By TASS Russian news agency
The Khabarovsk nuclear submarine of project 09851, which is the second carrier of Poseidon underwater craft, is likely to be floated in late June, a defense industry source told TASS.
“The Khabarovsk will be floated in late June at the earliest. No exact date has been announced so far,” he said.
The Navy refused comment. TASS has not obtained comment from Sevmash Shipyard which builds the submarine.
The first carrier of Poseidon, the Belgorod submarine of project 09852 was floated on April 23, 2019. It has to join the Russian Navy in September. It was initially built as a project 949A submarine, but later modified as a special project.
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Naval News comments:
According to Covert Shores, The Project 09851 Khabarovsk (пр.09851 “Калитка-СМП” “Хабаровск”) submarine is likely the main launching platform of the Poseidon “Intercontinental Nuclear-Powered Nuclear-Armed Autonomous Torpedo” (also known as 2м39 ‘Poseidon’ [Посейдон] / ‘Status-6’ [Статус-6] / ‘Skif’ [Скиф] seabed launched variant / NATO: KANYON).
This boat is similar to but smaller than the Project 955 ‘BOREI’ (пр.955 “Борей” – BOREI) SSBN. Working off a similar hull diameter to the BOREI, Covert Shores was able to estimate the submarine’s length as 120m versus 160m for the BOREI. This makes sense as the Khabarovsk does not require the missile section behind the sail. And it is even possible that it shares many components and even hull sections with the SSBN. The stated displacement of 10,000 tons makes it massive, but is much lighter than the 13,000 ton BOREI.
Project 09851 submarine specification
Displacement: 10,000 tons surfaced
Length: 120m (estimate, see analysis)
Diameter: 13m main hull, 16m across forward section (estimates, see analysis)
Speed: TBC but almost certainly over 20kt
Endurance: Unlimited. At least 60 days supplies
Maximum Operating depth: TBC – likely 400-500m
Crew: TBC
Powerplant: 1 x nuclear reactor (probably ОК-650В) driving a single pumpjet.
Armament: 6 x Status-6 nuclear torpedoes. Unspecified capability to launch regular torpedoes and decoys.
