Russian Navy to receive new and overhauled submarines

The Russian Navy is set to receive new and overhauled strategic and conventional submarines, the military service’s commander-in-chief, Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, told Ministry of Defence newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda ( Red Star ) on 18 March.

Admiralty Shipyards is building Project 636.3 Improved Kilo-class SSKs for Russia’s Pacific Fleet. (Russian MoD)

Admiralty Shipyards, a subsidiary of United Shipbuilding Corporation, is now building Project 636.3 Improved Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines (SSKs) for the Pacific Fleet, according to the admiral. “The first-of-class Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy was delivered to the navy last November, two more submarines, Magadan and Ufa, are now having their sections linked; all three sections of each boat have already gone through hydraulic trials. The fourth submarine, Volkhov, has begun its mooring tests, and this boat will be manned next month,” he said. The Volkhov SSK will be delivered to the navy this year, while the whole class will be completed by 2022. The fifth submarine, Mozhaysk, is planned to be laid down in 2020, while the construction schedule of the sixth underwater combatant has yet to be defined.

Adm Yevmenov also said that the Black Sea Fleet has already been operating six Project 636.3 SSKs.

The navy is set to receive the overhauled Project 971 Akula-class nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) in April. “We are also planning to receive the Project 955A Borey A-class strategic [ballistic missile] submarines [SSBNs] Knyaz Vladimir and Knyaz Oleg, and Project 885M Yasen M-class SSGNs [guided missile submarines] Kazan and Novosibirsk in 2020,” he noted.

Last December, Deputy Defence Minister Alexey Krivoruchko said two more Project 955A SSBNs and two Project 885M SSGNs would be contracted in 2020.