# Yasen-class submarine
The **Yasen-class submarine** (Проект 885 «Ясень», "ash tree"; NATO reporting name Graney, lead boat Severodvinsk) is a series of Russian nuclear-powered cruise missile submarines (SSGN/SSN) designed by the Malakhit Design Bureau and built at the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk. It is the newest nuclear attack submarine class in the [Russian Navy](https://www.edgepedia.org/russian-navy), and US officials have described the boats as among the most capable in the world, combining a large torpedo armament with a vertical launch system for Kalibr, Oniks, and Zircon missiles.[1](https://russianships.info/eng/submarines/project_885.htm) • [2](https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/rusi-defence-systems/yasen-m-and-future-russian-submarine-forces)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Designations | Project 885 Yasen and Project 08851 Yasen-M; NATO: Graney class; lead boat K-560 Severodvinsk[1](https://russianships.info/eng/submarines/project_885.htm) |
| Displacement | 9,500 tons surfaced, 11,800 tons submerged (Project 885); US ONI lists full displacement 11,800–13,800 tons[1](https://russianships.info/eng/submarines/project_885.htm) • [3](https://www.oni.navy.mil/Portals/12/Intel%20agencies/russia/Russia%202015screen.pdf?ver=2015-12-14-082028-313) |
| Size and speed | Length 139.2 m, beam 13 m, submerged speed 28 knots, operational diving depth 520 m, endurance 100 days[1](https://russianships.info/eng/submarines/project_885.htm) |
| Armament | 8 × 4 SM-346 universal vertical launchers (32 missiles), 10 × 533 mm torpedo tubes, Kalibr, Oniks, and 3M22 Zircon missiles[1](https://russianships.info/eng/submarines/project_885.htm) • [2](https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/rusi-defence-systems/yasen-m-and-future-russian-submarine-forces) |
| Propulsion | 1 × 200 MW OK-650V reactor (Project 885); Yasen-M uses the compact fourth-generation KTP-6 monoblock reactor[1](https://russianships.info/eng/submarines/project_885.htm) • [2](https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/rusi-defence-systems/yasen-m-and-future-russian-submarine-forces) |
| Crew | 85, including 32 officers (Project 885)[1](https://russianships.info/eng/submarines/project_885.htm) |
| Fleet status | Five boats commissioned (Severodvinsk, Kazan, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Arkhangelsk); five more under construction at Sevmash[1](https://russianships.info/eng/submarines/project_885.htm) |
## Design and characteristics
The class was designed by the SPMBM Malakhit design bureau, which developed the 885 Yasen nuclear multi-purpose submarine, with construction at the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk.[4](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVPUB-D208_200-PURL-gpo247003/pdf/GOVPUB-D208_200-PURL-gpo247003.pdf) • [5](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVPUB-D208-PURL-gpo246293/pdf/GOVPUB-D208-PURL-gpo246293.pdf) Design work was reportedly under way in the Soviet Union by the early 1980s, and the class is intended to replace Soviet-era attack submarines such as the Akula and Oscar classes.[6](https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2020/may/russias-capable-new-ssgn) • [7](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ9QdpLfano)
Published figures for the class differ by source. RussianShips.info lists Project 885 at 139.2 m length, 9,500 tons surfaced and 11,800 tons submerged displacement, 28 knots submerged, and a crew of 85.[1](https://russianships.info/eng/submarines/project_885.htm) The US Office of Naval Intelligence's 2015 assessment describes the Severodvinsk class as an SSGN of 120 m, full displacement 11,800–13,800 tons, 31 knots, and a crew of about 80, with 32 VLS cells for Kalibr.[3](https://www.oni.navy.mil/Portals/12/Intel%20agencies/russia/Russia%202015screen.pdf?ver=2015-12-14-082028-313) A US government study of Russian naval programs lists surfaced/submerged displacement of 8,600/13,800 tons, maximum depth 600 m, low-magnetic steel hull, and submerged maximum speed 35 knots.[4](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVPUB-D208_200-PURL-gpo247003/pdf/GOVPUB-D208_200-PURL-gpo247003.pdf) The lead boat's price was estimated at $1 to $2 billion, which a Russian defense expert in 2010 called too expensive for serial production.[8](https://www.nti.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/russia_nuclear.pdf)
The Project 885 lead boat uses an OK-650V reactor of 200 MW driving a 43,000 hp GTZA turbine set with a [fixed-pitch propeller](https://www.edgepedia.org/fixed-pitch-propeller).[1](https://russianships.info/eng/submarines/project_885.htm) Unlike the Borey-class ballistic missile submarines, which use a pump-jet, the Yasen has an open, skewed seven-bladed screw.[9](https://www.iusscaa.org/articles/brucerule/a_summary_of_borey_and_yasen_class_submarine_characteristics_derived_from_open_sources.htm) Its secondary propulsion system, with a maximum speed of 4.5 knots, was reported to employ ring-motor technology to reduce acoustic detectability.[10](https://www.iusscaa.org/articles/brucerule/acoustic_detectability_of_project_885885m_class_russian_ssgn_secondary_propulsion_system.htm) The sonar suite on the lead boat is the MGK-600 Irtysh-Amfora-Yasen complex.[1](https://russianships.info/eng/submarines/project_885.htm)
## Armament
The defining feature of the class is its strike load. The UKSK (3P-14B) vertical launch system comprises 8 SM-346 modules, each 10 m long and 2 m in diameter, holding either five 3M54-1 Kalibr missiles or four [P-800 Oniks](https://www.edgepedia.org/p-800-oniks) anti-ship missiles per module.[2](https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/rusi-defence-systems/yasen-m-and-future-russian-submarine-forces) RussianShips.info describes the same cells as carrying 32 anti-ship missiles of the 3K55 Onyx complex plus the Kalibr-PL complex (3M14K land-attack and 3M54K anti-ship missiles).[1](https://russianships.info/eng/submarines/project_885.htm) A RUSI assessment of the class states the Yasen has VLS capacity for 40 3M-14 Kalibr cruise missiles, and USNI News, citing RUSI, reports that Kazan could field up to 32 P-800s, 40 Kalibrs, and an unknown number of Zircons.[11](https://static.rusi.org/the-atlantic-bastion-december-2025-research-paper.pdf) • [12](https://news.usni.org/2024/06/11/russian-nuclear-sub-frigate-with-long-range-land-attack-missiles-operating-off-east-coast)
The torpedo armament is unusually heavy for a modern nuclear submarine: ten 533 mm bow torpedo tubes (30 torpedoes), which can also launch the UGST-M wire-guided torpedo, cruise missiles, and the 3M22 Zircon complex, plus six 324 mm launchers for countermeasure decoys.[1](https://russianships.info/eng/submarines/project_885.htm) • [2](https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/rusi-defence-systems/yasen-m-and-future-russian-submarine-forces) The hypersonic 3M22 Zircon anti-ship missile, with a reported speed of Mach 6–8 depending on trajectory, is intended to overwhelm shipboard air defenses by denying them time to develop a firing solution.[2](https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/rusi-defence-systems/yasen-m-and-future-russian-submarine-forces) The Yasen-M's 32 vertical tubes accommodate three missile types, and the boat carries around 72 torpedo-sized weapon slots in total, more than the enlarged Block V Virginia class, though with fewer cruise missiles in vertical tubes than the American design.[13](https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2021/08/how-russias-yasen-m-submarine-compares-to-the-u-s-navys-block-v-virginia/)
## Construction history
Construction of the lead boat K-560 Severodvinsk began at Sevmash on 21 December 1993 but was dogged by post-Soviet financial setbacks, with almost no progress between 1996 and 2000 for lack of funding.[1](https://russianships.info/eng/submarines/project_885.htm) • [8](https://www.nti.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/russia_nuclear.pdf) She was launched on 15 June 2010, began sea trials in 2011, and was commissioned on 30 December 2013 according to RussianShips.info; USNI's Proceedings gives the commissioning date as 17 January 2014, more than two decades after she was laid down.[1](https://russianships.info/eng/submarines/project_885.htm) • [6](https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2020/may/russias-capable-new-ssgn)
