Alfa Class Submarine
The Soviet Union/Russian Navy Project 705 (Лира/Lira, "Lyre") was a class of hunter/killer nuclear powered submarines. The class is also known by the NATO reporting name of Alfa. They were the fastest class of military submarines built, with only the prototype K-222 (NATO "Papa" class) exceeding them in submerged speed.
The Lira was a unique design among submarines; it used a powerful lead cooled fast reactor as a power source, which greatly reduced the size of the reactor compared to conventional designs, thus reducing the overall size of the submarine, and allowing for very high speeds. However, it also meant that the reactor had a short lifetime and had to be kept warm when it was not being used. As a result, the Liras were used as interceptors, mostly kept in port ready for a high-speed dash into the North Atlantic.
Read more about Alfa Class Submarine: Vessels, Impact, Project Sapphire
Famous quotes containing the word class:
“Alas for the cripple Practice when it seeks to come up with the bird Theory, which flies before it. Try your design on the best school. The scholars are of all ages and temperaments and capacities. It is difficult to class them, some are too young, some are slow, some perverse. Each requires so much consideration, that the morning hope of the teacher, of a day of love and progress, is often closed at evening by despair.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)