Contract for SSBN Yekaterinburg Repairs to be Signed After Damage Appraisal

10.08.2012 According to Russian deputy defense minister Alexander Sukhorukov, contract for repairs of Project 667BDRM Delfin nuclear-powered strategic submarine K-84 Yekaterinburg suffered in fire in Dec 2011 will be signed after appraisal of the sub's defects, reports Lenta.ru referring to ITAR-TASS.

As for Sukhorukov, such contracts are always divided in two phases. At first, a contract acceptor reports on volume of needed works, and then starts repair.

Defense ministry has already appropriated RUR 6 mln to Zvezdochka shipyard for troubleshooting purpose. In its term, the yard submitted technical justification of repair as RUR 1 bln. According to Sukhorukov, this sum includes scheduled interim overhaul and technical recovery of the submarine.

Financing of the sub's repair was earlier reserved in State Defense Order 2012-2014. "So, there are no doubts the contract for repair and recovery will be signed after defect evaluation", explained the deputy defense minister.

According to estimates of defense ministry, repair of SSBN Yekaterinburg must be completed by 2014. As a result, lifetime of the submarine will become five years longer. Representatives of the shipyard earlier promised to add 10 years to service life of SSBN Yekaterinburg.

Fire onboard the submarine in Dec 2011 damaged sonar and rubber coating. To pass repair, SSBN Yekaterinburg arrived in Severodvinsk on June 22, 2012.

Project 667BDRM Delfin submarines are presently the key element of Russia's maritime nuclear shield. In prospect, they will be complemented with Project 955 Borei subs. The first of them, SSBN Yury Dolgoruky armed with R-30 Bulava ballistic missiles is to be commissioned into Russian Navy in the nearest time. Early in 2013, it is planned to put in service the second sub of this type, SSBN Alexander Nevsky.