Imagine that you take the building of the Gran Hotel Bali in Benidorm or Torre Sevilla, knock it down and submerge it in the ocean. Now add to the rear a pair of nuclear reactors capable of propelling it to almost 60 km/h, a submarine the size of several trailers housed in its guts, and the ability to launch half a dozen 20-meter drones loaded with nuclear warheads and a such scope and potential that it has earned them the nickname of “doomsday torpedoes”.
Well, what you have come up with, more or less, is Belgorod, the submarine that Russia has just received.
If its navigation and damage capabilities weren’t already impressive enough, take this fact: nothing like it had been built in decades. With its 184 meters in length, the TASS agency assures in fact that it unseats the ancient Dmitry Donskoy, a 175 m Akula (Typhoom) submersible, which would make it the largest to cross the oceans.
With its size it would surpass both the Typhoom and the US Ohio Class.
Its technical file is so impressive, so unusual, that it is worth doing a quick review. The Belgorod measures 184 meters long and 18.2 beam, it is designed for a crew of about 130 people, it incorporates two nuclear reactors with a capacity of 190 MW and when submerged it can reach a displacement of approximately 30,000 tons.
A titan for research… and war
Like a gigantic gift wrapper, perhaps the most surprising thing is what is inside.
The Belgorod carries a Bester DSRV mini-submersible designed for deep exploration and another 60-meter-long Losharik. In a way, it acts as their mother ship. Yet even that is not the most impressive thing. Beyond her XXL size and power, what has earned her the hyperbolic nickname of “ultimate submarine” are the six Poseidon torpedoes she can carry on board.
The Status-6, or Poseidon —another name worthy of the best war marketing study— are submarine drones equipped with nuclear propulsion that, if necessary, can become torpedoes. It is estimated that they are around 20 meters long and are capable of moving at high speed: some sources speak of 100 km/h, others raise the mark to 185 km/h, and travel thousands of kilometers.
USNINews notes that they can also be armed with a warhead of up to 100 megatons, which has led some to speculate on its tremendous ability to wreak havoc when it hits its targets. It is pointed out, for example, that it could even cause huge waves.
A few more photos from the ceremony of launching the RFS K-329 Belgorod, a nuclear-powered special purpose submarine of project 09852 on 23th April 2019. Sevmash Shipyard in #Severodvinsk🇷🇺#russia.
Photos from ©Pavel L’vov pic.twitter.com/fPg74Krhs0— Capt(N) (@Capt_Navy) April 24, 2019
Major new info on #russia submarine Belgorod. Updated cutaway. Note the Poseidon Intercontinental Nuclear Powered Nuclear Armed Autonomous Torpedo tubes in the bow. #OSINT more info at https://t.co/Niienq0adX pic.twitter.com/9IZ8A1bg9J
— HI Sutton (@CovertShores) May 29, 2019
Video of the Russian navy belgorod submarine which just sailed for the first time. #submarine #navy@CovertShores pic.twitter.com/wZDa870UJi
— K-560 (@K560s) June 26, 2021
Our next tantalizing glimpses of #russia new ‘Belgorod’ special purpose submarine are slightly more revealing. . . pic.twitter.com/XY3qWOsrx5
— Joseph Dempsey (@JosephHDempsey) April 23, 2019
The most curious thing is that, by receiving it, Russia has not presented Belgorod as a weapon or a new asset for war. Not at least directly and clearly. In the TASS statement reporting its delivery, it is presented as a “submarine designed to address various research tasks and implement survey and rescue operations.” “On board you can carry vehicles of deep sea rescue and unmanned autonomous submersibles”, emphasizes the agency.
“Belgorod opens up new opportunities for Russia in conducting various research and helps carry out various scientific expeditions and rescue operations in remote areas of the ocean,” says Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy Nikolay Yevmenov. No mention of his weaponry. Not for military use. The Poseidons are actually presented as drones.
By taking delivery of the submarine from the Sevmash shipyard — part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation — Russia’s largest shipbuilding company, the country also closes a long chapter. The origins of Belgorod date back to the 1990s, to the emblematic Oscar II class, but its construction has been complicated by the many ups and downs of the last three decades.
After years of work, it emerged in April 2019 with the idea of ending up in the hands of the Navy in 2020. However, that schedule did not have all the requirements of the process nor, of course, with the complications of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now Sevmash has already handed it over to the Russian Navy.
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism