Russian Special Mission Submarine BS-64 Podmoskovye Spotted with Dorsal Payload Cradle.

The Russian Navy BS-64 Podmoskovye nuclear-powered submarine was recently spotted with its dosral payload cradle attached. The submarine is capable of rescuing a crew from a major depth. The operation is completely secret and can be carried out under the ice. No other country currently possesses such technologies. Experts believe the new vessel will accelerate assistance to submariners in distress, the Izvestia daily writes.

BS-64 Подмосковье (Podmoskovye = ‘Moscow Oblast’) is a Project 09787 DELTA-IV STRETCH ballistic missile submarine which has been converted into a host submarine for nuclear powered midget-subs. This rare spotted photo shows its dorsal payload cradle attached. Picture via Reddit.com /u/PainStorm14

The Defense Ministry told the newspaper the Podmoskovye submarine was upgraded for the Navy. It got a special superstructure with AS-40 Bester underwater craft. The BS-64 Podmoskovye nuclear-powered submarine was built by project 667BRDM (Delta-IV by NATO reporting name). Now it has been upgraded by project 09787 (Delta-IV Stretch) into a deep-water special-designation craft. Zvyozdochka shipyard completed the modernization of the submarine in late 2016.

Artist's impression showing LOSHARIK midget sub below the hull and a SHELF nuclear reactor pod as payload. Image via Covert Shores

AS-40 Bester has a titanium alloy hull. Full displacement is 50 tons. The operational submergence depth is 720 meters and maximum depth is 790 meters. The craft can submerge to the operational depth at a speed of 0.5 knots. Electric batteries are mounted outside and can power 4-5 dives to maximum depth. Bester has a crew of six men. Three are staying in the bathyscaphe and guide it. The rest are onboard the Podmoskovye to ensure the dive. The craft has TV cameras and a panel with sensitive joystick to increase precision.

Bester has a docking system. Differential pressure tightly fixes it to the docking unit of the submarine. The craft can thus evacuate the crew in distress in a dry way which is considered to be the safest. The bathyscaphe can rescue 22 men at a time.

BS-64 Подмосковье (Podmoskovye = ‘Moscow Oblast’) is a Project 09787 DELTA-IV STRETCH ballistic missile submarine which has been converted into a host submarine for nuclear powered midget-subs. This rare spotted photo shows its dorsal payload cradle attached. Picture via Reddit.com /u/PainStorm14

The Podmoskovye is currently engaged in transportation trials of the rescue craft. If everything is successful, other submarines can get the special superstructure, veteran submariner Vladimir Ashik said.

"Such a symbiosis of a submarine and a rescue craft was planned yet in the 1970s. Each submarine had to have special superstructure and operate as a rescue craft, if necessary. Submarines operate far from the home port of call and it takes over three days to deliver rescue equipment in case of an incident. It was planned to airlift the craft to the closest airfield to the naval base to be carried by road to the base. It would then be loaded on a submarine for delivery to the accident area," he said.

The Soviet Union created project 940 rescue submarines to evacuate crews from major depths. One was produced for the Northern fleet and another for the Pacific fleet. The underwater craft could operate at a depth of 300 meters. They could surface and even tow wrecked submarines. They had to rescue people only once. It was the crew of S-178 submarine which sank after colliding with a trawler in October 1981, the Izvestia writes.

© Copyright 2018 TASS. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

BS-64 Podmoskovye nuclear-powered submarine