It has 650 mm and 533 mm torpedo tubes which can use mines as well as Granat cruise missiles, anti-submarine missiles, and torpedoes. The performance of the Project 971 boats was a close approximation to that of the Project 945 design, though the later was significantly more expensive to build and maintain. The Project 971, using a steel hull, was initiated in 1976 when it became evident that existing industrial infrastructure was inadequate to mass produce the expensive titanium hulls of the Project 945 Sierra class. The hull is constructed of low magnetic steel, and divided into eight compartments, and features a distinctive high aft fin. Some 110 meters long, the Akula is double-hulled with considerable distance between the outer and inner hulls to reduce the possible damage to the inner hull. Designated the "Akula" class by the West, and also widely known as the Bars (Snow Leopard) class, the submarine is reported to be officially designated Project 971 Shuka B (shuka is an aggressive breed of fresh water pike - the Shchuka-A was the Project 671 Victor class). The Project 971 Shuka-B Bars-class attack submarine multi-purpose submarine is capable of strikes against groups of hostile ships and against coastal installations. The last of the constructed boats, K-335 "Cheetah", the embodiment of the latest technical achievements, in the West is called "Akula-III". Later, the project was improved several times, and the boats built on the modified projects received the code names "Improved Akula" (Russian "Improved Shark") in the west, the 971M project corresponds to the designation "Akula-II". Project 971 boats received the code name "Akula" in NATO countries. Submarines of Project 971 "Shchuka-B" (designation of NATO - "Akula") - a series of Soviet multi-purpose nuclear submarines of the third generation, designed according to the same technical specification as the titanium boats of Project 945 Barracuda, but with a steel hull.
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