Article Posted on : - Mar 31, 2013

An unrelated file photo.

LANGKAWI, MALAYSIA (BNS): Russian shipbuilders are developing new "super mini" submarines, said the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) state holding company.

Work on the sea craft was in progress at the St. Petersburg-based Malakhit naval machine manufacturing bureau and that Navy command has been showing interest in the project, the USC vice president Igor Zakharov said, according to a news report by RIA Novosti.

Alexander Terenov, an advisor to Malakhit's general director, said the Project 865 Piranha submersible (NATO reporting name Losos) could go beyond just 'hit and run' operations.

Piranha is a midget submarine designed for special operations and is almost completely silent. Only two Piranha-class submarines were reportedly ever built in Russia. They have a broad range of applications and can carry full-fledged missile and torpedo systems, the news report added.