June

Construction of the third SSGN of the Russian “Yasen” Class to start in 2011

The First of Class of the successor submarine of the nuclear powered “Alpha” and “Akula”-Class submarines, the SSGN of the “Yasen”-Class (NATO designation: “Graney”) “Severodvinsk” (K-139) will commence its seatrials this spring, to be commissioned until the end of 2011. The “Project 885 ” submarine Severodvinsk has been under construction since 1993, but was delayed due to financial constrains for several years, it appears, however, that the entire building program of 6 submarines planned of this class will be completed. SSGN Kazan, the second submarine of this class is under construction since July 2009 and recently the Russian Navy has announced the construction of the 3rd unit to be started still in 2011, building time per submarine estimated to be 5 – 6 years.

The submarines are built by the Sevmash Shipyard at the North-Siberian portcity of Severodvinsk, close to Archangelsk. They are multipurpose submarines with capabilities to launch cruise missiles (up to 32 are on board), anti-ship missiles, torpedoes and mines. The submarines have a length of 124 m, a width of 15 m and a draught of 10 m, their displacement is 9,500 t surfaced and 11,800 t submerged. Their speed is 18-20 kn surfaced and more than 30 kn under water, they can operate down to 600 m depth. The complement will be around 95. Building costs are estimated to be around 1 Billion USD each, experts, however, talk of costs rather close to 2 Billion USD each.