Oscar SSGN Sub Brief 

There are about 50 more Sub Briefs, many not available on RU-vid and 1000's of photos, research documents (pdf) and more only on Patreon.com/subbrief

I was on a ship surveillance ship not far from the Kursk accident. I remember how horrified people were when accident was heard about. May the sailors of the Kursk rest in peace.

Mouse Roar is the coolest name ever for sonar.🐀🦁

interwar treaty heavy cruisers were 10k tons displacement, about the same as a modern ticondaroga. 20k for a sub is real big.

Oscar is my favorite sub. Such a big girl but not a hider like Typhoon, she goes hunting.

"I introduce you to Oscar II, project 949 alpha" *Graphic of a buff sexy sailor with sunglasses ripping off shirt while steam comes from the crotch area* Well...hello, Oscar! *YMCA by The Village People begins to play*

Good brief, yet K-266 'Orel' was seen heading for the Saint Pettersburg Navy day parade with full crew complement and attended it. I believe we can say it's operational.

Thank you for an interesting story, and the fact that you pay so much attention to the submarines of my country, it's nice to see that they arouse interest, special thanks for the lack of politics and propaganda

Looking forward to this one. I have fond memories of ten year old me 27 years ago building the Dragon 1:700 Oscar from one of those hunters+hunted kits they used to do. (Hunters in that one were _Trafalgar,_ a Nimrod, and a pair of Sea Kings.)

I am afraid you mixed up the chief designers for the sub and missile project, probably because both projects were called Granit. Pustyntsev was a sub chief designer. The chief designer of the P-700 Granit missile was Vladimir Chelomey.

The 30% reactor cooling upgrade is helpful to the Russians as they have been known to use nuclear naval ships as mobile power plants for towns/cities. The steam can easily be piped off ship to a larger generator. Especially helpful when building/maintaining new bases in the Arctic Circle.

The Kursk is always a tough one, I've been to it's ship yard and have stood as a honour guard at the memorial as well as laying a wreath a few times.

I Served onboard the Saratoga from 87-90 (Air/V-1) and while I was aware of the fact the Russians are also watching I never really gave it much thought while I was working on the flight deck (staying alive during flight deck operations takes precedent). Having read James F. Dunnigans "How to Make War" before enlisting gave me a realistic mindset but when you're "military busy" you don't have time to worry about the enemies following your wake. The birds must fly regardless.

I was underway on a sub in the pacific when news of the Kursk came through. Didn’t know much at first but the updates kept getting worse and worse. So surreal to know that sailors on the other side of the globe were trapped as I went about my regular watch routines and tried not to think about it. RIP to those on eternal patrol.

"Her turn radius was really wide, you have an 18m-150m ratio, that thing is like a building and you're trying to turn it in the ocean.." So what you're saying is she's built like a bistro, but handles like a steakhouse? :D (reverse Futurama joke)

There's just _something_ about the beautiful inefficiency of Soviet govt department names - it's like they're designed to be announced by a herald at a royal function..... "Your majesties, may I present to you the Lord and Lady of the Presidium of the Scientific & Technical Council of the Ministry of Industry of the USSR!" (a bit ironic really, given the whole Bolshevik thing)

Kalibr is an entire family of missiles, including land attack, anti-ship, and anti-submarine variants. Most of the attention has been on the land attack application, but I remember some years back reading about how the anti-ship variant was causing some concern to western planners, especially since Chinese Kilo class subs could use it. There are two main types of anti-ship Kalibr/Klub variants, one group is purely subsonic, like the standard land attack variants or the Tomahawk. The other group has a supersonic terminal phase, with a speed somewhere in the neighborhood of mach 3. I suspect the introduction of Oniks and Tsirkon has kind of reduced the relevance of the anti-ship variants, and I don't know if they are actually deployed, but they still appear to be viable.

