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RUSSIAN AKULA
Pronounced: uh-KOO-la
Akula means 'shark' in Russian
There are presently three versions of this submarine class in service:
1. 971 (Akula I),
2. 971U (Improved Akula I)
3. 971A (Akula II)
Sub Command allows the player to 'drive' the more advanced Improved Akula I and Akula II subs.
(The early Akulas can be present in game scenarios but the AI controls them.)
Displacement:
8,140 (Akula-II: 9,830) tons surfaced
10,700 (Akula-II: 12,390) tons submerged
Speed:
10 kts surfaced
33 kts submerged
Dimensions:
Length: 110.30m (Akula-II: 114.30)
Beam: 13.60m (15.4 over stabilizers)
Draft: 9.68m
Armament:
-4/650-mm bow Torpedo Tubes
SS-N-16 Stallion missiles and 650 mm torpedoes
-4/533-mm bow Torpedo Tubes
SAET-60M and Type 53-65K torpedoes; mines
1/Strela portable SAM system. (18 missiles) (Not modeled)
Improved Akula Is and Akula IIs have 6 additional external tubes
For gameplay purposes we are assigning the Akulas these additional weapons:
· Skval rocket torpedoes. These super-cavitating torpedoes reach speeds of 200 kts and are considered by some to be a revenge weapon. Many believe it was a mishap with the VA-111 Skval Torpedo that caused the sinking of the Kursk in August.
· Conventional Cruise Missiles
Electronics:
Radar:
Snoop Pair nav./search
Sonar:
Skat-KS suite: MGK-503 (Shark Gill) LF active/passive, passive array, towed passive LF linear hydrophone array
Electronic Warfare:
Amber Light intercept, Rim Hat intercept, Park Lamp D/F
Machinery:
1 OK-650B pressurized-water nuclear reactor (190 Mw), steam turbines; 1/7-bladed prop; 47,600 shp-2/dc electric low-speed motors; 820 shp for 3-4 kts
Electric:
1,500 kw (2 x 750-kw diesel emergency sets)
Crew:
28 officers, 45 enlisted (Akula-II: 20 officers, 30 enlisted)
Overview:
The Akula is reported to be the quietest Russian Nuclear Submarine ever designed with some indications that at low speeds the Improved Akula Is and Akula IIs operate with radiated noise levels equivalent to those of the Los Angeles Class.
The Akula has a streamlined sail, a steel pressure hull and seven watertight compartments.
Maximum operating depth is 600 m, with 520-m normal operating depth.
Sound-quieting measures on all include double isolation of mechanical noise sources; all machinery is secured on isolated foundations, which are then mounted on rafts isolated from the inner hull structure, by rubber pneumatic blocks.
Akula-II (Project 09710) Vepr' seems to be about 4 m longer between the after edge of the sail and the towed communications buoy hatch. The additional length is in the engineering area abaft the probable reactor spaces. It is probably associated with further quieting measures in the main engine suspension system.
Combat systems:
Includes the Pert Spring SATCOM antenna. The Snoop Pair radar and Rim Hat intercept array are on the same telescoping mast, and the Rim Hat array surrounds the base of the radar antenna. All posses a pod-mounted towed linear hydrophone array dispenser atop the vertical stabilizer. Morzh (K-419) and later units have six external horizontal tubes flanking the loading hatch atop the pressure hull at the bow.
Western sources cannot agree on the loadout of these tubes. Some claim each tube holds two MG-74 (GPD-3) Impostor programmable torpedo decoys. Others say they carry cruise missiles. (For gameplay purposes, we allow these tubes to be loaded with both decoys and weapons.)
Many units also have nonacoustic submarine detection system arrays mounted on the forward edge of the sail and on the casing forward of the sail.
The sonar hydrophone array include.
· active/passive cylindrical bow array
· large conformal arrays on either side of the hull forward of the sail
· smaller linear flank array on either beam between the sail and the stern
· passive arrays on the forward and after edge of the sail
· active array in the sail
· towed passive linear array housed in the pod atop the vertical fin at the stern
The combat system is named Omnibus and the navigation suite Medveditsa-971.
The Molnaya-M communications suite includes a towed antenna buoy.
This information is amassed from these sources:
Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World,
Jane's Major Warships
Web:
www.Military.com
www.Fas.org
www.Warships1.com
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