Icebreaker Ilya Muromets to Join Russia's Northern Fleet in November - CEO

ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) — The new-generation diesel-electric icebreaker Ilya Muromets is expected to join the Russian navy’s Northern Fleet in November, Admiralty Shipyards CEO Alexander Buzakov told Sputnik in an interview.

"We will deliver the ship this year in line with the contract. Now, it is at the first stage of factory tests, which will be completed on August 10. The icebreaker will return to the shipyard and approximately on August 20 will leave for the second stage of tests, after which the preparation for state tests will start. We do not doubt that Ilya Muromets will be delivered on time. In November, the ship will sail to join the Northern Fleet, where the flag-raising ceremony will take place," Buzakov said.

The lead icebreaker of the Project 21180, the Ilya Muromets, was launched at the Admiralty Shipyards in St. Petersburg in June 2016. It is the first icebreaker constructed for the Russian Navy in the last 45 years, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

The new icebreaker is almost 278 feet long, 65 feet wide and displaces 6,000 tonnes. It has an operational range of 12,000 nautical miles and a two-month endurance. In addition to its main function, patrolling ships and vessels in a continuous ice field up to 2.9 feet thick, it is capable of carrying cargo in the hold and in containers on the upper deck, performing hydrographic studies and participating in rescue operations.

The vessel can be used to extinguish fires at emergency facilities, clean-up emergency oil spills, and transport troops. To perform loading and unloading operations, the icebreaker is equipped with a crane able to carry 26 tonnes. A helipad is located at the bow of the vessel.

Moreover, Russia's St. Petersburg-based Admiralty Shipyards is planning to deliver the Lada-class (Project 677) Kronstadt diesel-electric submarine to the Russian navy in 2020, St. Petersburg-based Admiralty Shipyards said.

"Next year, we plan to float out this boat, according to the contract, and deliver it to the Navy in 2020," the company's CEO Alexander Buzakov said in an interview with Sputnik.

The construction of the Sankt Petersburg, the lead vessel of the Project 677, began in December 1997. It was transferred the Navy for trial operations in April 2010. Two other submarines of the class – the Kronstadt and the Velikie Luki – were laid down in 2005 and 2006 respectively. The construction, however, was suspended and restarted only in 2015.

Russia's United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) said last year that the construction of the Kronstadt and the Velikie Luki would be completed in 2018 – 2019.

The Lada-class submarines, which carry six 533-mm torpedo launchers and can fire cruise missiles, are designed to defend naval bases, coastal waters and sea communication lines. They can be effectively deployed against both surface ships and submarines.

According to the USC, the Lada-class submarines could be replaced in the future by the Kalina-class submarines that are likely to be equipped with anaerobic (air-independent) propulsion units.