MOSCOW (Sputnik) – A total of six Project 941 (NATO reporting name Typhoon) submarines were built in the Soviet era. The remaining Severstal and Arkhangelsk submarines have been in reserve with the Russian Navy, while the Dmitry Donskoy Project 941UM was upgraded to carry Bulava ballistic missiles.
"A decision has now been made to recycle the Severstal and the Arkhangelsk at the Zvezdochka plant in Severodvinsk [Arkhangelsk Region]," the source said.
The soon-to-be-retired submarines were built in reaction to the US Navy’s Ohio class nuclear-powered submarines. They allowed the Soviet Union and the United States to reach parity in terms of marine strategic nuclear forces, confirmed at the second round of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT II) in 1979.
