Navy

The Largest Submarine In The World Could Get Eclipsed

Today the largest submarine in the world is Russia’s mighty Typhoon Class ballistic missile sub. It’s massive, but it could be dwarfed if Russian engineers get their way. A ginormous undersea tanker called the Pilgrim has been proposed to transport liquid natural gas (LNG) in the Arctic. Submarine tankers would literally slip under the ice.

St. Petersburg-based Malachite Design Bureau has unveiled a design for a massive submarine capable of carrying 170,000 to 180,000 tons at a time. That is far in excess of the volume of any previous submarine. At 1,180 feet long and 230 feet across the submarine tanker would dwarf the Typhoon. The latter is around half the length at 574 feet and one third the width at 75 feet. So in terms of volume it will be more than six times the size of the Typhoon.

To shift this incredible bulk it would be powered by no less than three nuclear reactors, each producing 30 megawatts. This could propel it at 17 knots, which is only a few knots slower than regular tankers. Because it’s not a combat vessel the crew would be small by submarine standards, just 25-28 people.