Russian navy orders additional two Yasen-M submarines

Contracts were concluded and made public at the Army-2019 military and technical forum, news agency TASS reports with reference to Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister Alexey Krivoruchko.

Like the first seven Yasen class submarines, also the additional two will be built at the Sevmash submarine construction yard in Severodvinsk.

The first prototype of the class is named after the city where it is built and was commissioned in late 2013. The “Severodvinsk” is based in Zapadnaya Litsa on the Barents Sea coast of the Kola Peninsula, some 65 kilometres from Russia’s border to Norway.

The first of the improved Yasen-M submarine, named “Kazan” is currently under testing, and its transfer to the navy is delayed by a year following several technical challenges with the onboard auxiliary systems. Another five subs of the class are at different stages of construction at the yard.

The two additional Yasen-M class submarines are expected to be laid down in 2020 and 2021 and with a believed construction and testing period of seven years, the vessels should be ready for mission patrols by 2027 and 2028.

Main weapons are Oniks and Kalibr cruise-missiles. The submarine is powered by one reactor.