Project 705 Lira (Alfa) Class SSN

[tom dougherty]

The Alfa SSN was built as a fast interceptor submarine. It featured a liquid metal (lead-bismuth) compact high power reactor. The use of liquid metal permitted higher and more efficient operating temperature. The crew was small and many systems automated. The hull was constructed of titanium to save weight; Russian designers favor a large reserve buoyancy and due to the small size, a lightweight hull was dictated to conserve mass. Diving depth was 400 meters (~1300 feet). While very much a cutting edge project, several practical problems arose that made operation challenging.

[tom dougherty]

Inernal design.

[tom dougherty]

Translation of Legend for those whose Russian is rusty...
Project 705 Alfa Legend Translation.pdf