Defence shipyard Sevmash has started work on the Russian Navy’s three new submarines, the Borei-class Knyaz Oleg and Yasen-class Krasnoyarsk and the Khabarovsk, in Severodvinsk, Russia.
The Borei-class submarines, which are the first in the upgraded 955A project, are integrated with the latest equipment and enhanced stealth and other characteristics, ITAR-TASS reported.
According to Russian Deputy Defence Minister Yuri Borisov, Knyaz Oleg and the fourth Yasen-class multi-purpose attack submarine Krasnoyarsk will be the ‘basis of the navy’ in the future.
Borisov was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying: "I think that these ships, in the coming decades, will form the basis of the navy and are guaranteed to provide the defence capability and the security of our country."
Russia is investing $700bn on its military rearmament programme, which involves the construction of ten Graney-class nuclear-attack submarines and 20 diesel-electric submarines, including six Varshavyanka-class vessels.
By 2015, the navy is expected to take delivery of eight Borei-class submarines equipped with 16 Bulava intercontinental ballistic missiles and six SS-N-15 cruise missiles. These will replace the existing project 941 and project 667 (Nato Typhoon and Delta-3 and Delta-4) ballistic-missile vessels.
The current Russian Navy fleet includes 60 submarines, ten of which are nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarines, and over 30 multipurpose nuclear submarines and diesel and special purpose crafts.
Image: The Russian Navy’s first Borei-class submarine Yury Dolgoruky during its launch. Photo: courtesy of Iliya Pitalev.
