N700029 SOVIET SUBMARINE PROJECT 1710 MACKREL (NATO NAME BELUGA)

Project 1710 (another designation: Beluga) is a Soviet experimental diesel-electric submarine from the Cold War period. The unit was launched in 1986 and it was commissioned in 1988. The length of the ship was from 62 to 65.5 m, width from 6.3 to 8.7 m, and the underwater displacement - about 1,900 tons. The maximum underwater speed was 22-24 knots. Beluga was designed by the Malachit Design Bureau based in what was then Leningrad (today's St. Petersburg). The ship of this type was used to test the hydrodynamic assumptions of new Soviet nuclear submarines, as well as to test new variants of the diesel-electric drive. Almost certainly, various electronic and hydroacoustic devices were also tested. It is worth noting that the Beluga hull was probably modeled on the solutions used in Alfa type units, and the propulsion was an advanced 7-blade single propeller. This very interesting unit was put into reserve in 1998.