Russia is going to complete building a series of seven Yasen-class nuclear submarines by 2023, says Vladimir Dorofeyev, CEO of the Malakhit Marine Engineering Design Bureau.
According to previous reports, the state armaments program for the period until 2020 envisaged construction of 8 Yasen class submarines. In addition, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy Viktor Chirkov said that after that the series would be continued.
"In accordance with the state armaments program, the project to build a series of 7 submarines will be completed after 2023," Dorofeyev said.
It is believed that the Yasen-class vessels are the “stealthiest submarines” in the world. The submarines will be 13.5 meters wide, 119 meters long and 9.4 meters high. They will have a maximum speed of 31 knots submerged and 16 knots surfaced.
The Yase-class submarines, touted as a deserving counterpart to the Seawolf- and Virginia-class submarines owned by the U.S. Navy, would upgrade the Russian navy's fleet.
The Yasen class multipurpose nuclear submarines were developed by the Malakhit Design Bureau. The first submarine of the class - the Severodvinsk, which was laid down in 1993, went into service within operational testing with the Russian Navy in late 2013.
The Russian designers say that the Yasen is not only quieter than the Project 971 Akula, but also quieter than the latest American Seawolf nuclear submarine. Moreover, unlike those vessels, the new missile submarine will be more functional thanks to the weapons at its disposal (several types of cruise missile and torpedo) and will be able to fulfil a wide range of roles at sea.