Moscow, July 30 (IANS/RIA Novosti) The Russian Navy will receive at least eight Graney class nuclear-powered attack submarines in the next decade, Navy chief Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky said Friday.
‘We are expecting to receive at least eight attack submarines of this (Graney) class by 2020,’ Vysotsky said in an exclusive interview with RIA Novosti.
The admiral said that the first Graney class sub, the Severodvinsk, will start two-month-long sea trials in the White Sea in August, and it is expected to enter service with the Russian Navy by the end of 2011.
The second vessel, the Kazan, is being built at the Sevmash shipyard in the northern Russian city of Severodvinsk.
The construction of the third Graney class submarine will begin in 2011.
Graney class nuclear submarines are designed to launch a variety of long-range cruise missiles (up to 3,100 miles or 5,000 km), with conventional or nuclear warheads, and effectively engage submarines, surface warships and land-based targets.
The submarine’s armament includes 24 cruise missiles and eight torpedo launchers, as well as mines and anti-ship missiles.
–IANS/RIA Novosti
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