The second boat, K-561 Kazan, was the first to the improved Yasen-M standard (Project 08851), laid down on 24 July 2009, launched on 8 April 2017, and commissioned on 5 May 2021.[1](https://russianships.info/eng/submarines/project_885.htm) Kazan was constructed in eight years, less than half the time taken for Severodvinsk, and future boats were expected to enter service at a steadier pace.[2](https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/rusi-defence-systems/yasen-m-and-future-russian-submarine-forces)
**Yasen-M improvements.** Kazan is about nine meters shorter than Severodvinsk, partly from a reported four-meter reduction in berthing spaces and a smaller crew. She carries a fourth-generation KTP-6 monoblock reactor without separate steam generators, which saves about 1.6 m of length and contributes to quieting, and a conformal array sonar in place of Severodvinsk's spherical MGK-600, giving greater array gain in passive mode while keeping a wide field of view.[2](https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/rusi-defence-systems/yasen-m-and-future-russian-submarine-forces) RUSI analysts reported a level of quietness comparable to the very best Western SSNs, and US officials have described the boats as among the most capable in the world.[2](https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/rusi-defence-systems/yasen-m-and-future-russian-submarine-forces) • [12](https://news.usni.org/2024/06/11/russian-nuclear-sub-frigate-with-long-range-land-attack-missiles-operating-off-east-coast)
## Units and basing
As of the latest available records, five boats are in service: Severodvinsk (commissioned 30 December 2013), Kazan (5 May 2021), [Novosibirsk](https://www.edgepedia.org/novosibirsk) (21 December 2021), [Krasnoyarsk](https://www.edgepedia.org/krasnoyarsk) (28 November 2023), and [Arkhangelsk](https://www.edgepedia.org/arkhangelsk) (26 December 2024). Perm, Ulyanovsk, Voronezh, Vladivostok, and Murmansk are under construction at Sevmash.[1](https://russianships.info/eng/submarines/project_885.htm) Severodvinsk, Kazan, and Arkhangelsk serve in the Northern Fleet, while Novosibirsk and Krasnoyarsk serve in the Pacific Fleet.[1](https://russianships.info/eng/submarines/project_885.htm) Japan's 2024 defense white paper notes one Yasen-class nuclear-powered attack submarine deployed at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy.[14](https://www.mod.go.jp/en/publ/w_paper/wp2024/DOJ2024_EN_Full.pdf)
In June 2024, Kazan deployed across the Atlantic with the frigate Admiral Gorshkov, conducting missile drills and a port call in Havana, Cuba, while under surveillance by US destroyers and a P-8A aircraft. Both vessels can carry the 1,000-mile range 3M-54 Kalibr land-attack cruise missile, the P-800 Oniks, and the 3M-22 Zircon.[12](https://news.usni.org/2024/06/11/russian-nuclear-sub-frigate-with-long-range-land-attack-missiles-operating-off-east-coast) • [15](https://www.armadainternational.com/2024/06/russia-deploys-task-group-to-caribbean-and-cuba/) Then-commander of US Northern Command General Glen VanHerck said in 2023 that the deployment of Russian cruise-missile submarines off the US coast was increasing and a growing homeland-defense concern, noting Yasens had also been placed in the Pacific.[12](https://news.usni.org/2024/06/11/russian-nuclear-sub-frigate-with-long-range-land-attack-missiles-operating-off-east-coast)