Great video captain! :) Fun fact about the newest upgrade, yes Granit missiles are replaced with the Onyx, but for every Granit they can fit 3 Onyx in the tube, so the number went up from 24 anti ship missiles to 72 on the new ones :) (Onyx-m with 800 km range) Kalibr has a 660km range anti ship variant, that is subsonic for most of its journey, but for the last ~ 50km the real warhead separates and with rocket power sprint attacks at mach 3. P.S. Since Kalibr, Onyx and Zircon can be fitted/fired from the same VLS system on ships, I wonder if they can just swap the Onyx missiles out for Zircons on the Oscars when they make enough of them.

Great job. One note regarding the Kursk, in 1998/1999 she came in Mediterrannean sea for a duty tour.1 week after coming in she had problem with one of its Propeller/port Shaft, like k119. It became easy to follow. After few days they turn back and sail to Russia.

Watch this while admiring the pre built and pre painted "Easy Model" 1:700 Oscar II i got a few weeks ago, brand new, for equivalent of $4.00 in Philippine Peso(₱).

Really Love your content I was waiting for this sub brief of Oscar class SSGN

15:24 Jive: references the schematic of the exterior compartment.... Navy Magic Mike: "not so fast"

11:30 that's insane capacity for that time's electronics, especially russian. Hats off to those dudes

Your videos are always such a treat, dude! Without going into too much detail, I'm a scientist, and your videos helped inspire me to seek a PhD which overlaps my current area of expertise with making NATO submarines better at something. (Yes, I know what I want to do.) Thanks so much for your service, educating us all up to the edge of what you can say, AND stopping at that edge. You rock 👍

In the spirit of full disclosure, K-119 is a black sheep, but at least she's one that came home. 😥

Launching a nuclear autonomous torpedo should be considered a first strike attempt.

Great video, really enjoyed that. Appreciating the knowledge.

Superb content as always. Thank You!

Enjoy watching these video lectures. My son is currently deployed on his first sea deployment . Will earn his dolphins. Glad I found these videos to get some submarine education. Hope new videos keep coming. Thanks for making them available.

I’m an acoustic operator on P-8As. I love this content. I would tell my nuggets (NUBS) to look up your old videos on oceanography, sound propagation, and submarine mechanical characteristics before coming to me for a sign off in their PQS. These briefs are fantastic! Such a robust amount of information. Thank you for the videos; keep em coming.

I think a lot about that scene in Red Storm Rising where an Oscar takes three torps and still manages to get to the surface.

Another great video! There are lot more things around the accident of Kursk, which you did not mention - and I (and many others) know why.

Thank you for taking the time to make these Sub Briefs brother man, the detail and history you show are the 100% top notch grade A+++ primo numbero uno benchmark for excellence! I would love to see you do some more briefs on other nations submarines or even surface vessels once you are done with the Russians. Your experience shines through when you talk about the intricacies. No matter what subject you decide upon though I will run like Forrest Gump to watch it! Something weird, I have had three TBI's in the past and they have caused me to have pretty severe memory recall issues but for some reason, idk if it's how you present your data or your voice or the data itself, I can recall much of the info I learn about from you. You could be a professor if you wanted to you know that? Idk, anyways thank you again for the vid! Keep it up!

Great sun brief! Oscar subs are so big they a man or a dump truck in the frame to compare it to. I thought for sure when I first saw it, that it was an SSBN. Imagine that thing chasing your carrier group. 😳

I always thought the Oscar was amazing. The Falklands showed how vulnerable surface ships were to missiles (Exocet) in that era. I can't help thinking the Oscar really would've been a carrier killer.

Aaron, another great brief. Thanks!

I swear it must've been a point of pride for the Soviets to design & build projects that the west thought of as crazy.

You often hear people saying "why doesn't the US have SSGNs like the Oscars?", but at the end of the day, the US isn't facing anyone with fleets worth building Oscars for (yet).

One of my favorite class of subs.

I still can't read about Kursk without shuddering. It's probably my worst nightmare. They were burried alive.

How the Kursk even existed at all beyond the reactor amazes me. Really makes one wonder if modern torpedoes are even able to sink/cripple a modern nuclear sub

Excelent video, as usual, thank you for that. Only thing (minor) you were wrong about is a cobalt nuclear warhead. Cobalt is not ment to replace uranium as a fuel, because it can't as it is not a fissile material. It is ment to be part of a nuclear warhead casing. It will then absorb some radiation, become radioactive and stay radioactive for very long time in form of radioactive fallout.

