Yasen (Project 885)

Project 885 Yasen, NATO reporting name Graney, is Russia's most important post-Soviet nuclear-powered cruise-missile/attack submarine class. Designed from late Soviet concepts and completed after long delays, the class began with Severodvinsk and continued in improved Project 885M Yasen-M form. It was intended to combine anti-submarine, anti-surface, and land-attack missions in a single high-end submarine.

Yasen submarines combine nuclear propulsion, torpedo tubes, advanced sonar, and vertical launch capacity for cruise missiles such as Kalibr and Oniks, with later boats associated with hypersonic missile integration claims. The design emphasizes quieting compared with earlier Russian submarines and gives the Navy a multi-mission undersea platform. Its cost and complexity mean fleet numbers are limited, but each boat has significant strike and intelligence value.

Operationally, Yasen boats can threaten ships, submarines, and land targets from protected undersea positions. They are central to Russia's ability to hold NATO infrastructure and naval forces at risk from the North Atlantic, Arctic, and Pacific. The class also matters because it concentrates advanced Russian submarine technology into a small number of high-value platforms, making deployment patterns and maintenance cycles strategically important.