Delta class submarine
A Delta I class submarine
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|
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Delta I class submarine |
| Builders: | Severodvinsk and Komsomolsk |
| Operators: | Soviet Union |
| Preceded by: | Yankee I class submarine |
| Succeeded by: | Delta II class submarine |
| Completed: | 18 |
| Retired: | 18 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: |
Surfaced: 7800 tons Submerged: 10,000 tons |
| Length: | 139 m (456 ft) |
| Beam: | 12 m (39 ft 4 in) |
| Draught: | 9 m (29 ft 6 in) |
| Propulsion: | two pressurized water-cooled reactors powering two steam turbines driving two shafts and each developing 38.7 MW (52,000 shp) |
| Speed: |
Surfaced: 12 knots Submerged: 25 knots |
| Range: | Unlimited, except by food supplies |
| Complement: | 120 |
| Armament: | D-9 launch tubes for 12 R-29 (SS-N-8 Sawfly) SLBM's and 4 533 mm torpedoes tubes and two 400 mm torpedo tubes |
A Delta II class submarine
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|
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Delta II class submarine |
| Builders: | Severodvinsk |
| Operators: | Soviet Union |
| Preceded by: | Delta I class submarine |
| Succeeded by: | Delta III class submarine |
| Completed: | 4 |
| Retired: | 4 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: |
Surfaced: 9,350 tons Submerged: 10,500 tons |
| Length: | 155 m (508 ft 6 in) |
| Beam: | 12 m (39 ft 4 in) |
| Draught: | 9 m (29 ft 6 in) |
| Propulsion: | two pressurized water-cooled reactors powering two steam turbines driving two shafts each developing 41 MW (55,000 shp) |
| Speed: |
Surfaced: 12 knots Submerged: 24 knots |
| Range: | Unlimited, except by food supplies |
| Complement: | 130 |
| Armament: | D-9D launch tubes for 16 R-29D SLBM's, four 533 mm and two 400 mm torpedo tubes |
A Delta III class submarine
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|
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Delta III class submarine |
| Builders: | Severodvinsk |
| Operators: | Soviet Union, Russia |
| Preceded by: | Delta II class submarine |
| Succeeded by: | Typhoon class submarine & Delta IV class submarines |
| Completed: | 14 |
| Active: | 3+1 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: |
Surfaced: 13,500 tons Submerged: 18,200 tons |
| Length: | 166 m (544 ft 7 in) |
| Beam: | 12.3 m (40 ft 4 in) |
| Draught: | 8.8 m (29 ft) |
| Propulsion: | two pressurized water-cooled reactors powering two steam turbines delivering 44,700 kW (60,000 shp) to two five-bladed fixed-pitched shrouded propellers. |
| Speed: |
Surfaced: 14 knots Submerged: 24 knots |
| Range: | Unlimited, except by food supplies |
| Complement: | 135 |
| Armament: | 16 missiles and four 533 mm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes in the bow. |
A Delta IV class submarine
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|
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Delta IV class submarine |
| Builders: | Severodvinsk |
| Operators: | Soviet Union, Russian Federation |
| Preceded by: | Delta III & Typhoon class submarines |
| Succeeded by: | Borei class submarine |
| Completed: | 7 |
| Active: | 6 |
| General characteristics | |
| Propulsion: | two pressurized water-cooled reactors powering two steam turbines with two fixed-pitched shrouded propellers. |
| Speed: |
Surfaced: 14 knots Submerged: 24 knots |
| Range: | Unlimited, except by food supplies |
The Delta class (Project 667B "Murena", Project 667BD "Murena-M", Project 667BDR "Kalmar", Project 667BDRM "Delfin") are a common name of four types of submarines which formed the backbone of the Soviet and Russian strategic submarine fleet since its introduction in 1973. They carry nuclear ballistic missiles of the R-29 Vysota family, with the Delta I, II, III and IV carrying the R-29 (NATO reporting name: SS-N-8 'Sawfly'), R-29D (SS-N-8 'Sawfly'), R-29R (SS-N-18 'Stingray') and R-29RM (SS-N-23 'Skiff') respectively. The Delta I carried 12 missiles, Delta II was a Delta I lengthened to carry 16 missiles; the Delta III and IV carry 16 missiles with multiple warheads and have improved electronics and noise reduction.
The R-27 Zyb missile carried by the Project 667s of the late 1960s had a range of just 2,500–3,000 km (1,600–1,900 mi), so the earlier subs were forced to patrol close to the North American coast, whereas the Deltas could launch the >7,700 km (4,780 mi)-range R-29s from the relative safety of the Arctic Ocean. In turn the Deltas were superseded by the larger Typhoon class submarines. The early Deltas remained in service until the 1990s with treaties such as START I. High running costs and the retirement of the Typhoons' R-39 missiles meant that some Delta IIIs were reactivated in the 2000s (decade) to replace the Typhoons.
In December 2010 Pavel Podvig and russianforces.org estimated the strength of the Russian strategic submarine fleet at one Typhoon class submarine (used to test the R-30 Bulava missile), four Delta III, and six Delta IV class submarines, and one Borei. They will ultimately be replaced by the new Borei class submarines (also known as the Dolgorukiy class).
In the 1960s the Soviet Navy wanted new submarine-launched nuclear missiles that could threaten targets in North America without their launch platforms needing to pass the SOSUS sensors in the GIUK gap to be within range.
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Wikipedia