Russian submarine Belgorod

History
Russian Navy
Name	K-329 Belgorod
Builder	Sevmash
Launched	April 23, 2019
Status	Sea trials
General characteristics
Class and type	Oscar II-class submarine
Type	Unmanned underwater vehicle submarine mothership, Status-6 Oceanic Multipurpose System platform
Displacement	14,700/17,000 tonnes surfaced 24,000/30,000 tonnes submerged
Length	184 m (603 ft 8 in)
Beam	15 m (49 ft 3 in)
Propulsion	2 pressurized water reactor OK-650M.02 nuclear reactors, 2 × steam turbines delivering 190 MW (250,000 shp) to two shafts
Speed	32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph) surfaced
Range	Unlimited supposed
Endurance	120 days
Test depth	500 to 520 m (1,640 to 1,710 ft) by various estimates
Complement	110 sub-mariners
Armament	6 Poseidon drones
Notes	Home port: Severodvinsk, Russia

K-329 Belgorod ("Белгород") is a modified Oscar II class (NATO designation) Russian nuclear submarine. It was originally laid down as a Project 949A cruise missile submarine (NATO designation Oscar II class), but it is now a special operations vessel, able to operate unmanned underwater vehicles. Its construction was suspended, resumed at a low rate of progress due to chronic under-funding, and then was radically redesigned to become a unique vessel - the first Russian fifth generation submarine, according to the Ministry of Defence. K-329 Belgorod, jointly with Status-6 Oceanic Multipurpose System, is one of the last weapons systems presented by Russian President Vladimir Putin during his annual speech on March 1, 2018, it is being tested at sea and is expected for commissioning in the Navy around the end of the year 2021.

Belgorod is reported as becoming the first submarine to utilize the Status-6 Oceanic Multipurpose System currently in the testing phase.

Construction

The submarine's was laid down on July 24, 1992 at the Severodvinsk Shipyard as pennant number 664 of the "Oscar II" class cruise missile submarines.

On April 6, 1993 submarine 664 received the honorific name Belgorod after the old Russian city with that name and the tactical designation K-139. In 1995, crew training began at the Obninsk-based 510th Naval Training Center named after L. G. Osipenko of the Russian Navy (510-й учебный центр Военно-Морского Флота имени Л.Г. Осипенко), but in 1997, construction was put on hold due to the severe economic crisis after the collapse of the Soviet Union (with the submarine three-quarters finished), mainly for financial reasons. On January 22, 1998, the crew was disbanded and the unfinished hull was mothballed. The loss of Belgorod's sistership K-141 "Kursk" in 2000 led to the decision to resume construction of "Belgorod" to replace Kursk, upgraded to Project 949AM specifications. By December 31, 2004 the hull was mostly complete, missing its powerplant, equipment and missile silos. The 100 million rubles provided by the Ministry of Defence were insufficient, and Sevmash was forced to invest its own financial resources to make up for the deficit. Sevmash, on its own initiative, continued construction at a slow pace.

The construction of the "Belgorod" was included in the 2006 investment plan of the Ministry of Defence, but during a visit at the shipyard by Minister of Defence Sergei Ivanov on July 20, 2006 came the news that the decision has been taken not to commission the submarine in the Russian Navy. By that time, Belgorod was about 80% complete. The Ministry of Defence considered other options to finish the submarine, including selling it to the Indian Navy, which would have financed completion of the vessel.

In 2009 re-designing the submarine and arming it with the cruise missiles originally developed for the Project 885 Yasen-class submarines was considered. In early 2012 the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, Admiral Vladimir Sergeyevich Vysotsky stated that Belgorod would be completed as a "special projects" vessel. On December 20, 2012 this specification received the official designation Project 09852. The submarine was planned for commissioning in the Navy in 2018, and a crew was formed once again in November of that same year.

On April 23, 2019 the "Belgorod" was taken out of the covered dry dock and put afloat. The commander of the ship at that time was Captain 1st rank Anton Alyokhin. In the course of 2019 the sub was to complete its fitting out, nuclear reactor testing and sea worthiness trials. By June 2020, one source reported it "in service", though this appears to have been inaccurate. Others suggested it was still fitting out (possibly including sea trials). In January 2021, the director-general of the Russian Shipbuilder Sevmash, Mikhail Budnichenko, stated that 'tests' on Belgorod were proceeding. The plans to commission the submarine in the Russian Navy in 2020 and to officially introduce the Poseidon system in 2021 did not materialize. A press report by the official Russia state-owned TASS agency from April 2021 indicates a new objective from the Russian Defense Ministry to send the K-329 into service in the Pacific zone. This information could confirm the problems encountered with the Losharik submarine and the shift to the background of the operations envisaged on the Arctic continental shelf. Also in April 2021 it was reported by military analyst H. I. Sutton that the fitting-out of the K-329 progressed. On June 25 2021 the "Belgorod" left the Severodvinsk shipyard for the first time on her trial regimen by the builder Sevmash. In early October it was reported that the submarine had again returned to dry dock for reasons that were unclear.