Another sub brief! Thanks Jive, you're the man.

Jive: Have you considered doing ‘Command: Modern Operations’ scenario gameplay? I know it is a bit complex and you may need to adapt your style to it, but it has so many platforms and scenarios that you discuss. Seems like a great engine for modeling “WhatIf” scenarios from a strategic standpoint.

Btw, project AM has replaced missile silos for larger ones with triple capacity. Granits were huge missiles and their silos were thickhulled. New silos are weaker but, more spacey. So in total, AM version can carry up to 100 missiles.

FWIW: Regarding the _Cobalt thing_ on those nuclear-powered torpedoes, see the Stanley Kubrick 'nightmare comedy' movie *"DR. STRANGELOVE (Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb)* from 1964. In that movie, the ground-based H-Bombs of the Soviet's _Doomsday Machine_ defense system were jacketed with a form of cobalt to cause the same effect.

Hey are you planning on a video comparing the Kursk to the USS Thresher anytime soon? Also great video.

Thanku for your awesome content! Would love to laugh at the Ula-Class with you 😂

Fitting - I just read that there's an Oscar in distress off Scandinavia right now.

Would you be willing to do a short vid on all the submarines lost in 1968? I think that would be a good vid topic. To remind you (which you probably already know)-Scorpion was lost with all hands on May 22, 1968. She is one of two nuclear submarines the U.S. Navy has lost, the other being USS Thresher. It was one of the four mysterious submarine disappearances in 1968, the others being the Israeli submarine INS Dakar, the French submarine Minerve, and the Soviet submarine K-129.

Excellent video about an iconic cold war sub. How about a brief on Soviet cold war naval missile systems?.

Great presentation.

When she sails through the GIUK gap, she's forever trapped in the Atlantic because the turning circle is too large.

Been waiting for this one!! Oscars were a Tom Clancy special! I wish I didn't have to be a downer, but RIP to the Kursk sailors though. They deserved better.

Quality as always

I really enjoy these briefs, and your entire channel. I only just got into Cold Waters, it's a lot of fun. Have you done anything on the Shkval?

Has an emergency crew escape capsule (on any sub type fitted with one) ever been utilised or tested at sea? It's such an interesting engineering solution & I've heard about other 'proven' escape tech from the various WW1 & 2 breathing apparatus through to the McCann Chamber and modern sub rescue vehicles - I'm wondering if the capsules have ever been demonstrated? I remember the whole Kursk incident unfolding & the frustration all over the world that Russia wouldn't accept the offers of help - even the general public knew on day 1 that they were lying through their teeth & it was costing men's lives. Listening to the genuine anguish of submariners from all of the countries that tried to help is almost as heartbreaking as hearing the wives - politics be damned, everyone just wanted to bring them back alive.

I would point to the Well There's Your Problem episode on the Kursk disaster.

Amazing. Thank you

The Oscar is a truly fascinating weapons platform. I suspect that NATO analyst were not initially convinced that the Soviets could build such a vessel, and to their shock when the Soviets did build such a ship. The idea that the Soviet’s could destroy entire carrier groups while submerged from hundreds of miles away was a terrifying one to comprehend for any naval force.

Just for the record.....I.....DID NOT.......hit the dislike button.....even tho I said so in the chat......your work is way way to good to even consider such an absurdity

from what I remember they checked to see if it had flooded by using milk outside the hatch and then slightly opening it to see if any went in, death is rarely pleasant but drowning sounds like a bad one

Thanks🤘👌 ⚓🦃these sub briefs are such gem of the YT it's so interesting I am always shocked by how advanced and sophisticated the Russian submarines are,the technology that gets me the most are the "escape pods" and automated system that lunches and reload torpedoes (I imagine it as huge hydraulic sort of revolver 😂🙄 )

Interesting that the picture at the 6 minute mark is taken from the back of a Kirov in the same drydock

@SubBrief - Have you watched the deep dive series with the USS Toledo, on the YT channel: Smarter Every Day? The series just aired the final episode and it goes quite deeply into the daily operations on a sub. Would you consider doing a React video and filling it out with your personal experiences?

