By Zachary Keck
Russia has announced it will build a new fifth generation, Kalina-class submarine. Will Moscow sell them to China?
Russia is developing a new advanced submarine class and may sell them to China, according to reports in Russia’s media.
Last week, the head of Russia’s Navy, Adm. Viktor Chirkov, announced that Russia would build new fifth-generation submarines dubbed the Kalina-class.
“Russia is currently designing a fifth-generation conventional submarine, dubbed Project Kalina, which will be fitted with an air-independent propulsion (AIP) system,” Adm. Viktor Chirkov said, according to Russian media outlets.
“Our industry promises to develop this AIP system by 2017 and build the first boat fitted with such a system by 2018,” he added.
The report did not specify what type of AIP technology would be used.
Submarines equipped with AIP technologies offer significant advantages over conventional diesel-electric engines and even nuclear submarines. AIP systems allow submarines to stay submerged far longer than diesel-electric submarines, which must surface more frequently for oxygen, and thus give away their positions to potential adversaries.
Read the full story at The Diplomat