Russia's Newest Nuclear Submarine Ready To Go To Sea In June, Equipped With Bulava Antar Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles

Peluncuran Kapal Selam Nuklir Severodvinsk (K-560) di Sevmash Shipyard, Severodvinsk, Rusia. (Wikimedia Commons / Kremlin.ru / Press Service of the President of the Russian Federation)

JAKARTA - Another major tool for the Russian weapon system (Alutsista) is ready to show its capabilities. Not just any Alutsista, because this one is a nuclear-powered submarine.

Carrying the name Knyaz Oleg, this advanced strategic nuclear-powered missile-carrying submarine belongs to the Borei-class Submarine under project 955A which was launched on July 16, 2020.

Launching TASS Wednesday, May 26, the submarine will go to sea in June to conduct its first sea test, according to a domestic defense industry source, Tuesday, May 25.

"Based on plans starting today, Knyaz Oleg will be deployed to the sea for the first time trials in early June," the source said, explaining that plans also have the possibility of changing.

The press office of the government shipyard Sevmash Shipyard (part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation) where the series submarines are being built declined to comment on the source's information.

The previous plan, the first serially produced strategic nuclear-powered missile-carrying submarine, would start its service in the Russian Navy on Navy Day which falls on July 25 each year.

However, TASS sources assume that the submarine will not enter official service in the near future, as it will have to undergo a series of sea test programs.

In particular, the test launch of the latest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) destined for the Borei-class Submarine submarine, the RSM-56 Bulava. The launch was carried out from below the surface of the water in the Barents Sea to a firing target on the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia's far east.

Earlier, the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, told the Krasnaya Zvezda Defense Ministry newspaper that the Navy will procure the Borei-A Knyaz Oleg-class strategic nuclear-powered missile-carrying submarine by the end of 2021.

For information, the Russian Navy is currently preparing four nuclear submarines with intercontinental ballistic missiles under Project 955/955A.

In addition to the Knyaz Oleg, three more Project 955A submarines are in various stages of construction at the Sevmash Shipyard. Later, each Project 955/955A submarine will be capable of carrying 16 Bulava intercontinental ballistic missiles.