The submarine has eight torpedo launch tubes, four 650mm and four 533mm tubes. The Improved Akula and Akula II have ten, with six 533mm tubes. The four 650mm tubes can be fitted with liners to provide additional 533mm weapon launch capacity. The torpedo tubes can be used to launch mines instead of torpedoes. The Akula can launch a range of anti-submarine and anti-surface vessel torpedoes.An air defence capability is provided by a Strela SA-N-5/8 portable missile launcher with 18 missiles.

The submarine is equipped with 24 SS-N-19 Granit (NATO codename "Shipwreck") cruise missiles with a range of 550km. The missile has a length of 10.5m and weighs 6.9t with a warhead weighing 1000kg. Its speed is Mach 1.5. Under the START treaty, nuclear warheads for these missiles have been replaced with high explosive warheads. The missiles, which are launched while the submarine is submerged, are fired from tubes fixed at an angle of approximately 40°. The tubes, arranged in two rows of twelve, are each covered by six hatches on each side of the sail, with each hatch covering a pair of tubes. The launchers are placed between the inner pressure hull and the outer hydrodynamic hull.The torpedo tubes fire both torpedoes and shorter range anti-ship missiles, and a combination of some two dozen weapons are carried including the SS-N-16 missile. The SS-N-16 has a range of 50km and is powered by a liquid fuel turbojet engine. It can carry either an explosive warhead or a Type 40 torpedo. Here is also a picture of a model I built of an OSCAR II.

This class of U-boat is the same as the famous U-505. U-boats of this class caused havoc along the shores of the United States after America's entry into the war. They ranged into the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, and even into the Indian and Pacific Oceans. U-boat sailors were given the options of serving on either a Type VII or Type IX. Although the larger Type IX offered more space and an extra toilet. This "luxury" came with a price, as the TYPE IX suffered from a slower diving time. Type VII's were able to crash dive much faster. The choice for crews was a toss of the dice.

As Allied air power began to take its toll on U-boats, the Type IXC was fitted with a number of new innovations. Her conning tower was modified into the TRUM IV configuration. This added additional anti-aircraft weapons. A basic radar was installed, although it was not very successful. The Germans understood that radar was often more of a threat than ASDIC (Sonar). TYPE IX carried equipment that could detect most radar signals and allow time for the boat to dive in time to prevent an attack. This class also carried what today we call counter-measures. Canisters could be ejected that upon contact with the seawater began to produce huge clouds of hydrogen gas bubbles. It was hoped this cloud of bubbles would confuse a searching sonar and allow the submarine to slip away. As the war progressed and the fortunes turned further in the Allied favor, the surface became a death trap. The solution was not to surface! Some Type IX boat were fitted with a snorkel mast. This hinged mast was raised and was used to supply the diesel engines with fresh air, while the U-boat remained at periscope depth. The head of the snorkel was coated with a special matting designed to absorb radar emissions.

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