Classification of submarines

"Ship class" is a technical term, which refers to the ships of the same ship class, which are divided by displacement, main weapons and equipment, propulsion mode or service life, but not entirely by size. The name of the first ship is often used to represent a certain ship class. For example, Russia's cruise missile nuclear submarine has four levels and seven models, among which the "Oscar -2" nuclear submarine Kursk can be described as:

Ship type-nuclear submarine

Ship type-cruise missile nuclear submarine

Ship class-Oscar class

Ship type-Oscar class 2 (that is, improved)

Name of ship-Kursk

Ship number -K- 14 1

Some countries don't call it "class" but only "type", such as China's submarine 33, 035 conventional submarine, 09 1 attack nuclear submarine and so on. Instead of class 33,035,091,etc. Yuan-class, Han-class and Kilo-class are the names given to our submarines by NATO countries, or the names of importing countries, not the normative names of our country. Song class is China's Type 039 conventional submarine, Han class is China's Type 09 1 nuclear submarine (if improved, it will be written as Type 09 1G), Kilo class is China's Type 877, and so on.

If it is a ship, such as China's first 09 1 attack nuclear submarine, it is: 09 1 Long March 1 boat (ship number 40 1).

Since 1990, the total number of submarines in active service in the world has decreased by about 50%, from about 800 in the early 1990s to about 400 in the early 2002. During the same period, the number of nuclear submarines in the world decreased even more, from 330 to 140. At present, only the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China have nuclear submarines. Since 1974, India has embarked on the road of developing nuclear submarines, and plans to achieve results in the first decade of this century. In addition, due to fiscal austerity and lack of significant technological progress, Brazil's nuclear submarine plan was suspended. Some experts predict that there may be no new nuclear submarine countries in the next 20 years or longer.

United States navy

Silent underwater fleet

The average service time of the "Ohio" class strategic nuclear submarines in active service in the United States is expected to be 44 years. Therefore, by 265438+1920s, the US Navy did not need to replace this class. Among them, four improved "Ohio" classes are expected to be in service from 2027 to 2028. By 2008, Ohio will serve again as the first cruise missile nuclear submarine. Of the 24 missile launchers on board, 22 will be changed into launchers capable of carrying 7 tactical Tomahawk missiles each, and the other two will be used as lock rooms for 9 people, for 66 (65,438+002 in case of emergency) "sea seals" to enter and leave the submarine. In addition, the deck can also carry two dry deck conveyors or an advanced "seal" unit to transport submarines (or one conveyor each). The modified four Ohio-class nuclear submarines will replace nuclear fuel for nuclear reactors and be equipped with the latest sensors and communication systems. Except for four nuclear submarines that are expected to be converted into cruise missiles, the remaining 14 Ohio-class Alaska were converted in February 2002 and equipped with Trident D-5 ballistic missiles.

The total number of attack nuclear submarines in service in the United States in 2002 was 53, but the head of the US Navy believed that at least 62 were needed to complete its global mission. Although American nuclear submarines have not sunk enemy ships and submarines in the past 60 years, they have become an important part of American intelligence collection and proved to be very useful launch platforms for cruise missiles attacking land. The only thing that limits its development is the high cost. 1998 When the first Virginia class boat was ordered, the cost was $4.2 billion. By the beginning of 2002, its construction cost increased by $34 10/0,000, which limited the speed of ordering one ship every year. If the Virginia-class construction is completed as planned, the United States will eventually have only about 30 attack nuclear submarines. To this end, the US Navy tried to improve the combat capability of attacking nuclear submarines from two aspects. One is to replace the "Los Angeles" class with nuclear fuel, which is still effective, and the other is to double the speed of building the "Virginia" class. However, due to limited funds, these two methods cannot be carried out at the same time. Moreover, the plan to build 30 Virginia-class nuclear submarines may be difficult to achieve, because the design of new nuclear submarines after Virginia-class nuclear submarines has begun.

The first Virginia class boat was completed and put into service in June 2004, and the fourth North Carolina will be completed and put into service at the end of 2007. However, its fifth ship will not enter active service before 20 10, and may continue to build "Virginia" class nuclear submarines at the rate of one per year.

In 2004, the third and last "Sea Wolf" class "Jimmy Carter" will enter service. Although the Sea Wolf and Connecticut nuclear submarines with underwater displacement of 9 137 tons were used as attack nuclear submarines by the US Navy, Jimmy Carter was slightly different from the first two. The boat has a total length of 138. 1 m and an underwater displacement of 12 139 tons. There is a 30.5-meter-long cabin in the middle of the ship, which can accommodate 50 "seal" players and their equipment. In addition, the boat also has special intelligence gathering ability, which can replace the retired "sturgeon" class last "snapper".

