During the '70s, the Soviet shipyard in Severodvinsk launched a program 881 Achar submarine that was called Papa class by NATO. The boat was the larger and had two extra missile tubes for the P-120 Malakhit anti-ship missiles, in comparison with the Charlie class. Papa boats were a mystery for the West.
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Things got clearer in 1980 when a new submarine, Program 949 Granit (NATO called it Oscar I) was launched. Papa class was planned in 1957 as a replacement for the Alfa class.
The missile system was built to test the P-120 missile for the future Charlie II nuclear submarines. Oscar's design was improved and featured two 12-rounds tubes for the P-700 long-range supersonic anti-ship missiles. The submarine also featured a double hull: an external hydrodynamic and a second, internal pressure hull.
Only two boats of this class were made. Both of these submarines were part of the Northern fleet and were retired in 1996. Later, eleven 19 Project 949A Antey boats were built also known as Oscar II.
