Defense Analysis Military Naval Constructions Russian Federation

Will the Kazan nuclear missile submarine be the nightmare of Western navies?

10th May 2021

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the new nuclear missile submarine Kazan, second unit of the Iassen class but first unit of the variant project 885-M Iassen-M, would have been admitted to active service this Friday, May 7, and would have joined the Russian Navy for be deployed in the Northern Fleet. Despite the construction delays and a delivery postponed for 2 years, the arrival of this new submarine seems to worry Western HQs, concerned about the offensive capacities of the new submarine, but also about its great discretion. And indeed, Kazan, as well as the other 7 submarines of the Iassen-M variant at different stages of construction in Russian arsenals and shipyards, represent an unprecedented challenge for Western navies.

Smaller by almost 12 meters than the first unit of the Iassen class, the Severodvinsk which entered service in December 2013 after 20 years of construction, the Kazan aims above all to be more economical than its big brother, while retaining its own attributes. to this class, like what the Virginias were initially vis-à-vis the SeaWolf of the US Navy. And in fact, published estimates give a unit cost for the Iassen-M of around $800 million, where the Severodvinsk would have cost almost double. It is true that between 2013 and 2021, the value of the Russian ruble has also been divided by 2. However, the Kazan and the ships that follow it have the same firepower as their predecessor, namely 8 systems of vertical launch capable of each receiving 4 Onix P800 long-range anti-ship missiles or as many 3M22 Tzirkon hypersonic anti-ship missiles, or 5 cruise / anti-ship / anti-submarine missiles from the Kalibr family, i.e. between 32 and 40 missiles. Added to this are the 10 torpedo tubes armed with heavy anti-submarine or anti-ship torpedoes.