Russia will start building modernized Borey-A class strategic nuclear-powered submarines in 2012, the Sevmash shipyard said.
Fourth-generation Borey class submarines are expected to constitute the core of Russia's modern strategic submarine fleet. Russia is planning to build eight Borey and Borey-A class subs by 2020.
“We will lay down the first modernized Borey-A class submarine next year,” Sevmash General Director Andrei Dyachkov said on Friday in an exclusive interview with RIA Novosti.
Dyachkov said the contracts on the construction of two more Borey-A class submarines would be signed in the Q1 of 2012.
The official did not specify the differences between the Borey and Borey-A class submarines, but it was reported earlier by some Russian military sources that modifications could include major structural changes and the installation of four more missile launch tubes.
Three Borey class vessels, the Yury Dolgoruky, the Alexander Nevsky, and the Vladimir Monomakh, are in different stages of completion at Sevmash.
The Yury Dolgoruky has recently completed all sea trials and is expected to enter service with the Russian Navy as soon as the Bulava ballistic missile successfully passes the final tests.
A Borey class strategic submarine is 170 meters (580 feet) long, has a hull diameter of 13 meters (42 feet), a crew of 107, including 55 officers, a maximum depth of 450 meters (about 1,500 feet) and a submerged speed of about 29 knots. It can carry up to 16 ballistic missiles with multiple warheads.
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