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The Typhoon-class submarine could stay submerged for 120 days in uneventful conditions.
However, that amount could be further increased if necessary - especially in the potential
outbreak of a nuclear war.
The type was conceived at the peak of the Cold War, at a time when submarines had a
clear objective: to convey nuclear missiles.
By the 1970s, the Soviet Navy resolved to undertake a massive program known as Project
941 Akula.
The idea was to create an underwater craft capable of carrying as many nuclear weapons
as possible.
As such, at 175 meters long, the Typhoon became the largest nuclear submarine to ever roam
the seas…
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Soviet Austerity
In the 1970s, the USSR launched the Typhoon program - a codename for the new nuclear weapons
plan.
The endeavor sought to create a submarine capable of launching new nuclear missiles.
But equally important, the powerful vessels had to be capable of remaining at sea for
months on end in case a nuclear war broke out.
The resulting Typhoon class, or Project 941 Akula under Soviet designation, was a nuclear-powered
ballistic submarine that was 175 meters long, 23 meters in beam, and 12 meters in draught.
It remains the largest class of submarines ever built, with an impressive 48,000 tonnes
of submerged displacement.
Not to be confused with the NATO-codenamed Akula vessels that are actually the Shchuka-B-class
attack submarines, the Typhoons were specially conceived with the objective of matching the
SLBM armament of the American-made Ohio-class submarines.
Moreover, the craft had to accommodate comfortable living spaces for a complement of 160, who
would be submerged for as long as 120 days under normal conditions.
Otherwise austere in amenities, the Typhoon ships had room for the engineers at Saint
Petersburg's Rubin Design Bureau to include unprecedented perks.
Their sheer size made it even possible to squeeze in a solarium, a swimming pool, and
a sauna.
Armament
The SSBN Typhoon-class missiles were designed by the Makeyev Design Bureau and were given
the NATO designation SS-N-20 Sturgeon.
Each consisted of ten independently targetable multiple re-entry vehicles, or MIRVs, and
weighed 84,000 kilograms at launch, carrying a 100-kiloton nuclear warhead.
The Ohio-class submarines are able to carry 192 nuclear warheads of 100 kilotons each,
and the Typhoon class would also carry 20 RSM-52 intercontinental, three-stage ballistic
missiles.
Unsurprisingly, the Soviets aimed to give their missiles an enhanced range, and in order
to accommodate the improved variant, Soviet SLBMs had to be substantially larger and heavier
than their Western counterparts.
In truth, the Sturgeon is more than twice as heavy as the UGM-96 Trident I, remaining
the heaviest SLBM to have ever served.
And as such, the vessel had to be scaled.
Their guidance system was inertial with stellar reference updating, and their range stretched
to 8,300 kilometers, enabling them to easily target the United States with an accuracy
of 500 meters.
Besides the missiles, the class included six torpedo tubes, four 630-millimeter tubes,
and two 533-millimeter tubes for a total of 22 anti-submarine projectiles of varying types,
such as the Type 53 torpedo and the RPK-2 missile.
Moreover, Typhoons could fire their primary weapons system and deploy their R-39 SLBMs
while moored at their docks, making them a significantly powerful platform.
Typhoon
The origin of NATO's reporting name for the class is unclear.
It is said that the word "typhoon" was used by General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev of the
Communist Party back in 1974 when describing the new type of nuclear ballistic missile
submarine in reaction to the US-Navy's Ohio class, unknowingly baptizing the entire fleet.
The Soviet SSBN class design featured a multi-hull design with no less than five inner hulls.
These were situated inside a superstructure comprising the two parallel main hulls, which
in turn were coated with sound-absorbent tiles.
In the center, the third, smaller hull above the main hulls protruded just below the sail.
This characteristic significantly increased the Typhoons' menacing appearance, as their
sail, or conning tower, did not conceal the missile silos and the imposing mines always
appeared in pictures.
The multiple pressure hulls simplified the internal design but made the ship notoriously
wider than average submarines.
However, they also increased the overall survivability of the entire vessel; if any pressure hull
was breached, the crew in the next one was safer and under less risk of flooding.
Furthermore, the design included ice-breaking features, as well as technology for traveling
under the ice.
The submarines also showcased an advanced stern fin, a horizontal hydroplane, and retractable
nose horizontal hydroplanes.
