We see blooming on multiple sites for information on the level of activity of the Russian submarine fleet that would have reached the level of that of the Cold War in the Atlantic this level knows a peak for 10 years. He also said that with the delivery of new submarines such as those of the Borey or Yasen class, with the oldest submarines modernized or about to be, the Russian Navy reaches unprecedented levels.
What about the reality?
Certainly there have been many investments and the level of activity is apparently increased. But talk about the level reached during the Cold War seems to me still somewhat exaggerated.
While the Russian navy has received three submarines of Project 955 Borey, only the first, the K-535 Yuriy Dolgoruky, performed a single operational mission. The second, the K-550 Aleksandr Nevsky, has joined the Pacific fleet in autumn 2015. We are still waiting the missile Bulava he should perform in an east - west. The third, the K-551 Vladimir Monomakh, is still in the Northern Fleet. He should join the Pacific Fleet in 2016 ... that is if his missile Bulava staffing is effective. The three submarines are equipped with the Bulava ballistic missile, whose development seems particularly laborious. The first unit of the modernized version (Project 955A Borey-A) is not expected before 2018.
In fact, the naval component of deterrence is based primarily on projects 6 667BDRM Delfin / Delta IV fleet in the North and the venerable 667BDR Kalmar / Delta III projects Pacific Fleet. They have exceeded 30 years of age on average.
For SNA part, the only project 885 Yasen Online, K-560 Severodvinsk, no end to complete its trials and is still in operation "experimental", at least until the end of 2016.
The first unit of the modernized version (885m project Yasen-M), the K-561 Kazan, should not be put into service until 2017 at the earliest, the program pretends to know recurrent delays. It is likely that the delay in the commissioning of these submarines have imposed on the Russian Navy a project modernization program 949A Antey / Oscar II 949AM project for the Pacific Fleet, for these units once strictly assigned to the anti-surface, are equipped with anti-ground capability.
For projects SCHUKA 971 B / Akula, there is not a single operational fleet in the Pacific, and the units to upgrade (at least 7) piled in Zvezdochka shipyard. Without mentioning the delays for maintenance Pacific units shipyard Zvezda.
For diesel-electric submarines, the situation is again mixed. The B-585 Sankt Petersburg, Project 677 Lada, is still in operation "experimental", and the series will stop at three units. The replacement project, called Kalina and probably finally equipped with an AIP should not enter service until 2023 at best.
The failure of this project led to the purchase of six submarines to be delivered before 06,363 projects in 2020 for the Black Sea fleet, with six for the Pacific fleet on order from 2017.
But again, it is necessary to temper success. Two submarines were delivered to the Black Sea fleet, the B-261 and B-237 Novorossisik Rostov Na Danu, the latter having recently illustrated by a missile Kalibr off Syria. But curiously, these two new units seem to play queens docks in Sebastopol since their arrival.
Finally, if an ambitious program was envisaged for 2020, the economic reality (with the fall of oil prices, the financing of the war in Syria ...) will very seriously reduce it.
And that's why in my humble opinion (I'm not the boss Maritime Command of NATO), this level should not be reached until 2030 at best.
