Russia has built and exported a total of 12 Kilo submarines to China since the early 1990s, including:
- 2 original Kilos designated Project 877EKM, and
- 10 Improved Kilo of Project 636 (including 2 x 636.1s and 8 x 636Ms).
In the 1990s andd early 2000s these Kilos were quite standard to advanced submarines. So it is assumed China looked at these exports as a technology transfer, reverse-engineering opportunity. It is assumed the Chinese Song and Yuan submarines owe much to the Kilo design, for example the Songs and Yuans retain the Kilos double hull and (vertical-horizontal edge) "square" sail/fin.
It is not known the extent China reverse engineered the Kilo diesels to drive the Songs and Yuans. This is because MAN, Rolls Royce and MTU may have made superior marine diesels for submarine available to China.
Pete and Anonymous
- 2 original Kilos designated Project 877EKM, and
- 10 Improved Kilo of Project 636 (including 2 x 636.1s and 8 x 636Ms).
In the 1990s andd early 2000s these Kilos were quite standard to advanced submarines. So it is assumed China looked at these exports as a technology transfer, reverse-engineering opportunity. It is assumed the Chinese Song and Yuan submarines owe much to the Kilo design, for example the Songs and Yuans retain the Kilos double hull and (vertical-horizontal edge) "square" sail/fin.
It is not known the extent China reverse engineered the Kilo diesels to drive the Songs and Yuans. This is because MAN, Rolls Royce and MTU may have made superior marine diesels for submarine available to China.
Kilo Project 877EKM Propulsion
The Russian wikipedia entry on the original export Kilo 877EKM (or ECM) provides details on the “Powerplant”: Kilo 877 submarines have a single-shaft power plant with 2 x 4-2DL42M diesels, each of 1000 kW at 700 rpm. These diesels work with PG-142 generators.
[But then the Russian to English translation gets confusing with: "The row motor [?] of the PG-101 model has a power of 4 MW at 500 rpm and is duplicated by an electric motor of the economic stroke type PG-140 (139 kW at 150 rpm).”[3] Two reserve propellers of the "screw in tube" type are located in the semi-ring tunnels in the aft part inside the light hull of the boat [4] and are driven into rotation by the reserve electric motors PG-168 (2 x 75 kW at 650 rpm)." [3]
[but fortunately translation becomes clearer with] "The battery type 446 consists of two groups of 120 elements each, and is located on the lower decks of the 1st and 3rd compartments. Its energy capacity is enough for 400 miles of underwater speed at a speed of 3 knots. The reserve under the RDP is 6000 miles on 7 knots."
Tables A and B below have been modified from English Wikipedia
TABLE A Russian 877 Kilos Exported to China
Operator | Pennant # | Name | Project | Laid down | Commis sioned | Status |
364 | Yuan Zheng 64 Hao | 877EKM | ??? | Nov 1994 | active 2007 | |
China | 365 | Yuan Zheng 65 Hao | 877EKM | ??? | Aug 1995 | active 2007 |
Kilo Project 636 (636.1 and 636M) Propulsion
As with the earlier Kilo 877EKMs, Kilo 636s (636.1 and 636M) use 2 x Two 4-2DL42M diesels. They are L6 type diesels with 300mm of bore and 380mm of stroke. Using PG-142 generators they generate 1000kW of electrical output at 700 rpm.
Operator | Pennant # | Name | Project | Laid down | Commis sioned | Status |
China | 366 | Yuan Zheng 66 Hao | 636.1 | Jul 1996 | Aug 1997 | active 2006 |
China | 367 | Yuan Zheng 67 Hao | 636.1 | Aug 1997 | Oct 1998 | active 2006 |
China | 368 | Yuan Zheng 68 Hao | 636M | Oct 2002 | Oct 2004 | active 2006 |
China | 369 | Yuan Zheng 69 Hao | 636M | Oct 2002 | 2005 | active 2006 |
China | 370 | Yuan Zheng 70 Hao | 636M | 2004 | 2005 | active 2006 |
China | 371 | Yuan Zheng 71 Hao | 636M | 2004 | 2005 | active 2006 |
China | 372 | Yuan Zheng 72 Hao | 636M | 2005 | 2006 | active 2006 |
China | 373 | Yuan Zheng 73 Hao | 636M | Jul 1992 | Aug 2005 | active 2007 |
China | 374 | Yuan Zheng 74 Hao | 636M | May 2003 | Dec 2005 | active 2006 |
China | 375 | Yuan Zheng 75 Hao | 636M | May 2003 | Dec 2005 | active 2006 |
More research will be done on the Russian Navy's Kilo 636.3s for which Anonymous has provided the details: 2 x 7-2D42M diesels are used for the Kilo 636.3s, They are L6 type diesels with 300mm of bore and 380mm of stroke. Using PG-167 generators they generate 1500kW of electrical output at 750 rpm.
Six 636.3s are active in Russia's Black Sea Fleet and two to six 636.3s may be supplied to the Russian Pacific Fleet by the early 2020s. Russia may have eight Kilo 877s (some active, some laid up) in the Pacific Fleet.