Additional retractable gear included two periscopes, radio sextant, radar, radio communications,
navigation, and direction-finder masts.
Consequently, the type was able to dive as deep as 400 meters and reach a maximum speed
of 25 knots when submerged.
In contrast, its cruising speed was 12 knots.
Most importantly, the type was unquestionably larger than its American competitors.
Although the Typhoons were only 17 feet longer than the Ohios, they were substantially wider
and taller.
Possibilities
In total, Russia built six Typhoons between 1976 and 1985.
The ships were initially designated by hull numbers only, but the four vessels retained
by the Russian Navy and sponsored by either a city or a company later received proper
names.
The class's lead ship, TK-208, was later named Dmitri Donskoy, and she entered service in
1981.
Then followed TK-202, known as Simbirsk; TK-13, known as Arkhangelsk; and Severstal in 1989.
The construction order for a seventh vessel, TK-210, was canceled and never completed.
There was an initiative in the early 1990s to refurbish some of the submarines into cargo
vessels for shipping oil, gas, and other materials.
The idea was to exploit the type's inherent under-polar capabilities so they could travel
to the country's far-flung northern territories.
The colossal ships could take up to 10,000 tonnes of cargo and ship it with ease under
the ice casket in the Barents Sea.
Still, the oil could only be delivered around the world after the considerable engineering
process to transfer it from the drilling platforms to the submarines, and then to the waiting
tankers, was functional.
The class was stationed with the Russian Northern Fleet at Litsa Guba.
Only Donskoy received a refit and was relaunched in 2002 as a trials ship.
As for Arkhangelsk and Severstal, they were decommissioned between 2004 and 2006 and placed
on reserve, while their sisters TK-2 and TK-13 were ultimately scrapped.
In 2011, the Defense Ministry decided to write off all Project 941 submarines until three
years later, as Russia had several restrictions as part of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.
Besides, they were to be replaced by the Borei class.
Last Survivor
The United States assisted in the cooperative threat reduction program, which had nuclear
fuel from TK-202 removed in US-funded processing facilities.
She was then converted for long-term storage and reuse, and the UK also took part in the
process.
Donskoy spent her post-Cold War career as a test bed for the new generation of Russian
submarine technologies and was transferred to the Baltic to participate in the 2017 Main
Naval Parade, which was held in Kronstadt.
As the behemoth that she is, the submarine was instrumental in testing the next intercontinental
ballistic missile in the Russian Navy's inventory.
The solid-fueled Bulava SS-NX-32 ballistic missile was developed while the older R-39
was retired.
Reportedly, Bulava has a range of over 8,000 kilometers, but unlike its predecessor, it
can carry a 550-kiloton nuclear warhead.
Based on the land-launched Topol missile, the weapon was to arm the newer Borey class
but was also retrofitted to the Typhoon.
The Navy eventually canceled the Typhoon modernization program, arguing that upgrading a single vessel
in the class would be as expensive as building two new Boreis from scratch.
As such, Russia also eliminated the last R-39 SLBMs.
The only Typhoon in active service was thus outfitted with the more modern RSM-56 Bulava
and continued in operation until 2022.
It was previously stated that the submarine would remain in service until 2026 in her
role as a weapons test platform, but it is rumored that the ship was decommissioned in
July.
Still, other sources claim that a final decision on her fate will not be taken until late 2022.
The Future
The newer Boreis are replacing the aging Typhoons with a fleet of at least eight submarines
allocated between the Northern and Pacific fleets.
Armed with 16 Bulava missiles, or a total explosive yield of 7,200 kilotons, Boreis
are nonetheless shorter than their predecessors.
With a slightly smaller size of 170 meters, the new submarines are considerably more space-efficient.
Not to mention, the Bulava is expected to be much more accurate than older versions.
Ultimately, the new submarines were designed to reduce the cost of building and maintaining
the colossal Typhoons.
The four-decade-old Donskoy is soon to be retired, having been born in an age before
computers and compact ballistics missiles existed.
Their size was a byproduct of a time when missiles were of enormous dimensions, not
only due to the available technologies but because they seemed more menacing.
As weapons become smaller and more accurate, there might never be a class of submarines
as large as the Typhoon, but that remains to be seen.
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