Alfa-class

Alfa was originally designed as an "interceptor submarine," much like the Soviet MiG-25 Foxbat fighter. Constructed in extreme secrecy, they were designed to be able to rapidly move into an area and operate at depths that would make it untouchable by either enemy weapons or submarines. An extremely high degree of automation accounts for the tiny crew complement. While indeed fast and deep diving, these characteristics come at a fantastic cost. The titanium hull was extremely expensive, and difficult to fabricate. In addition, the entire class suffered severe engineering problems. Finally, the Alfas were extremely noisy, making their high speed and deep diving capabilities irrelevant in light of the development of torpedoes like the US Mk 48 ADCAP and the British Spearfish. Today, the entire class has been decommissioned and currently sits in mothballs.

Structural/Powerplant

The Alfa was the first submarine completely constructed of titanium steel. Double-hulled and equipped with a crew rescue capsule, it remains the fastest, deepest diving production attack submarine in history. Equipped with a single lead/bismuth cooled (vice the normal pressurized water method) reactor feeding a pair of steam turbines. These drive a single shaft for a total of approximately 45,000 SHP.

Weapons

Six - 21"/533 mm torpedo tubes with torpedoes and SS-N-15 Starfish/P-82 ASW missiles.

Countermeasures

Brick Pulp and Brick Split radio/radar intercept relievers and decoy countermeasures launchers.

Sensors

Square Ram sonar system, Snoop Tray surface search radar and 2 periscopes.