26.11.2008
The strategic nuclear Delta-IV class submarine K-18 Kareliya has been launched after modernizations at the Zvezdochka shipyard in Severodvinsk, Arkhangelsk Oblast.
The modernization has prolonged the submarine’s lifetime with approximately ten years and improved its tactical and technical performance considerably.
According to
Wikipedia,
Kareliya is one of seven
Delta-IV class nuclear submarines built from 1985 to 1992. All are still in service in the Russian navy today. Five submarines have gone through modernization at the
Zvezdochka shipyard, the last two are awaiting their turn.
After the modernization the submarine’s main weapon system is the
Sineva ballistic missile. It can carry ten 100kT warheads. In a test launch on 11 October 2008, an R-29RMU travelled 11,547 kilometres downrange. The submarine is planned to be fully operational in 2009.
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