So Jive, any of these "unlucky" fires involve covert missions by Russia's enemies?

K-119 was relatively successful career compared to the other "19s", K-19 and K-219. And for bonus K-129. If I got assigned to a russian sub with a K-number ending in 9 I would be very worried!

Yeah the entire coastline from Кола to Аркангелск is like one big naval base lol

I'm chuckling more than a little bit at the idea of Mouse Roar getting the attention of American crews... because Americans aren't supposed to know it's there. The irony is hilarious.

I feel so bad for the Kursk and her crew. Also for anyone on any submersible boat of naval secrecy. If there is a fatal incident or series of incidents, it is highly likely the crew will expire and sensitive areas and equipment moved away, sealed off, or otherwise destroyed before any 'help' can legitimately attempt to reach the crew. They were all very brave and dutiful sailors. They, and those of equivalent crews and their equivalent boats in all other navies around the globe, have my utmost respect as they all go underway knowing they may not return and their nations secrets will go down with them

2 years patreon, hope you're enjoying a few beers on me, thanks for all your efforts and fantastic videos and content!

Do you do requests? I would love to hear you thoughts on the new columbia class ssbn's being developed. Not sure it would be worth it though, as there isnt much info, I'd imagine

Can you do a video of the scariest move you were ever onboard during. Maybe worst rollercoaster type move you went through Unclassified of cause.

i would love to see the history of the Royal Navy's current Vanguard class submarine

Honestly with hardware and software being what it is these days I would be extremely surprised if there was a modren anti-ship cruise missile which did not have land attack capability, hell American sm6 missles are anti air, anti ship and anti missile, how hard would it be to stick a GPS chip on it?

That displacement is larger than many ww1 era battleships

If you had the opportunity to go on a deployment tour with a non US submarine, which one would you pick?

600m test depth but says a lot more than that in reality. Does some quick conversions…. *Unholy cow she’s a deep diving girl!!*

I read recently that the outer hull on the Oscar II is high-nickel, high-chrome content stainless steel while the inner hull is steel. Is that true for any of the other Soviet subs?

When will there be a Brief about the Foxtrot Diesels?

kursk happened right around my 20th birthday :(

Gawd, that thing was a beast of the deep. Good thing they have never fired a shot in anger at a western country or it's navy.

Can you please adress the Shkvall rocket-torpedo? I'd like to have your take on it and the implications of it. I remember the old legend, was he named Craven, say it was most impressive on paper. What do you think here?

Hey CaptainJive love ur videos. I was wondering did the Russian sub crews really do "crazy Ivans"? Like in the movie Hunt for the Red October..

What happened to the whole jive turkey thing?

I just finished a model of the Kursk last month 👩‍🔧🇺🇲🛠️🇷🇺

There was one more operation of Oscar-II... When in 1999 NATO was bombing Serbia, "Kursk" K-141 was in Midterranian sea tracking US carriers and warships. There are nice pictures of CGs that shot via attacking periscope, showing US ships being unawared.

Was the Oscar 2 part of the 'Walker' upgrades?

What is that clip that pops up at 15:30 lol?

I thought Orel is the one that lost propulsion at sea last week...

15:25 what was that Aaron? 😳, I wonder about you navy guys🤔😄

Why do American submarines not have a escape vehicle like the Russians?This feature could’ve save lives on the Thresher .

That's why they say that Submariners are a different human specie 😂

Your videos leave the impression that Russian subs are ahead of the US if it wasn’t for its construction quality. Keep up the good work

With every video "flash" the FBI erases 24 hours worth of memories. ^.^

Hey Jive, quick question fella.....when the Kursk sank was the USS Toledo(SSN769) in very close proximity at the time? Also how did it get damaged, warranting it limping back to Norway for repairs ? Thanks

15.33 you know what they say about sailors..

Is there a visual timeline / “genealogy” of Soviet submarines, that traces the various iterations, generations and spin-offs? It’s SO confusing!

Big fan of the oscar class, big and bulky, but hunter and fast

OSCAR CLASSS