Northern Fleet deploys anti-drone nets over nuclear submarines

The image, showing two submarines covered by anti-drone netting, was initially published by the Nakhimov Naval School in Murmansk but was quickly removed from the school's website. By then, however, the photograph had already been republished by several VKontakte pages and Telegram channels in the Murmansk region, providing a rare glimpse of the protective measures.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the image remained available on the News Murmansk Oblast VKontakte page and the Hotline Telegram channel.

Visible behind a group of school pupils, the anti-drone nets appear to cover the forward section of the submarines, including the area housing the torpedo tubes and sonar systems, as well as the sail and missile compartment. The photograph does not show whether the stern sections of either vessel are similarly protected.

Ukrainian drones have repeatedly struck Russian naval vessels in Black Sea ports and waters east of Crimea, as well as a shipyard in St Petersburg. However, no drone attacks have been reported against warships stationed as far north as the Kola Peninsula.

It is unlikely that the netting observed around the Northern Fleet submarines would provide significant protection against long-range fixed-wing drones carrying tens of kilograms of explosives. The installations appear better suited to defending against smaller quadcopter drones of the type widely used on the battlefield in occupied Ukrainian territory.

One year ago, on 1 June, a swarm of explosive-laden quadcopters was launched from a concealed compartment in the roof of a Russian lorry parked a few kilometres from Olenya Air Base, south of Murmansk. The drones destroyed four strategic bombers and damaged four others. The operation, dubbed Spiderweb by Ukraine, is widely regarded as one of the most successful and spectacular attacks against Russian military targets since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022.

Kristian Åtland, an expert on Russian naval operations in the High North and the war in Ukraine, believes the net-covered submarines are intended to prevent similar attacks.

"The purpose of the nets is supposedly to protect these assets from Ukrainian FPV drone strikes," Åtland told the Barents Observer after reviewing the photograph.

Åtland is a Senior Research Fellow with the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment.

"Similar netting protection has reportedly been installed over strategic submarines moored at the Rybachiy naval base in Kamchatka, some 7,400 kilometres east of Ukraine," he said.

Naval News reported in May that similar netting had been observed protecting Borei-class ballistic missile submarines in port with Russia's Pacific Fleet.

According to Åtland, however, ballistic missile submarines remain unlikely targets for Ukrainian drone operations.

"Thus, the temporary installation of these protective netting systems likely reflects a precautionary approach and growing concern about drone threats, rather than a specific or immediate risk," he said.

Of particular interest is the fact that one of the two Delta IV-class submarines visible in the Gadzhiyevo photograph appears to be Yekaterinburg (K-84). The submarine was withdrawn from active service in 2020 and has remained laid up at the base ever since, most likely without any weapons on board.

The other Delta-IV class submarine on the photo, the Verkhoturye (K-51), is in active service and can be armed with up to 16 Sineva missiles, each with multiple nuclear warheads.

It remains unclear from publicly available sources whether other Northern Fleet submarines are protected by similar anti-drone measures while in port at other naval bases along the coast of the Kola Peninsula. 

The Barents Observer has closely examined recent photographs of surface warships berthed in Severomorsk. None appear to be equipped with comparable netting.

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Olesia Krivtsova and Atle Staalesen contributed to this story.