Moscow, Dec 3 (IANS/RIA Novosti) The delivery of the first Graney class nuclear-powered multipurpose attack submarine to the Russian Navy has been postponed until the end of 2012, the builders said.
Construction of the Severodvinsk submarine began in 1993 at the Sevmash shipyard in the northern Russian city of Severodvinsk but has since been dogged by financial setbacks. It was floated out in June last year and has undergone two sets of sea trials.
‘The delivery of the (Severodvinsk submarine) to the defence ministry has been postponed until next year,’ Sevmash general director Andrei Dyachkov said Friday.
Dyachkov said the testing of the submarine’s weaponry required at least six months of additional sea trials in 2012.
Graney class nuclear submarines are designed to launch a variety of long-range cruise missiles (up to 5,000 km), with conventional or nuclear warheads, and effectively engage submarines, surface warships and land-based targets.