The K-329 Belgorod, when commissioned, will join the 29th Submarine Division. The division is a special formation, the operational arm of the Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research (GUGI), which reports directly to the Russian Defence Ministry.

Characteristics

Design

In the construction process the original 154-meter long hull was lengthened to 184 meters (which is almost 11 meter more than the Project 941 SSBNs - the world's largest submarines ever built) with a width of 18,2 meters.

In June 2019 the US military expert H.I. Sutton has published satellite imagery of the Sevmash shipyard, which show the K-329 "Belgorod" along with K-549 "Knyaz Vladimir" of the Borey project, with the Belgorod visibly longer and wider. This brings the previously supposed dimensions of 184 x 18,2 meters into question. According to some sources, a critical feature of the "Belgorod" are the innovative propellers, which significantly reduce the noise and increase the stealth characteristics of the submarine. For the reason of secrecy on all known photographs the propellers are properly covered with tarpaulin.

Displacement	greater than 14,700 tonnes surfaced (est. 17,000 tonnes), 24,000 tonnes submerged (estimated 30,000 tonnes)
Length	~ 184 meters
Beam	~ 15 meters
Speed	<32 knots
Range	Unlimited
Endurance	~4 months
Operating depth	Estimated as 500–520 meters per OSCAR-II SSGN
Propulsion	Nuclear (2 x pressurized water reactor OK-650M.02 with a capacity of 190 MW driving two steam turbines and twin screws.)
Crew	estimated 110
Armament	6 x Poseidon (KANYON) nuclear torpedoes, 6 x 533 mm (21") torpedo tubes

Armament

On November 11, 2015 the Status-6 Oceanic Multipurpose System project was officially revealed to the public. The initial designation of Status-6 has since been changed to Poseidon (Russian weapon systems designation 2M39 and the NATO reporting name Kanyon has been assigned).

The Poseidon type remotely operated underwater vehicle has a 10 000 km range, can dive to a depth of 1 000 meters and is designed to deliver nuclear warheads for the destruction of coastal infrastructure as a second nuclear strike option («оружия ответного удара»). The motherships for the Poseidon underwater drones are planned to be the 09852 "Belgorod" project submarines (like the "Belgorod") and the 09851 "Khabarovsk" project submarines. According to publications by the Russian state news agency TASS the submarines can carry up to six Poseidon vehicles at once and this view is shared by some military experts.

Special activities platform

Some sources state that in addition to the Poseidon AUVs, the Belgorod type can also operate as the mother ship for a single nuclear-powered mini-submarine of the 18511 project otherwise known as Paltus type (Project 1851), used for the planting on the seabed of a self-contained mini-nuclear reactor of the ATGU 'Shelf' (АТГУ Шельф, abbreviation stands for Атомная турбогенераторная установка - Nuclear Turbo-Generator Device) type. The ATGU Shelf is being developed for autonomous power generation of underwater sensor arrays and the submarine could piggy-back a single ATGU unit at a time, attached to its center deck section. The Belgorod is also planned to operate the Clavesin-2R-RM («Клавесин-2Р-РМ», clavesin is Russian for Harpsichord) unmanned underwater sensor vehicles.

The loss of the Losharik nuclear mini-submarine after a major fire in 2019 has caused a major setback for the Belgorod programme. At the same time, some sources suggest that the full entry into service of Poseidon may not occur on the submarine until around 2027.

Special missions and intelligence gathering

The Belgorod Project is aimed at the development of a multi-role submarine platform with wide range of intelligence capabilities in addition to its combat role. Among the strategic aims, which have influenced the re-design of the K-329 Belgorod is the desire to set up and exploit the Arctic shelf is a major Geo-strategy objective for the Kremlin in the short to medium term, mostly for exploitation of energy resources in the High North, but also for control of the increasingly important sea trade route through the Arctic Ocean due to the melting of the arctic ice. An example for this shift towards the Arctic region can be seen in a new project to modernize and deploy a network of sonar listening stations, positioned on the Arctic seabed (code name Harmony, Russian: Гармония). High-ranking officials at the Pentagon as well as officers from other NATO member states have expressed their concerns in the period between the end of 2015 and the end of 2017 about the Russian plans for undersea cables for telecommunications. The new objective, in april 2021, from the Russian Defense Ministry to send the K-329 into service in the Pacific zone comes with rising military tensions in the North Pacific.

See also

• Khabarovsk-class submarine