## Operational role
RUSI analysts argue the class marks a shift from the hunter-killer SSN concept of the Akula toward a long-range strike SSGN role, in which land-attack missions supersede interdiction of sea lines of communication as the primary task. Because the Yasen and Yasen-M can strike land targets from the [Norwegian Sea](https://www.edgepedia.org/norwegian-sea) without transiting the Greenland–Iceland–UK (GIUK) gap, a NATO barrier-defense strategy at that gap may do little to affect them, and the challenge shifts to neutralizing the boats at forward positions such as the [Bear Island](https://www.edgepedia.org/bear-island)–Norway gap.[2](https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/rusi-defence-systems/yasen-m-and-future-russian-submarine-forces) The same analysis notes a limitation: Russia's satellite ELINT constellation and [maritime patrol aircraft](https://www.edgepedia.org/maritime-patrol-aircraft) fleet are limited, so the Yasen lacks a complete system-of-systems for accurate cueing against moving vessels, though intermittent engagement opportunities could still allow crippling damage to a naval formation.[2](https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/rusi-defence-systems/yasen-m-and-future-russian-submarine-forces)
## References
1. [Nuclear-powered cruise missile submarines, Project 885 / 08851 Yasen-M, RussianShips.info](https://russianships.info/eng/submarines/project_885.htm)
2. [Kaushal, Byrne, Byrne, and Somerville (2021). The Yasen-M and the Future of Russian Submarine Forces. RUSI Defence Systems.](https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/rusi-defence-systems/yasen-m-and-future-russian-submarine-forces)
3. [Severodvinsk Class Basic Characteristics, Office of Naval Intelligence, Russia 2015 assessment](https://www.oni.navy.mil/Portals/12/Intel%20agencies/russia/Russia%202015screen.pdf?ver=2015-12-14-082028-313)
4. [Analogous Response Redux: Vladimir Putin's Aspirations for Altering the Maritime Balance, US Government Publishing Office](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVPUB-D208_200-PURL-gpo247003/pdf/GOVPUB-D208_200-PURL-gpo247003.pdf)
5. [China Maritime Report No. 31: China's Submarine Industrial Base, US Government Publishing Office](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVPUB-D208-PURL-gpo246293/pdf/GOVPUB-D208-PURL-gpo246293.pdf)
6. [Wertheim, E. (2020). Russia's Capable New SSGN. US Naval Institute Proceedings, May 2020.](https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2020/may/russias-capable-new-ssgn)
7. [Project 885M – Upgraded Yasen-class Submarine SSGN (video description)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ9QdpLfano)
8. [Russia Nuclear Weapons Database, Nuclear Threat Initiative / James Martin Center](https://www.nti.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/russia_nuclear.pdf)
9. [Rule, B. A Summary of Borey and Yasen Class Submarine Characteristics Derived from Open Sources, IUS/CAA](https://www.iusscaa.org/articles/brucerule/a_summary_of_borey_and_yasen_class_submarine_characteristics_derived_from_open_sources.htm)
10. [Rule, B. Acoustic Detectability of Project 885/885M Class Russian SSGN Secondary Propulsion System, IUS/CAA](https://www.iusscaa.org/articles/brucerule/acoustic_detectability_of_project_885885m_class_russian_ssgn_secondary_propulsion_system.htm)
11. [Kaushal, S. and Black, E. The Atlantic Bastion, RUSI research paper](https://static.rusi.org/the-atlantic-bastion-december-2025-research-paper.pdf)
12. [LaGrone, S. (2024). Russian Nuclear Sub, Frigate with Long Range Land Attack Missiles Operating Off East Coast. USNI News.](https://news.usni.org/2024/06/11/russian-nuclear-sub-frigate-with-long-range-land-attack-missiles-operating-off-east-coast)
13. [Sutton, H I (2021). How Russia's Yasen-M Submarine Compares To The U.S. Navy's Block-V Virginia. Naval News.](https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2021/08/how-russias-yasen-m-submarine-compares-to-the-u-s-navys-block-v-virginia/)
14. [Defense of Japan 2024, Ministry of Defense of Japan](https://www.mod.go.jp/en/publ/w_paper/wp2024/DOJ2024_EN_Full.pdf)
15. [Russia deploys task group to Caribbean and Cuba, Armada International (2024)](https://www.armadainternational.com/2024/06/russia-deploys-task-group-to-caribbean-and-cuba/)
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