Russia

Chaotic nuclear submarine force

At present, the training status and material conditions of Russian submarine forces are very embarrassing. Since 1996, Russia has not built any new nuclear submarines. In the past, 10 only built two. Four submarine construction plants are currently in a difficult situation. Therefore, the contract distribution of eight "Kilo" class conventional submarines caused four construction plants to be in a hurry.

There are only 12 Russian strategic nuclear submarines, including typhoon-class 1 ship, 6 D-IV ships, 5 D-III ships, and the last D-III ship will be retired at the end of 2005. 1990 was overhauled in the later period. In June 2000, the first typhoon-class boat was named "Dmitry Donskoi" and was towed away from the repair workshop of North Devinsk Shipyard on June 26, 2002. According to news media reports, after the commemoration ceremony, the submarine was towed back to the factory. The refurbished "Dmitry Donskoi" strategic nuclear submarine returned to service at the end of 2002, and was used as a test platform for the new Brava -30 submarine-launched strategic ballistic missile. It is reported that this nuclear submarine will not be used for combat patrol before 2005, when the only typhoon-class Cherville Starr capable of combat patrol may have been retired.

The Brava -30 missile replaced the unsuccessful Grom (SS-NX-28) project, which is an improved version of the land-based SS-25 Baiyang -M missile. Russia plans to equip the only new-generation strategic nuclear submarine "Yuri Dolgoruki" it is building with 12 Brava -30 missiles. "Yuri Dolgoruki" started construction on1996165438+12 October, with the engineering code of 955 and the model design name of "Boleyi" class strategic nuclear submarine. At the same time, there are more and more signs that Russia has stopped the construction of Yuri Dolgoruki, but turned to complete the construction of the third Akula -II class ship. The ship was originally named "Jaguar". At present, Russia intends to improve the design of the boat and add a cabin with a 12 missile launcher in the middle of the boat to equip and launch the Brava -30 missile. This improved new nuclear submarine was renamed "Yuri Dolgoruki" and may be completed in 2005~2006. If funds permit, the fourth Acura -II bobcat that has not been built in North Devinsk may also need the same improved design and construction. The six D-IV class ships currently in service are scheduled to be in service until the next 10 year, but the other K-64 ship with D-IV class is scheduled to be retired and dismantled in February 2006. However, in the summer of 2002, the Russian navy put forward a new proposal to refit K-64 with nuclear fuel and convert it into a cruise missile launch platform. This proposal is obviously aimed at converting the American "Ohio" class into a cruise missile nuclear submarine. However, at present, there is only one "D-IV" class available for modification in Russia, and the modification cost may be high, so this modification may not be realistic for Russia.

13 "Volgograd" (K- 135) and Oscar -II class (code 949A) were launched in September 1999. The boat was originally launched to make room for the construction workshop of the North Devinsk Shipyard, but according to some information recently released by Russia, the main reason for launching the "Volgograd" nuclear submarine is that Russia hopes to replace the "Kursk" with this 19400-ton cruise missile nuclear submarine as soon as possible.

Although Russian naval officials repeatedly claimed that the only Yasen-class attack nuclear submarine "North Devinsk" (code 885) was about to be built, they invested a small amount of money again in 200 1 year, since 1993 165438+ started construction in North Devinsk. The service time of the second class "Acura -II" Cheetah has been postponed repeatedly. On February 4th, 200011,Russia announced that Cheetah would be the last Akula -II class. This statement has intensified speculation that Jaguar and Bobcat will be converted into strategic nuclear submarines. However, by July 2002, the Cheetah was still in the shipyard because the Russian government still owed 20 million dollars. In addition, two "Akula -I" class attack nuclear submarines started construction in 1989 and19/kloc-0 respectively in * * * Qingcheng, but they have not yet been completed. It is said that they were leased by India in February 2002 at a price of $5 billion, and the lease period began around 2005. However, Russia has no plans to build these two boats at present. Although one of the "Nilpa" ships has completed 82% of the construction, and its equipped reactors have been in operation since the mid-1990s, due to the shipyard's continued lack of financial resources, these two ships are likely to be sold to other countries in the end.

Britain, England

It is urgent to expand the nuclear submarine fleet.

