Russian Submarine Photo Outs Russia’s Top Secret Nuclear Sub The AC-12 Losharik?

It’s being claimed that a Russian submarine photo by Top Gear Russia may have accidentally outed a top secret program for a Russian nuclear submarine called the AC-12 Losharik. Although weapons experts are not 100 hundred percent certain, it’s very possible the Russian sub pictured in the magazine may indeed have leaked out sensitive info in its lust for engines.

In a related report by the Inquisitr, the Russian nuclear navy is currently being modernized at a rapid pace, and it’s also predicted that China will beat the U.S. Navy by 2020 by sheer number of vessels, if not technology. Some reports claim that Sweden and England may have spotted a potential Russian submarine lurking in their waters and the U.S. Navy was called in to help in the sub hunt.

Russia’s submarine fleet is being upgraded and the Russian navy hopes to add at least 16 new Russian nuclear submarines to its Pacific and Northern fleets. While the Ukraine crisis has contributed to the need for modernizing the Russian navy, Top Gear Russia was more focused on admiring the sub’s engine specs rather than international politics.

Nicknamed the Losharik after a children’s movie, the AS-12 Project 10830 Russian submarine is shown going for a test run off the White Sea shore. The development of the sub started way back in 1988, and the experimental boat is rumored to be designed for very deep dives by using a string of spherical pressure vessels. Although the Russian submarine photo shows a vessel only about 250 feet long, this midget submarine can dive deep up to 6,000 meters, according to unconfirmed reports.

The hull can also be fitted with various equipment intended to take scientific measurements. Of course, monitoring other nations is possible since it could be used to plant listening devices, manipulate enemies, and monitor fiber optic cables. Since the Russian submarine is also designed for long endurance, it could also just sit for long periods of time at the bottom of the ocean while on a mission.

So is this Russian submarine photo really that of the Losharik? Weapons expert Vasiliy Sichev told Slon that it’s likely the pictured sub might be the AS-12 Project 10830.

“It’s impossible to unequivocally say that the picture was really the AC-12, of course, because the project is classified and how the ‘Losharik’ looks is technically unknown. However, photos which were allegedly of ‘Losharik’ surfaced in 2007, 2010, and 2011, and they had a lot of similarities with the one in Top Gear.”

Here’s the entire page of the Russian submarine photo.