Oscar class submarine

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Antey redirects here. For the aircraft, see Antonov An-22

The Soviet Union’s Project 949 (Granit) and Project 949A (Antey) cruise missile submarines are known in the West by their NATO reporting names: the Oscar-I and Oscar-II classes respectively.

Oscars are the largest attack subs in service as of 2006, being slightly larger than Ohio-class submarines of the United States Navy, displacing less when surfaced but more when submerged, as they are shorter in length but broader in beam.

Two Oscar-I submarines were built at Severodvinsk and assigned to the Soviet Northern Fleet:

K-525 Arkhangelsk, laid down 1978, commissioned 1980
K-206 Murmansk (ex-Minsky Komsomolets), commissioned 1981, renamed Murmansk in 1993

Eleven Oscar-II submarines were built at Severodvinsk. Five were assigned to the Soviet Northern Fleet:

Bow view

K-148 Krasnodar, commissioned 1986
K-119 Voronezh, commissioned 1988
K-410 Smolensk, commissioned 1990
K-266 Orel, formerly Severodvinsk, commissioned 1992
K-141 Kursk, laid down 1992, launched 1994, commissioned December 1994, lost August 12, 2000

Six were assigned to the Soviet Pacific Fleet:

K-132 Irkutsk, commissioned 1987
K-173 Krasnoyarsk, commissioned 1989
K-442 Chelyabinsk, commissioned 1990
K-150 Tomsk, commissioned 1991
K-186 Omsk, launched May 8, 1993, commissioned October 27, 1993
K-456 Viluchinsk (ex-Kasatka), commissioned to the Northern Fleet in 1991; transferred to the Pacific Fleet September 1993

One more Oscar-II submarine, K-530 Belgorod, laid down in July 1992, is currently under construction in Severodvinsk. Its construction was frozen several times due to lack of funds. Finally, in July 2006, Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Ivanov announced that "...Ministry of Defense does not need Belgorod, therefore, it does not intend to finance its construction." It is not clear whether the submarine is going to be finished and if so, which country is going to pay for it. [1]

[edit] General characteristics

Oscar II class submarine K-186

Displacement when surfaced: 13,400 tons (Oscar-I), 14,700 tons maximum (Oscar-II)
Displacement when submerged: 20,540 tons (Oscar-I), 24,000 tons (Oscar-II)
Length: 144 meters (Oscar-I), 155 meters (Oscar-II)
Beam: 18.2 meters
Draft: 9 meters (Oscar-I) 9.2 meters (Oscar-II)
Max depth: Oscar-I - 400 meters regular, 450 critical. Oscar-II - 500 meters regular, 600 critical.
Compartments: 10
Complement: 48 officers, 68 men (Oscar-I) or 59 men (Oscar-II)
Reactor: Two OK-650b pressurised water reactors generating 190 MW each.
Propulsion: two shafts, each 49,000 hp
Speed (submerged): 30 knots (Oscar-I), 28 knots (Oscar-II)
Strategic armament: 24 Granit SS-N-19 missiles in two banks of 12 tubes mounted outside the pressure hull. Six large doors, hinged on the outside, cover the tubes in pairs on either side of the sail (British: fin).
Defensive armament: four 533-mm and two 650-mm bow torpedo tubes

Like other Soviet submarines, the Oscar not only has a bridge open to the elements on top of the sail but, for use in inclement weather, an enclosed bridge forward of this station in the sail.

A distinguishing mark is a slight bulge at the top of the fin. A large door on either side of the fin reaches this bulge. These are wider at the top than on the bottom, and are hinged on the bottom. It is reported in the Federation of American Scientists' web page [2] that this submarine carries an emergency crew escape capsule, and as there is no more likely visible feature, these doors apparently cover it.