MOSCOW, December 26 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s first Project 885M Yasen-class attack submarine, the Severodvinsk, will be handed over to the navy on December 30, a defense industry source told RIA Novosti on Thursday.
The submarine, designated as Graney-class by NATO, has been under construction at the Sevmash shipyard in northern Russia since 1993.
“The acceptance act for the first Yasen will be signed at Sevmash on December 30,” the source said.
Media reports previously said the navy’s main command refused to commission the nuclear-powered Severodvinsk over unspecified technical problems.
However, Sevmash said in October that the submarine had completed four rounds of additional sea trials since May and that all such trials were a success.
The Severodvinsk is one of eight Yasen-class attack boats ordered by the Russian navy. The second and third subs of the series, the Kazan and the Novosibirsk, are being built under the updated Project 885M Yasen-M design.
The Severodvinsk has a submerged displacement of 13,800 tons, length of 119 meters, speed of 31 knots, and can dive to 600 meters. It has a crew of 90 including 32 officers.
The submarine has been designed to launch cruise missiles with conventional or nuclear warheads to a range of up to 3,000 miles (5,000 kilometers), as well as effectively engage other submarines, surface warships and land-based targets.
Its main armament consists of 24 Oniks (SS-N-26) and Kalibr (SS-N-27) cruise missiles, self-guided torpedoes and mines.
