14.02.2008
The first vessel of Russia’s fourth generation of nuclear submarines, the “Yuri Dolgorukii”, was put on the water at the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk, Arkhangelsk Oblast.
The submarine was yesterday taken out of the dock at the Sevmash construction plant in Severodvinsk, Arkhangelsk Oblast, the company reports in a press note.
The launch of the new sub marks the opening of a new chapter in Russian submarine history. The vessel is the first in the of the Project 955 “Borey” class, the most hi-tech of all Russian subs.
The planning of the vessel was initiated in 1978 and construction started in 1996. The vessel will be equipped with “Bulava” missile system. It remains not clear, however, whether the vessel already now will carry the new missiles.
The “Yuri Dolgorukii was last April taken out of the construction hall in the presence of First Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov.
The "Yuri Dolgorukii", which takes its name from a Slavic prince who is credited with founding Moscow, can descend to a depth of 450 meters and carry 107 sailors. The new submarine is part of a plan approved by President Vladimir Putin to upgrade the core of the country's undersea nuclear attack forces, the Moscow Times reports. Currently, another two Borey-class subs are under construction at Sevmash, the "Vladimir Monomakh" and the "Aleksandr Nevskii".
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