![]() Russia’s submarine build-up includes the 574-foot-long Moscow, which is part-science vessel, part-spy ship, part-commando transport, and part-“mothership” for mini-subs and drones. Russia plans to maintain a fleet of around 50 modern submarines, roughly matching the U.S. Putin’s government in recent years has accelerated production of new subs while also developing high-tech new weapons to arm the vessels. To replace the old surface ships, Moscow has leaned on its historical strength as a builder of submarines. With no cheap or easy way to replace PD-50, the Kremlin is considering decommissioning the aging, unreliable Admiral Kuznetsov as part of a wider cull of Cold War-vintage vessels. PD-50 sank, damaging the carrier and killing two workers. In October 2018 a fire broke out aboard PD-50, a 38-year-old floating drydock that at the time was cradling Admiral Kuznetsov, Russia’s sole aircraft carrier. The Russian navy for years clung to its position as one of the world’s most powerful fleets largely by refurbishing Cold War-vintage surface warships.īut those ships and their support infrastructure are becoming harder to maintain. Research submarines such as Losharik arguably are more important than ever for Russia’s strategic plans. “It’s a very useful submarine,” Polmar said. Many of the vessel’s other duties are shrouded in mystery, but could involve trials of new sensors and weaponry. In 2012 the submarine and an accompanying vessel drilled to a depth of almost two miles on the Arctic seabed in order to retrieve soil samples and identify the outer limits of Russia’s continental shelf. Since launching in 2003, Losharik has undertaken some dangerous missions of national importance. ![]() Navy’s Virginia-class vessels, typically dive no deeper than 600 or 700 feet. government officials, estimated Losharik can dive as deep as 20,000 feet. Norman Polmar, a submarine expert and naval adviser to top U.S. ![]() Losharik’s roughly 200-foot-long hull consists of seven titanium compartments that protect the vessel from the high pressure of extreme depths. Losharik by contrast is a deep-diving research vessel that belongs to the Kremlin’s Directorate of Deepwater Research. Nerpa and Kursk were fleet submarines with front-line military missions. The Kursk’s sinking and Putin’s slowness to respond were major scandals in Russia. The Losharik fire is Russia’s worst submarine disaster since 2008, when a fire-suppression system malfunctioned on the Russian navy attack submarine Nerpa, asphyxiating 20 people as the vessel underwent trials in the Sea of Japan.Įight years earlier in 2000, the missile submarine Kursk suffered an explosion and sank in the Barents Sea, killing 118 people. A short circuit, somebody’s negligence-anything.” “Fire is the biggest nightmare for sailors serving on submarines,” Alexander Golts, an independent military analyst, told The Daily Beast. “There were people running, rushing on the deck.” “I’d never seen anything like that before,” the fisherman added. “It came out of the water, all of it,” one fisherman said. Fishermen told SeverPost, a Murmansk news agency, they observed Losharik surfacing near Kildin Island in the Barents Sea around 9:30 p.m.
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