Laid down 1988 Class and type Project 210 submarine Complement 25, all officers Launched 13 August 2003 | Nickname(s) "Losharik" Propulsion 1 nuclear reactors Construction started 1988 Builder Sevmash | |
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Length 60m or 70m (unconfirmed) | ||
Losharik (Russian: Лошарик) is the nickname of a Russian submarine. A popular but incorrect name (which many media sources still use) for this submarine type is "Project 210". The real name is AS-12 (Russian: АС-12, where "АС" stands for "Атомная Станция" from the official Russian naval term "атомная глубоководная станция", "nuclear deepwater station") of Project 10831. It is powered by a nuclear reactor and is believed to be able to operate at a depth of many 1000s metres due to the unique spherical construction elements. The exact operational depth is unknown but it is known that this submarine operated at about 2000–2500 m depth in the Arctic in 2012.
NATO reporting name for this submarine is NORSUB-5.
Laid down in 1988, it was launched only in August 2003 due to financial problems that Russian military experienced in 1990s. Losharik is designated for research, rescue and special military operations.
The nickname was hinted at by the multi-spherical hull construction and was taken from a Russian cartoon character Losharik, a toy horse consisting of small spheres – the name losharik is a portmanteau of Russian: "лошадь" ("loshad'") – horse and Russian: "шарик" ("sharik") – small sphere.
