The mid-twentieth century went down in history asa time of revolutionary technological breakthroughs in all areas of technology, science and even culture. As soon as they do not call this period: the age of cybernetics, the age of cosmonautics, and even the era of rock and roll. In the USSR, at the end of the forties, the first nuclear power plant in the world was put into operation, it happened four years after Hiroshima. An icebreaker with a nuclear power plant was also built in the USSR (1957). Three years earlier, the Nautilus submarine was solemnly launched in the USA. The era of the nuclear submarine fleet. It was thought that diesel submarines were forever a thing of the past. But it turned out that in some cases there is no replacement. An example is the quietest submarine of the 877 Varshavyanka project in the world.
The advantages of nuclear submarinespower plant obvious. They do not need to regularly surface to recharge batteries, the radius of operational use is almost unlimited, as is the time spent at depth. It is only required to load food into the holds and pump drinking water into the tanks (however, there are desalination plants). Inside the compartments is spacious, the living conditions of the crew are quite comfortable, and the combat capabilities are such that one unit is enough to arrange dozens of Hiroshima. But there are some problem points. You can shut down the reactor only in the event of an accident, so the boat is constantly noisy. Almost "lie on the bottom" and quietly sit out is impossible.
Whatever the safe power installation, butcooling of thermal circuits requires pumping of seawater, which then, albeit weakly, but “fonit”, and you can “calculate” the ship using this sensitive instrument. In addition, any nuclear submarine (nuclear submarine) has considerable size, and therefore there are restrictions on walking in shallow water areas of the World Ocean.
After the appearance in service of the fleetsopponents of these invisible on the surface of cruisers, similar ships began to build for the Soviet Navy. It soon became clear that the samples of domestic submarines differ from foreign ones, and not for the better. Acoustic detectors detected them rather quickly by noise of screws and motors. This problem was solved later, and in the late sixties - early seventies external threats were decided to give an asymmetrical response. In 1974, Rubin Design Bureau received from the commander-in-chief of the Navy S. G. Gorshkova TK, which listed the main requirements for the new ship: low visibility, a wide functional spectrum and a reduced number of crew members. Four years later, the first Varshavyanka descended from the stocks in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. The submarine complied with all items of the technical specifications, and in many respects even surpassed the parameters specified in it.
Submarines usually consist of two hulls that are one in the other (according to the "matryreshte" principle).
Light shell serves as a fairing under whichthe so-called TsGB (tanks of the main ballast) and TsVB (auxiliary) are hidden. The main ballast is designed to create positive or negative buoyancy, that is, provides the ascent and dive of the ship. Auxiliary tanks create trim (i.e. longitudinal horizontal slope of the hull) on the bow or stern, and also serve to level the roll.
Экипаж, вооружение, все необходимые машины, including electric motor, rechargeable batteries, equipment GKP (main command post), galley and much more are enclosed in a robust housing, divided into compartments. There is no exception and "Varshavyanka." The submarine is divided into six compartments. Usually, the first and the last of them are called torpedoes, but for ships of project 877 this weapon is only in the nose, along with an underwater acoustical post equipped with a special sliding (down) shaft. But this particular design is not exhausted.
Chief Designer of KB "Rubin" YuriKormilitsin gave the shape of the ship shape, characteristic of the atomic bomber. In cross section, it is almost round, unlike other diesel counterparts, flattened along the sides. The frames, which, according to the classical scheme, were located inside the robust hull, were moved into the inter-shell space, due to this original decision, a lot of space was freed up, which made it possible to significantly improve the living conditions for the crew and place the equipment in the most rational way. The submarine of the Varshavyanka project became the most modern ship of the USSR Navy in terms of automation, mechanization and cybernetics, which reduced the load on the crew - with its smaller number - and eliminated the notorious human factor in many situations.