With four "avant-garde" strategic nuclear submarines being built and put into service during the period of 1993 ~ 1999, it is unnecessary for Britain to make an update plan for these four submarines in the future 10 or longer. However, although Britain has ordered the first batch of three "smart" class attack nuclear submarines as "fast" replacement boats at 1997, the situation that Britain owns 12 class attack nuclear submarines is still very urgent. At present, Britain has seven Trafalgar-class and five fast-class attack nuclear submarines, but this is not enough to complete the task of the British navy, and the British government's initial commitment to order three other smart-class submarines has also slowed down. The "smart" class with an underwater displacement of 7,200 tons was delayed by 12 ~ 18 months compared with the planned delivery time at the end of 2005. By the end of 2005, two "fast" classes will be retired, and the other two "fast" classes will be retired in 2006, one year ahead of the expected delivery time of the second "smart" class. In this way, the number of attacking nuclear submarines in Britain will be reduced to nine by then. The last nuclear submarine of the "fast" class will be retired on 20 10. Further affecting the strength of British nuclear submarines is the retirement of Trafalgar in 2007 and Tubent in 2008. Their retirement time is one year earlier than the service time of the third "smart" class. It may be unrealistic for the last two Trafalgar-class nuclear submarines to continue to serve in 2020 and 2022. In this way, Britain's attack on nuclear submarines will likely drop to the level of only six.

France

The nuclear submarine force has developed steadily.

With the Agosta-class "Uesan" submarine with conventional power retired in July, 200 1, the French submarine force was all composed of nuclear submarines. Although the number of nuclear submarines in service in France has been 10 since 190, the ratio of strategic nuclear submarines to attack nuclear submarines has changed from 6: 4 in 1990 to 4: 6. Among the four strategic nuclear submarines, Invincible and Unyielding, which served in 1976 and 1985 respectively, will be the third and fourth of the Triumphal class, namely Levi Girante, which served in 2004 and served in 20 10. The "Horrible" will be the first nuclear submarine equipped with the strategic missile M5 1 in the "Triumph" class. The missile has a launch weight of 55 tons and a maximum range of 7,000 kilometers, and can carry four TN-75 split-guided warheads. The M5 1 missile will be equipped with three other Triumphal class ships after a slight modification.

Ruby attack nuclear submarine, with a surface displacement of 24 10 tons, is the smallest nuclear submarine in the world. During the period of 1983 ~ 1993, six ships of this class were built and put into service. Ruby class is planned to be replaced by six attack nuclear submarines with a surface displacement of 4 100 tons and a maximum underwater speed of 25 knots from 20 12 to 2022. Barracuda class will be equipped with four 533mm torpedo tubes, carrying 18 torpedoes, or scalp-to-land attack cruise missiles and MM39 flying fish anti-ship missiles. "Barracuda" class equipment 150 MW K- 15 PWR provides power for 4 1500 axis horsepower propulsion motor, and the propulsion system adopts pump jet propeller. However, the Barracuda project was delayed by two years than expected, and due to the serious shortage of funds, the construction of the first boat of this class will not start until 2005. With the approval of the construction of the second aircraft carrier, the pressure on the French navy is increasing. Therefore, the number of "barracuda" class construction is likely to decrease or the plan will be postponed. According to the plan of the French navy, the "Barracuda" class will be in service from 2050 to 2060. Half a century's service will require very strict design.

India

A new member of the nuclear submarine club

The development of a nuclear submarine called "advanced technology submarine" by India began in 1974, with the aim of developing it in India. It may take a long time for this plan to bear fruit. According to the plan, India is preparing to build five nuclear submarines. At present, India intends to equip the developed nuclear submarine with a submarine-launched Agni -2 ballistic missile with a range of 1 0,000 km (instead of the early Saghari Card Program), and add an Indian-Russian BH Ramos (PJ- 10) cruise missile launched by a torpedo tube. This submarine-launched cruise missile is an improved version of Russian 3M-55ONIKS missile (called SS-NX-26 by NATO), and its first flight test was conducted in India in June 2006. The BrahMos cruise missile has a range of 300 kilometers and can carry 500 kilograms of warheads. Its warhead may eventually be a nuclear warhead developed by India itself.

At present, India has made arrangements for the construction of nuclear submarines. The pressure hull of nuclear submarine was built in Mazagan, Mumbai, and assembled in Putna Naval Ship Repair Shop in Visaka. The shipyard once launched a submarine barge on 200 1 for the missile launch test in the "advanced technology submarine" program. It is said that Russian scientists and technicians are involved in all aspects of the plan. India's first nuclear submarine has an underwater displacement of 9400 tons and a length of 124 meters. It may be launched in 2006-2007 and put into use in 2009.