Key Points and Summary: The Russian Navy’s Yasen-M class submarines are rapidly modernizing the country’s undersea warfare capabilities. These nuclear-powered submarines are stealthier than their predecessors and can launch the 3M22 Zircon hypersonic missile, capable of speeds up to Mach 8.
-With a striking range of over 1,000 miles, they pose a serious challenge to NATO’s naval and land-based defenses.
-Recent reports suggest Russia is planning to expand its Yasen-M fleet to 12 submarines, potentially altering strategic calculations in the North Atlantic. As tensions rise, NATO must adapt to counter this evolving Russian undersea threat.
The ‘Hypersonic’ Submarine: Russia’s Yasen-M Packs Zircon Missiles
In terms of mission profiles, the Russian Yasen-M class submarine (Project 885M) is closest to the US Virginia-class boats. However, the Russian submarine, at 426 feet long, is slightly larger than the US boat, which is only 377 feet long and 33 feet wide.
An assessment of the Yasen-M class published in 2021 details how the design has evolved and how the Russian shipyards have been able to compress the production timelines for the boats in this class.
The report, compiled by the UK Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London, first points out this dramatic acceleration of the manufacturing cycle for the nuclear cruise missile submarine (SSGN) Kazan. This sub was built in a far shorter time frame than the lead boat in this class, the Severodvinsk.
Specifically, the Kazan was launched from the shipyard in just eight years, which is less than half the time required to build the Severodvinsk. The delays in the construction of that lead boat are a function of the economic morass that Russia fell into in the post-Soviet era that gutted major sectors of Moscow’s defense industrial complex more than any other.
The same RUSI document notes that the configuration of the Kazan is based on some evolutionary changes in design that would permit Russia to both reduce the cost-per-unit construction and create new delivery slots for future submarines in the same class. The prediction is that the Russian Navy (VMF) will now be able to introduce new submarines at a much faster rate than earlier intelligence assessments might have projected.
Yasen-M Class: Dimensions, Quietness, and Weaponry
The Kazan is also assessed to be shorter than the lead boat to the tune of nine meters. However, the two share common characteristics, the most significant of which are a power plant that is quieter to a level on par with the latest Western SSNs and a long-range strike capability that is even greater than most Western-built analogous subs.
The weaponry that the Yasen-M class boats are capable of launching has been a concern for years now because it signals a shift in the mission for these submarines. Instead of focusing on the hunter-killer role that was the prime function of the Akula-class, these newer subs are configured to launch a full range of anti-ship and land attack missiles, including one of the weapons that was gleefully introduced first by Russian President Vladimir Putin in his 2019 State of the Nation address: the hypersonic 3M22 Zircon.
RUSI analysts concluded four years ago that making the Yasen-M mission primarily one that now looks more like that of a nuclear-guided missile submarine (SSGNs) telegraphs a change in the way that Russia’s submarine force will function in future campaigns.
The report reads, “Long-range strike missions appear to be superseding sea lines of communication (SLOC) interdiction as a primary task. This will likely necessitate a change in how NATO manages the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) challenge in the High North, given that a strategy of barrier defense at the GIUK (Greenland–Iceland–UK) gap may actually do little to impact Russian submarines, which may have little need to traverse this barrier in order to achieve their operational ends.”
Image: Creative Commons.
One of the keys to meeting those “operational ends” is the 3M22 Zircon ASCM, now being one of the many weapons aboard the Yasen. “With a reported speed of Mach 6–8, depending on its flight trajectory, the Zircon has the potential to overwhelm shipboard air defenses by denying them the time they need to develop a firing solution. This will be particularly challenging if, like the Russo-Indian Brahmos missile, the Zircon can perform high-g terminal phase maneuvers before impact.”
Future Shock
The fourth boat in the Yasen-M class, the Arkhangelsk, was turned over to the Russian Navy on December 27, 2024, in a ceremony at the Sevmash shipyard. This facility is located on the White Sea just south of the Arctic Circle.
“Russia is planning to expand its fleet of the Yasen-M class to 12 vessels. Half of them could be based in the Northern Fleet. After Arkhangelsk follows the Perm, Ulyanovsk, Voronezh , and Vladivostok, all currently under construction at the Sevmash yard in Severodvinsk,” reads a report from The Barents Observer.
Aside from the Zircon missile, the 13,800-ton Yasen-M also carries the 1,000-mile range Novator 3M-54 Kalibir NK land attack cruise missile and the P-800 Onyx anti-ship missile. An eventual fleet of 12 of these equipped with this missile complement will be a shock to the plans of the US and NATO in planning to counter future Russian undersea threats.
Yasen-Class Image: Russian Navy.
The boats in this class—if carrying the full complement of long-range missiles—could hit 75 percent of all European capitals even if fired from the North Sea. “It is a challenge that adds to the long list of concerns presented by an increasingly bellicose, belligerent—and verging on the unstable—Russia,” said a former and now retired US Naval Intelligence official.
About the Author:
Reuben F. Johnson is a survivor of the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and is now an Expert on Foreign Military Affairs with the Fundacja im. Kazimierza Pułaskiego in Warsaw. He has been a consultant to the Pentagon, several NATO governments and the Australian government in the fields of defense technology and weapon systems design. Over the past 30 years he has resided in and reported from Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Brazil, the People’s Republic of China and Australia.
