(continued from KTB #113)

NEW WEAPONS - NEW TECHNOLOGIES

Russia continues to develop and produce a large variety of submarine-carried weapons. There are currently some ten different weapons in production, ranging from dual-purpose antisubmarine and antisurface-ship homing torpedoes to long-range, wake-homing antiship torpedoes. Expected future developments will include extremely fast, rocket-powered torpedoes that have no Western counterparts; torpedo tube-launched antiship cruise missiles, and continued improvements to existing weapons targeting systems.

Russian NOVATOR ALPHA Cruise Missile

The Russian stockpile of naval mines is estimated still to be the largest in the world. Historically the Soviets, and now the Russians, have maintained a steady mine development program with new mines introduced at periodic intervals. Mine technologies go from easily swept moored contact types to difficult to sweep bottom influence mines. Also, the Russians have long led the world in the development of propelled warhead mines. In the '70's, they fielded mines powered by rockets and carrying homing torpedo payloads.

RUSSIAN SUBMARINE FORCE RETURNING TO FORM
RUSSIAN SUB OPS AREAS - PAST and PRESENT

Operationally, the Russian submarine force is demonstrating a renewed commitment to spending quality time at sea both in local training and in conducting combat patrols and long-range deployments. Examples include an unprecedented deployment to the mid-Pacific in July 1994 by an OSCAR II antisurface warfare cruise missile carrying submarine (SSGN) that operated in the vicinity of the USS KITTY HAWK and USS INDEPENDENCE Aircraft Carrier Battle Groups during their transit of the Northern Pacific en route the Korean Peninsula.

OSCAR II nuclear-powered Missile-Carrying Sub.

Elsewhere, the Russian submarine force celebrated the first joint Russian SSBN/SSN surfacing at the North Pole. This latter accomplishment followed several weeks of deployment operations in the Arctic Basin.