (Калибр, caliber), also referred to as 3M54-1 Kalibr, 3M14 Biryuza (Бирюза, turquoise), (NATO reporting name SS-N-27 Sizzler and SS-N-30A) is a family of Russian cruise missiles developed by NPO Novator (OKB-8). It ...

and

P-800 Oniks The P-800 Oniks (; ), marketed in export as the Yakhont (; ), is a Soviet/Russian supersonic anti-ship cruise missile developed by NPO Mashinostroyeniya as a ramjet version of P-80 Zubr. Its GRAU designation is 3M55, the air launched Kh-61 vari ...

anti-ship cruise missiles as well as the 3M22 Tsircon hypersonic cruise missiles. The vessels are also projected to be armed with MARVed

ballistic missile A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are powered only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) typic ...

s currently in development by the

Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau The JSC Makeyev Design Bureau (; also known as Makeyev OKB) is a Russian missile design company located in Miass, Russia. Established in December 1947 as SKB-385 in Zlatoust (see Zlatoust Machine-Building Plant), the company was the main designe ...

. According to President of the

United Shipbuilding Corporation JSC United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC; , ОСК) is an open joint stock company in Russia which unites shipbuilding, repair and maintenance subsidiaries in western and northern Russia, and in the country's Far East, to streamline civilian ship ...

Alexei Rakhmanov, the submarines are to be highly unified in their key components in order to substantially reduce the costs for the Russian Defence Ministry. The Project 545 submarines reportedly feature the displacement of 11,340 tons, maximum speed of 35 knots, 90 days of autonomy and maximum submersion depth of 600 meters.

References

External links

HUSKY / Pr.545 Laika: Russia's Next Generation Attack Submarine - H.I. Sutton
{{Current SSN Proposed ships Nuclear submarines of the Russian Navy Submarine classes Submarines of Russia Attack submarines