An Akula class submarine is one of a series of nuclear-powered attack submarines. It was developed in the Soviet Union, during the Cold War years, as Project 971, with the first of its class being launched in 1980 and commissioned in 1984. It is the quietest nuclear submarine in the Russian Navy and one of the stealthiest in the world. Six of them are still part of the Russian Navy lethal arsenal, while four are in the process of being modernized. Three models were built: Akula I, II, and III.
Armament
The Akula-class attack submarines are armed with Kalibr hypersonic and RK-55 Granat cruise missiles for conventional warfare, plus twenty-eight torpedoes that are launched through four 533-mm torpedo tubes. To spot and attack enemy warships, the Akula-class submarine is equipped with the Chiblis surface search radar.
Below, Nerpa (K-152) Akula, leaving port as it cruised in the waters of the Baltic Sea in 2015
List of Akula-Class Subs
Pantera (K-317), Magadan (K-331), Kuzbass (K-419), Volk (K-461), Leopard (K-328), Tigr (K-154), Samara (K-295), Vepr (K-157), Gepard (K-335), and Nerpa (K-152). They produce the lowest noise levels in the world as they sail almost undetectable.
Specifications
Type: Nuclear missile submarine
Length: 113.3 m (Akula III)
Beam: 13.6 m
Displacement: 13,800 tons (submerged)
Draft: 9.7 m
Power Plant: one 190 MW pressurized nuclear reactor, with one 43,000 HP steam turbine
Crew: 73
Below, an Akula I submarine in the waters of the northern Pacific, about 300 miles off the coast North America in 1989.
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