Kursk Down Read Online Free PDF

electric motor. While its top speed is under 50 knots, the USET-80 is extremely reliable. Exposed to fire in a combat situation, these can take three times more heat than the 65-76s before exploding. This margin greatly enhances chances for crew survival.
    Finally, the
Kursk
was equipped to handle the Shkval-class torpedoes. Shkval means “squall” in English. This weapon, designed in 1977, caused a storm of amazement when its existence became known after the collapse of the old Soviet Union. The Russians had managed to keep the Shkval and its revolutionary technology secret. When fired, a Shkval, which is rocket-propelled, emits a large volume of gas that encapsulates the entire torpedo. This gas bubble drastically reduces friction between the metal of the projectile and the water. Traveling in its envelope, this undersea missile can reach a velocity in excess of 200 miles per hour. Speeding five times faster than any other torpedo in history, the Shkval can strike a target before evasion or countermeasures can be used as defense.
    This silver bullet, in its early form with a tactical nuclear warhead, was a kind of suicide weapon. It had three drawbacks. First, it could only travel in a straight line. Second, it had limited homing capabilities. Third and most alarming, its range was a mere ten miles. An underwater atomic explosion, even a small one, can produce a shock wave strong enough to destroy the attacking sub within ten miles of blast center.
    An improved Shkval, with a conventional explosive warhead, was tested in the summer of 1998. Still newer prototypes were known to exist.
    The Shkval requires special torpedo tubes that must be built to withstand the very high pressures involved during launching. This explains the modifications to the
Kursk
two years earlier. Many Russian sources believe the pair of engineer-designers from Dagdizel, which is located on the Caspian Sea and manufactures Shkval’s propulsion system, were present to test new modifications to the Shkval.
    Rumors about some type of secret weapon on board the
Kursk
abounded long before the boat sailed. On honest review, these stories seem dubious. The Russian Northern Fleet Command was well aware that its at-sea war games would be extensively monitored by U.S. satellites, surface electronic surveillance ships, and submarines. English and NATO forces would also have “eyes” on the activity. Testing a revolutionary, highly classified weapon under such scrutiny would be self-defeating.
    Cruising at a comfortable 20-plus knots just below periscope depth, the
Kursk
, following regulations, trailed a long-range radio antenna, monitoring on-air traffic between ships of the maneuver flotilla. Communications links by satellite also connected the sub with Northern Fleet HQ and the operation flagship, the Heavy Nuclear Missile Cruiser
Pyotr Velikiy (Peter the Great)
.
    Captain Lyachin had been briefed on procedures to be used during the exercise. He, in turn, had made certain the appropriate officers on his staff completely understood all directives that would be in effect.
    During the sea exercises, only dummy warheads would be used. Despite this, there was still a considerable degree of danger. All military combat training activities were hazardous because they involved weapons specifically designed to kill, maim, and destroy. Even the simplest exercise was like juggling bottles of nitroglycerin. One careless mistake could cause a lot of harm.
    To alleviate at least some of the risk, an intense level of planning had been done by the Northern Fleet staff. Strict rules, along with elaborate checks and balances, were created. These regulations determined where individual vessels would be, timing for all missile launches or torpedo firings, direction of a launch, and other protective issues. No deviation from orders would be permitted. The safety of every submarine, plane, and ship in the operation rested on strict compliance with these man-dates.
    Operational