Article Posted on : - Dec 23, 2013

Borey-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine Yury Dolgoruky. Photo: Sevmash shipyard.

MOSCOW (BNS): The Russian Navy's second Borey-class nuclear-powered submarine, Aleksandr Nevsky, will enter service during an official ceremony at the Sevmash shipyard on 23 Dec, 2013.

Russian Defence Minister is planning to attend the induction ceremony at the Sevmash shipyard, according to a news report by RIA Novosti.

The two Project 955 Borey-class ballistic-missile submarines, the Alexander Nevsky and the Vladimir Monomakh will replace the ageing Project 941 (NATO Typhoon class) and Project 667 class (Delta-3 and Delta-4) boats and become an important nuclear deterrent of the Russian Navy.

The first, Yury Dolgoruky, has been part of the Russian Navy since January.

Alexander Nevsky, the second Borey-class submarine, can carry 16 Bulava missiles, each fitted with up to 10 independently targetable nuclear warheads, as per the news report.

The third, the Vladimir Monomakh, was floated out last December.

Construction of two more Borey-class Project 955A submarines - the Alexander Suvorov and the Mikhail Kutuzov, will begin this year at the Sevmash shipyard.

Russia is planning to induct as many as eight submarines of the class into service by 2020.