The Typhoon class submarine is a type of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine deployed by the Soviet Navy in the 1980s. With a maximum displacement of 48,0 tonnes, Typhoons are the largest class of submarine ever built. The NATO reporting name stems from the use of the word "typhoon" (тайфун) by Leonid Brezhnev in a 1974 speech while describing a new type of nuclear ballistic missile submarine. The Typhoon class was developed under Project 941 as the Russian Akula class (Акула), meaning shark. It is sometimes confused with other submarines, as Akula is the name NATO uses to designate the Russian Project 971 Shchooka-B (Щука-Б) class attack submarines.