Article Posted on : - Aug 09, 2012

The Yury Dolgoruky SSBN during sea trials. A Sevmash Shipyard photo

MOSCOW (BNS): Russia plans to deploy the first two of its new Borey-class strategic nuclear submarines in the Pacific region, the country's First Deputy Defence Minister has said.

"I am absolutely certain that the first two subs will be initially placed with the Northern Fleet and will be redeployed to the Pacific Fleet after all the infrastructure there is ready," Alexander Sukhorukov, the First Deputy Defence Minister of Russian Federation, was quoted as saying by Ria Novosti on Wednesday.

The first two Project 955 Borey-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) - Yuri Dolgoruky and Alexander Nevsky - are presently undergoing sea trials in the White Sea and are expected to be commissioned into service by the end of this year.

Russia is presently building four Borey-class SSBNs and plans to build four more by 2015. The Russian Navy is expected to receive at least ten such submarines by 2020.

Each of the fourth-generation nuclear attack submarine, having a length of 170 meters, width of 13.5 meters and displacement of 24,000 tons, is capable of carrying 16 Bulava intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) having a range of over 8,000 kilometers.

The Asia-Pacific region has assumed importance in recent times with leading global military players, including the US, China and Japan, flexing their muscle amidst growing tension among the littoral states of the area over a number of islets and water.

The US has decided to bolster its military presence in the Asia-Pacific by shifting the bulk of its naval fleet including as many as six aircraft carriers to the Pacific by 2020 as part of new strategic focus on Asia.