Russia’s Victor III-Class Submarine Had Just 1 Mission

-Key Points: The Soviet Victor III-class (Project 671RTM/RTMK Shchuka) nuclear-powered attack submarines, serving from 1979 until 2023, were the pinnacle of Soviet SSN design before the Akula class. These subs had one mission: beat any NATO or U.S. Navy submarine in a war.

-These versatile hunter-killers were armed with torpedoes and cruise missiles (SS-N-21, SS-N-15, SS-N-16).

-Their most distinctive feature was a mysterious pod on the stern-plane, which caused significant concern in the West until it was identified as a housing for a towed passive sonar array.

-The class featured numerous quieting innovations, including a unique tandem propeller design, and served as a crucial technological bridge for successive generations of Russian submarines.

Victor III Class Soviet Submarine Explained

The Victor III Class (Project 671RTM/RTMK Shchuka Class) were the last, the most numerous and the best known of the entire Victor-class lineage of submarines.

At the time, the Viktor-class boats were the pinnacle of Soviet achievement in nuclear-powered attack submarine design until the Akula-class boats entered service.

The Soviet designation of Project 671RTM/RTMK Shchuka (“the Russian nickname for this series being the word for “Pike”) entered service from 1979 onwards.

25 of these boats were launched and completed, with production continuing until the very end of the Cold War in 1991. At that point, the building of any additional units in this series was cancelled.

Compared to the previous submarine models, the Victor III was even quieter, and just like the Victor II, this sub had four tubes for launching SS-N-21 or SS-N-15 missiles and Type 53 torpedoes, plus another two tubes for launching SS-N-16 missiles and Type 65 torpedoes.

There were also 24 tube-launched weapons, for 36 mines could be on board. The launching of the mines was considered a secondary mission of the boat.

The “Secret” Pod of the Victor III Submarine 

Its most recognizable design characteristic was a distinctive pod on the vertical stern-plane.

The particular feature prompted numerous Western theories regarding its operational function.

Some of the writings on the sub have characterized the reaction to this appendage as having caused a major upset within the intelligence services of numerous NATO nations.

Among other “theories” advanced at the time were that it was a major component in what could have been a new silent propulsion system.

Another assessment was that it was some weapon system.

Eventually, the pod was identified as a hydrodynamic housing for a towed passive sonar array.

That system was subsequently made part of the design for the Sierra and Akula-class SSNs as well. In October 1983 the towed array of K-324, a Victor III operating west of Bermuda, became tangled with the towed array of US Navy frigate USS McCloy. The K-324 was then forced to surface, which permitted NATO forces to photograph the pod in its operational deployed state.

The last subs of the class remained in service until very recently in 2023, but only after numerous overhauls and upgrades were completed to keep them current with modern-day requirements.

The Victor-III class was continuously improved during construction and late production models also had progressively superior acoustic performance.

Propulsion and Performance

This submarine’s main power plant was identical to the main power plant of the Project 671RT and 671 submarines.

These were two water-cooled reactors of the VM-4 type, GTZA-615, one 290-rpm propeller, two auxiliary electric motors with a capacity of 375 hp each.

The single VM-4P unit was built with two pressurized-water nuclear reactors of 75 MW each, 180 MW combined. There were also two sets of OK-300 steam turbines.  Their output of 31,000 shp was obtained at a rotation of 290 shaft rpm.

The sub design also had two low-speed electric cruise motors for “creeping” operations. They were coupled with two small props on the stern planes powered by electric units for 1,020 shp at 500 rpm. These were added to the tandem props after the 7-bladed original model was replaced, making this design the only sub ever fitted with 4 propellers.

Quiet Subs

The ships of Project 671RTM, an even further upgrade of the series design, were also fitted with various modifications to reduce noise.

The goal of the Russian design team was to make it quiet to the level of the US Los Angeles-class SSNs, but this effort ended up being curtailed due a drop in the funding for the program.

The accomplishments of this subclass were that it extended the operational endurance out to 80 days.  This was mainly due to the increase in extra internal space within the sub, which also permitted the crew size to be increased to 100 – the largest ever at the time.

A Submarine That Was a Foundation for the Future

Most of what is accomplished throughout the Victor III series is the basis for design principles in successive generations of Russian submarine designs.

Up to the point of the Victor III class Russian submarines, there was always a choice that had to be made of speed v. stealth.

Before, going faster also meant being noisier, a tradeoff that became no longer necessary with this class of subs.

About the Author:

Reuben F. Johnson is a survivor of the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and is 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.

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