Nuclear Missile Truck: Russia’s Typhoon-Class Submarine Is Still the Largest Ever

We support our Publishers and Content Creators. You can view this story on their website by CLICKING HERE.

Key Points and Summary: The Typhoon-class submarine, the largest ever built, spanned 574 feet and carried up to 200 nuclear warheads via 20 R-39 missiles with ranges exceeding 8,000 miles. Known for its size, Arctic ice-breaking capabilities, and stealth enhancements, the Typhoon served as a fearsome Cold War deterrent.

-Its design prioritized versatility, including the ability to surface and function as a mobile missile platform.

-Despite its prowess, the Typhoon-class faced obsolescence compared to the U.S. Ohio-class submarines, which offered greater operational stealth and second-strike capability with 24 Trident II missiles. The Typhoon program ended in 2012, replaced by the more cost-efficient Borei-class.

Typhoon-Class Submarines: The Cold War’s Giant Underwater Threat

The largest submarine ever to exist, it spanned the length of two football fields, was feared by adversaries for decades, and was armed with as many as 200 nuclear warheads at one time. Introducing the Typhoon-class Russian submarine. 

These massive missile submarines do not serve anymore. 

Yet, the memory of their maritime combat power has lodged itself into the minds of many military leaders and experts worldwide. 

The 574-ft large submarine is described in an interesting essay by the Federation of American Scientists as a platform that did not need to be submerged to pose a massive threat to adversaries. 

While operating from the surface might make the boat vulnerable in countless ways, the ship can also function as a “floating” firebase capable of maneuvering across the ocean to hold countries at significant risk of nuclear destruction. The site of these submarines above the ocean service would be an easy way to get in touch with any nation. 

“The submarine (Typhoon) is equipped with the D-19 launch system with 20 solid-fuel propellant R-39 missiles which have a range of up to 10,000 km. They are arranged in silos in two rows in front of the sail between the main hulls. The Typhoon has an automated torpedo and missile loading system including 6 torpedo tubes with calibres of 650 and 533 mm,” the FAS essay states.

The FAS also describes the weapons range of the submarines as highly threatening to the US, because its R-39 RIF nuclear weapons could hold the US and NATO at risk from 8,299 miles. 

Specifics listed in MissileThreat.com say the R-39s operate with as many as 10 multiple-entry vehicles capable of delivering a 200-kiloton warhead.

Typhoons-Class Submarines vs Ohio-class

However, despite these seemingly daunting weapons specs and performance parameters, the Russian Typhoon may not match the US Navy’s classic, Cold-War era Ohio-class nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines. 

Operating with an ability to fire as many as 24 Trident II D5 sub-launched nuclear missiles able to threaten targets beyond ranges of 6,500 miles, the Ohio-class submarines were able to quietly lurk in strategically vital areas of the ocean to ensure a catastrophic nuclear “second strike” if the US was attacked with atomic weapons. The implication was that the Ohio-class was quieter and more stealthy than the Typhoon-Class. 

Twenty-four nuclear-armed missiles able to travel more than 6,500 miles can hold entire countries at risk of total nuclear destruction. 

This paradoxical reality, which introduces the prospect of total nuclear destruction as a way to keep the peace, is the fundamental tenet of the Pentagon’s “strategic deterrence” posture. 

Why Was the Typhoon-Class Submarines So Big? 

The difference in size between the Typhoon-class boats and the US Ohio-class was likely because the Soviet Navy sought to operate the massive submarines in the North Sea area along its Northern Sea Route bordering the Arctic and Baltic Sea. 

Typhoon-Class Submarine. Image Credit: Russian State Media.

According to FAS, the Typhoon subs were known for ice-breaking missions, which says the boats operated with floating antenna buoys to enable satellite navigational targeting designations from beneath the ice. 

“The Typhoons are equipped with the ‘Slope’ hydroacoustic system that consists of four hydroacoustic stations. The ‘Slope’ system allows to track 10-12 vessels simultaneously. It also employs two floating antenna buoys to receive radio messages, target designation data and satellite navigation signals at great depth and under an ice cover,” FAS states.

FAS also explains that, despite the boat’s size, the Typhoons were engineered with quieting technologies that could improve the stealth characteristics of the ships using coating materials and shock-absorbing substances. Still, most experts give the stealth edge to the Ohio-class boats of the U.S. Navy. 

“To reduce the acoustic signature a two-spool system of rubber-cord pneumatic shock-absorption is employed as well as a block layout of gears and equipment, a new sound isolation and andrihydroacoustic coating,” FAS writes.

Russia’s Typhoon-class modernization program was canceled in 2012 for cost reasons, as the Borei-class was reportedly less expensive. 

Typhoon-class Submarine. Artist Rendering.

About the Author: Kris Osborn 

Kris Osborn is the Military Technology Editor of 19FortyFive and President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.