The Project 949 (Granit) and Project 949A (Antey) Soviet Navy

Soviet Navy

The Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...

/Russian Navy cruise missile

Cruise missile

A cruise missile is a guided missile that carries an explosive payload and is propelled, usually by a jet engine, towards a land-based or sea-based target. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high accuracy...

 submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

s (NATO reporting name

NATO reporting name

NATO reporting names are classified code names for military equipment of the Eastern Bloc...

s: Oscar-I and Oscar-II respectively).

Project 949 submarines were the largest cruise missile submarines in service, until the Ohio class

Ohio class submarine

The Ohio class is a class of nuclear-powered submarines used by the United States Navy. The United States has 18 Ohio-class submarines:...

 SSGN

SSGN

A cruise missile submarine is a submarine that can launch guided missiles. SSGN is the United States Navy hull classification symbol for a nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine. The SS denotes "Ship, Submersible" , the G denotes "guided missile," and the N denotes "nuclear powered"....

 cruise missile submarine converted from SSBN and returned to service on October 15, 2007. They are the fourth largest class of submarines in terms of displacement and length. Only the Typhoon

Typhoon class submarine

The Project 941 or Akula, Russian "Акула" class submarine is a type of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine deployed by the Soviet Navy in the 1980s...

class Soviet/Russian submarines, the American Ohio class ballistic missile submarines and the Russian Borei class submarines are larger.

History

The first submarine of the Project 949 was laid down in the mid 1970s and was commissioned in 1980. In 1982 an updated and larger version (Project 949A) replaced the earlier version. In total thirteen submarines were constructed. In the financial problems that followed the fall of the Soviet Union the Oscar class was prioritized by the Russian navy and when many older submarines classes were retired the Oscar class remained active in both the Northern and Pacific fleets.
In 2011, five submarines are currently active with several more in reserve or waiting for repairs.

Project 949 Granit

Two Project 949 Granit submarines were built at Severodvinsk

Severodvinsk

Severodvinsk is a city in the north of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located in the delta of the Northern Dvina River, west of Arkhangelsk. Administratively, it is incorporated as a town of oblast significance . Municipally, it is incorporated as Severodvinsk Urban Okrug. The city was founded as...

 and assigned to the Soviet Northern Fleet:

Project 949A Antey

Eleven Project 949A Antey submarines were completed at Severodvinsk

Severodvinsk

Severodvinsk is a city in the north of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located in the delta of the Northern Dvina River, west of Arkhangelsk. Administratively, it is incorporated as a town of oblast significance . Municipally, it is incorporated as Severodvinsk Urban Okrug. The city was founded as...

.
Five were assigned to the Soviet Northern Fleet:

At one stage it had been planned to develop a new fourth-generation follow-on to the Project 949A, but this plan was later scrapped.

Northern Fleet

Northern Fleet

The Red Banner Northern Fleet is a unit of the Russian Navy that has access to the Barents and Norwegian Seas, the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, and is responsible for the defense of northwestern Russia. It was established in 1937 as part of the Soviet Navy...

 Oscar class submarines

#	Name	Project	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Status
K-525	Arkhangelsk	949	25 July 1975	3 May 1980	30 December 1980	Scrapped in 2004
K-525	Murmansk	949	22 April 1979	10 December 1982	30 November 1983	Scrapped in 2004
K-148	Krasnodar	949A	22 July 1982	3 March 1985	30 September 1986	Scrapped in 2011
K-119	Voronezh	949A	25 February 1986	16 December 1988	29 December 1989	Active, after overhaul finished in November 2011
K-410	Smolensk	949A	9 December 1986	20 January 1990	22 December 1990	Inactive, in overhaul from November 2011 to 2014
K-266	Orel	949A	19 January 1989	22 May 1992	30 December 1992	Active
K-141	Kursk Russian submarine K-141 Kursk K-141 Kursk was an Oscar-II class nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine of the Russian Navy, lost with all hands when it sank in the Barents Sea on August 12, 2000...	949A	22 March 1992	16 May 1994	30 December 1994	Lost 12 August 2000 Russian submarine Kursk explosion On 12 August 2000, the Russian Oscar II class submarine Kursk sank in the Barents Sea after an explosion. The investigation showed that a leak of hydrogen peroxide in a torpedo led to explosion of its fuel, causing the submarine to hit the bottom which in turn triggered the detonation of further...

Pacific Fleet

Pacific Fleet (Russia)

The Pacific Fleet is the part of the Russian Navy that is stationed in the Pacific Ocean, which formerly secured the Far Eastern borders of the Soviet Union. The fleet headquarters is located at Vladivostok and a number of fleet bases are located in the Vladivostok area...

 Oscar class submarines

#	Name	Project	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Status
K-173	Krasnoyarsk	949A	August 4, 1983	March 27, 1986	December 31, 1986	Inactive, future plans unclear
K-132	Irkutsk	949A	May 8, 1985	December 27, 1987	December 30, 1988	Inactive, overhaul from 2008
K-442	Chelyabinsk	949A	May 21, 1987	June 18, 1990	December 28, 1990	Inactive from 1998
K-456	Tver	949A	February 9, 1988	June 28, 1991	August 18, 1992	Active
K-186	Omsk	949A	July 13, 1989	May 10, 1993	July 20, 1996	Overhaul 2007-2008 Active
K-150	Tomsk	949A	August 27, 1991	July 20, 1996	December 30, 1996	Overhaul from 2008

Three more Project 949A Antey submarines were planned.

Unfinished Oscar class submarines

#	Name	Project	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Status
K-139	Belgorod	949A	July 24, 1992			Construction halted
K-135	Volgograd	949A	September 2, 1993			Construction stopped launched incomplete
K-165	Barnaul	949A	April 1994			Construction stopped launched incomplete

Like other Soviet submarine designs, the Project 949 not only has a bridge open to the elements on top of the sail

Sail (submarine)

In naval parlance, the sail or fin of a submarine is the tower-like structure found on the dorsal surface of submarines...

 but, for use in inclement weather, there is an enclosed bridge forward and slightly below this station in the fin/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. The Federation of American Scientists

Federation of American Scientists

The Federation of American Scientists is a nonpartisan, 501 organization intent on using science and scientific analysis to attempt make the world more secure. FAS was founded in 1945 by scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project to develop the first atomic bombs...

http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/russia/theater/949.htm reports that this submarine carries an emergency crew escape capsule; it is possible that these doors cover it.

The Oscar Class is commonly referred to as Mongo by crews of U.S. patrol aircraft in reference to their massive size.

External links

• Two pictures of boats of the class
• http://www.friends-partners.org/pipermail/fpspace/2000-September/000237.html