Sail again with the crew of the Akula in this handcrafted wooden Submarine Model. Each piece is carved from wood and handpainted to provide a piece you’ll love. US Veteran Owned Business. A perfect tribute to a bit of on top time! The Akula class, Soviet designation Project 971 Shchuka-B Russian:???? -? , lit.’Pike-B’, NATO reporting name Akula is a series of fourth generation nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs) first deployed by the Soviet Navy in 1986. There are four sub-classes or flights of Shchuka-B, consisting of the original seven Project 971 boats (codenamed Akula I), commissioned between 1984 and 1990; six Project 971Is (Improved Akulas), commissioned between 1991 and 2009; one Project 971U (Akula II), commissioned in 1995; and one Project 971M (Akula III), commissioned in 2001. The Russians call all of the submarines Shchuka-B, regardless of modifications. Some confusion may exist as the name Akula (Russian:????? , meaning “shark” in Russian) was used by the Soviets for a different class of submarines, the Project 941, which is known in the West as the Typhoon class. According to defense analyst Norman Polmar, the launch of the first submarine in 1985, “shook everyone [in the West] up”, as Western intelligence agencies had not expected the Soviet Union to produce such a boat for another ten years.