The Laika class, Russian designation Project 545 ''Laika'' (russian: Лайка), also referred to as Husky class (russian: Хаски, ,

husky Husky is a general term for a dog used in the polar regions, primarily and specifically for work as sled dogs. It refers to a traditional northern type, notable for its cold-weather tolerance and overall hardiness. Modern racing huskies that mai ...

), are series of

nuclear-powered Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

modular Broadly speaking, modularity is the degree to which a system's components may be separated and recombined, often with the benefit of flexibility and variety in use. The concept of modularity is used primarily to reduce complexity by breaking a s ...

, fifth-generation multi-purpose submarines currently under development by

Malakhit Marine Engineering Bureau Malakhit Marine Engineering Bureau (russian: морское бюро машиностроения «Малахит») is a company based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is a subsidiary of the United Shipbuilding Corporation. Malakhit has designed ...

for the Russian Navy.

History

On 16 December 2014, it became known Malakhit was developing a new fifth-generation nuclear submarine as an internal initiative. On 17 March 2016, the codename ''Husky'' was disclosed, and finally on 8 August 2016, a contract was signed with the

Russian Defence Ministry The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (russian: Министерство обороны Российской Федерации, Минобороны России, informally abbreviated as МО, МО РФ or Minoboron) is the govern ...

for development of the submarine. In April 2018, Malakhit CEO Vladimir Dorofeyev reported the preliminary design of the prospective Husky class nuclear submarine was complete. A year later, in April 2019, Malakhit announced it had launched R&D work on the submarine under a new codename ''Laika''. On 24 December 2019, during the Russia's Defence Ministry Board session held in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

, project number and some technical characteristics of the submarine were revealed. The lead vessel of the class is expected to be built by 2027–2030.

Design

The submarines are reported to combine the roles of multi-purpose and strategic submarines, being able to use both cruise and ballistic missiles depending on the task and modular configuration. The submarines will have a smaller displacement than the current fourth-generation s and incorporate the double hull design with the outer hull made of

composite material A composite material (also called a composition material or shortened to composite, which is the common name) is a material which is produced from two or more constituent materials. These constituent materials have notably dissimilar chemical or ...

s. The composites are also expected to be used for control surfaces and propulsion system. The main armament is to include the 3M-54 Kalibr and

P-800 Oniks The P-800 Oniks (russian: П-800 Оникс; en, Onyx), also known in export markets as Yakhont (russian: Яхонт; en, ruby), is a Soviet / Russian supersonic anti-ship cruise missile developed by NPO Mashinostroyeniya as a ramjet version ...

anti-ship cruise missiles as well as the

3M22 Zircon The 3M22 Zircon also spelled as 3M22 Tsirkon (russian: Циркон, NATO reporting name: SS-N-33) is a scramjet powered maneuvering anti-ship hypersonic cruise missile produced by Russia, for the Russian Navy which has launch platforms on friga ...

hypersonic cruise missiles. The vessels are also projected to be armed with MARVed

ballistic missile A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are guided only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles stay within the ...

s currently in development by the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau. According to President of the

United Shipbuilding Corporation , romanized_name = , former_name = , type = State owned enterprise , traded_as = , industry = Shipbuilding, Defense industry , genre = , fate = , predecessor = , successor = , founded = , founder = , defunc ...

Alexei Rakhmanov, the submarines are to be highly unified in their key components in order to substantially reduce the costs for the Russian Defence Ministry. The Project 545 submarines reportedly feature the displacement of 11,340 tons, maximum speed of 35 knots, 90 days of autonomy and maximum submersion depth of 600 meters.

References

External links

HUSKY / Pr.545 Laika: Russia's Next Generation Attack Submarine - H.I. Sutton
{{Soviet and Russian submarines after 1945 Proposed ships Nuclear submarines of the Russian Navy Submarine classes Submarines of Russia Attack submarines