[speed150mph]

The alfa sure came as a shock to the NATO navies, who were used to being the kings of the sea, makes you wonder where Russian submarine tech would be if they didn't have the severe cutbacks they did after the fall of the USSR.

I have a couple questions for the subsim community about the Russian Titanium hulled boats.:

First off, I read an article once about how the CIA found out and were shocked that the Alfa hull was made of titanium. But K-222, the only papa class sub, had a titanium hull and was commissioned almost 4 years before the first alfa test bed. How long was it before NATO learned K-222 had a titanium hull?

Secondly, I've heard stories that some of the alfa hulls were suffering from metal fatigue after diving deep, and that this coupled with the maintenance issues with the reactor is what caused them to be decommissioned and scrapped. Can anybody confirm this?

Thirdly, if the above is true, what changes were made to the Sierra class that made them more durable? They have a deeper test depth then the Alfa, and they have already exceeded the life of the alfa with no indication of them being decommissioned soon. Heck, one was involved in a collision with a LA class sub that forced the 688's early decommissioning and the sierra got away with a 4 month dry dock visit and didn't look back.