Sonar operates on the same principle asordinary radar. Sonar emits short pulses of sound frequency, which, reflected from underwater objects, create a picture of the situation. As in the Stealth system, the means for reducing the visibility of submarines are mainly based on the reduction of the reflectivity of the surface. This special material is protected by "Varshavyanka". The submarine is covered with a special sound-absorbing layer, which reduces the noise emanating from the machines and mechanisms of the ship, and at the same time absorbs the signals of a hostile sonar.
The turbulence and cavitation, which inevitably arise near the rudders, prompted the Rubin designers to shift them closer to the midspace (center of the hull).
But to ensure low visibility is not enough to be“Black hole” (as project 877 was called hydroacoustics of NATO fleets). After all, Varshavyanka was created not for idle walks on the sea. The submarine itself must hunt the enemy ships, and for this it needs "eyes" and "ears." Finding the enemy before he can see you is the main task of the crew. Sonars are of two types: active and passive. The first emit acoustic impulses, they operate at a greater distance, but they unmask the ship. The latter use the results of the work of other sonars and sea noise, they are harder to use, but safer. The submarine of the class "Varshavyanka" has both types of sonars and, in addition to them, a perfect system for processing the received information on the basis of an onboard computer. Applied technology "acoustic tunnel", which reduces the lateral radiation of the sonar.
To recharge the batteries of this submarinethere is no need to float to the surface, it is enough to raise the RDP (they are also called snorkels) to ensure access of outboard air and the removal of products of combustion of fuel. Diesel low smoke applied, which reduces the visibility of the ship in the open sea.
Использованы и другие новшества.The main diesel engine (5.5 thousand liters. Pp.) Does not serve to set the ship in motion, its purpose is only to set in motion the rotor of the battery charging generator. In the surface position, the stroke is provided by an economical motor (130 hp), and two more (102 hp each) are reserve maneuvering. The kinematic scheme is such that all three engines operate on one screw. It is also special, six-blade, which allows it to rotate at a lower speed (250 rpm), producing, respectively, less noise.
Service conditions on a diesel boat alwaysconsidered heavy. In addition to the psychological burden, the crew experienced a large number of inconveniences associated with a shortage of space and limited autonomy. Varshavyanka-type submarines differ from other ships of this class in much better conditions. Team members do not have to sleep on torpedoes, there are comfortable cabins for that. There are also showers, a cinema hall and an ambulatory.
Despite the considerable age of the project, the needin the boats of the Varshavyanka class remains urgent, besides the ship has considerable export potential. The Indian Navy is armed with a dozen units of these submarines, two are flying under the Algerian flag, and the Polish fleet also has them. Buys them and China for its Navy. After the destruction of the world socialist system, the Warsaw Pact for Collective Security (in whose honor the project was named) ceased to function, many samples of Soviet technology, including the most modern, were in the arsenals of the NATO countries. In order to maintain the potential of the submarine forces at the proper level, an urgent modernization of the material part of the fleet was required. Since the general scheme and concept of the ship seemed to be successful, no significant changes were made to the overall design. The Novorossiysk submarine of the Varshavyanka project was laid in St. Petersburg at the Admiralty shipyards in August 2010, marking the beginning of a series of an improved project that received an index of 636. In the coming years, five more such ships are planned to be launched. The next will be "Rostov-on-Don" and "Stary Oskol", the other submarines will also be named in honor of the cities of military glory. New units are designed to strengthen the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation. Their design takes into account all the experience of shipbuilding and applied the latest achievements of navigation, acoustic and computer technology. Submarines of the project 636 "Varshavyanka" in service will have cruise missiles "Caliber" with a combat radius of up to 2 500 km.
The total displacement of "Varshavyanka" in the submergedstate is 3036 tons, in the surface position - 2300 tons. Like nuclear boats, under water it goes faster, up to 17 knots (as against 10 under the diesel engine). Extreme substrates of the project 636 can sink to 300 meters. The length of the ship is almost 73 meters, width - 10. In the surface position of the draft, depending on the load, is from 6.2 to 6.6 meters. The crew consists of 52 people, autonomous swimming is maintained for 45 days. The boat is armed with six 533 caliber torpedoes and four cruise missiles.
