Updated 5:44 p.m. Moscow Time
MOSCOW, September 19 (RIA Novosti) - The construction of a new Borey class nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarine is expected to begin in December, the Sevmash shipyard said Friday.
“In December, if everything goes well, we will lay down one more submarine, the Knyaz Suvorov. It is another boat of the improved Borey-A class,” Nikolay Semakov, a deputy department head at Sevmash told RIA Novosti.
The Knyaz Suvorov will be the sixth out of eight Borey class vessels to form the backbone of the Russian Navy’s strategic nuclear deterrent force after older boats are retired by 2018.
Russia currently has two Borey-class boats in service - the Yury Dolgoruky and the Alexander Nevsky. The third submarine - the Vladimir Monomakh is expected to be commissioned in 2014.
The Borey-class submarines are nuclear-powered ballistic missile subs intended to replace the Delta and Typhoon classes. They are 170 meters long and can accomodate a crew of 107. These subs are equipped with Bulava submarine-launched ballistic missiles. The lead vessel Yury Dolgoruky was laid down on November 2, 1996. In December 2010, the second Borei-class submarine, the Alexander Nevsky, entered service.
