Russia is Building a New Mini Nuclear Submarine

Russia’s Malachite Design Bureau is developing a new mini nuclear submarine named Gorgon.

"On an initiative basis, technical proposals have been developed and the appearance of the Gorgon nuclear multipurpose submarine of small displacement and the Serval small non-nuclear submarine with VNEU Serval has been determined," the company's 2020 annual report says.

The company has previously built two small Project 865 submarines. In 1999, they were withdrawn from the Navy. According to the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), the submarine was capable of accommodating up to six combat swimmers and was intended for "disembarking and returning combat swimmers, patrolling the coast in shallow waters, fighting ships and single surface ships, laying minefields and conducting reconnaissance."

Piranha-T, a modified version of the Project 865 vessel Piranha was also built. The new vessel could carry five times more weapons than the older version. Malachite also developed 45m-long Project 550 submarines. It has a maximum immersion depth of 300m.