Deep secrets of the Russian sub missiles

By Dick Durham, CNN.com writer

LONDON -- The stricken submarine Kursk is fitted with modern weaponry never seen before in the West, adding to the Russian Navy's reluctance to call in help from either the UK or France, a defence expert has told CNN.com.

Both the port and starboard sides of the damaged hull of the Oscar II-class submarine are armed with 12 new SS-N-19 Shipwreck missiles which neither U.S. or EU military chiefs have seen, Paul Beaver, spokesman for Jane's Defence, said.

The 24 missiles are each primed with 750 kg of high explosive -- the equivalent of two Hiroshima bombs -- and can alternatively be fitted with nuclear warheads.

The missiles are specifically designed to sink enemy aircraft carriers.

Fitted on the giant bulbous bow of the 505 ft long vessel is a state-of-the-art, target detection sonar which also has never been seen outside Russian top secret naval bases.

Beaver said: "There is a lot of excitement surrounding these secrets, and the Russians wouldn't want us to get close to them. This is one of the reasons they have not called for outside help."

Beaver also said the conflicting Russian accounts about what caused the submarine to plummet 350 feet may have been due to a simple translation misunderstanding.

It was reported that the Russians had said initially that the vessel had been in collision with another ship, a theory later changed to damage having been caused by an explosion either from a malfunctioning torpedo or an undetected World War II bomb or mine.

But, said Beaver, the word "collision" in Russian is similar to "impact" and therefore the initial report could have ben referring to a "collision" with a weapon, not a ship.

Beaver, who trains the British Army in "disaster management", said another possibility for the submarine's foundering could be that it was hit by one of its own loosed-off torpedos.

"They take their war games seriously and a malfunctioning torpedo could have come back and hit the vessel," he said. "It has happened before."

Information about the accident had been leaking out of Murmansk and Moscow, Beaver said, because it was not in the Russian military's "culture" openly to reveal disaster data.

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Perry Slingsby Systems - PRODUCTS/SERVICES
The History of the Submarine
World Navies Today: Russian Submarines
Jane's Defence Weekly Online Service
The Government of the Russian Federation
NATO Official Homepage
U.S. Navy: Welcome Aboard
Royal Navy
NUCLEAR AND MISSILE PROLIFERATION (Senate - May 16, 1989)
Naval Technology - The Delta IV is a strategic ballistic missile firing nuclear propelled submarine.
Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles - United States Nuclear Forces
The Polaris and Poseidon Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missiles

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