Russia Flaunts Nuclear Submarine Power in Pacific

The Russian navy said the modernization of a base in the country’s Far East has enabled seven nuclear-powered submarines to be put into service over the past few years.

The comment was made by Vice Admiral Vladimir Dmitriyev, commander of the Russian Pacific Fleet’s submarine forces, in a report to the new Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, who was visiting the Kamchatka region in the Far East, Tass reported on Wednesday.

The modernization of a pier at a Pacific Fleet base, whose exact location the report did not disclose, has allowed five Borei-class ballistic missile submarines and two Yasen-class cruise missile submarines to enter service. Both are powered by nuclear reactors.

A Borei-class submarine and a Yasen-class submarine completed a voyage under the ice of the Arctic from the Barents Sea to the Pacific Ocean last month. They traveled more than 4,000 nautical miles [4,600 miles], where they encountered the United States Coast Guard near Alaska.

They reached Rybachiy submarine base near Petropavlovsk on the Kamchatka Peninsula. This is the home of the Russian Pacific Fleet’s nuclear-powered submarines, Thord Are Iversen, a defense analyst and a former Norwegian navy officer, told Newsweek.

The 24,000-ton Borei-class submarine is armed with up to 16 submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and each missile carries six nuclear warheads at most. The 13,800-ton Yasen-class submarine has 32 vertical tubes for launching conventional long-range missiles.

Both the Borei-class and the Yasen-class are considered the new generation of submarines for the Russian navy; the Pacific Fleet prepared for the arrival of the former as early as 2014 by upgrading piers at Rybachiy to accommodate the Borei-class submarines.

Construction to extend the length of the pier is scheduled to be completed next summer, Tass said, which will significantly enhance the submarine forces’ combat capabilities.

The upgraded pier will provide necessary energy, communications, air, and water supply, reducing the wear of mechanisms and systems of submarines when they are at the base.

In a video released by the Russian military, all the two Yasen-class submarines assigned to the Pacific Fleet were docked at the base, including the Krasnoyarsk, which arrived from the Barents Sea earlier. Four Borei-class submarines were also moored at the base as well.

Appointed by President Vladimir Putin in May, Belousov’s visit to the Far East came after he inspected the Northern Fleet of Russia. The minister’s working trip to the Murmansk Region in the northwest was reported by the Russian Defense Ministry on October 12.

During that visit, Belousov inspected the fleet’s military and social infrastructure facilities, as well as receiving a report about plans to build warehouses for rockets and missiles. He also laid flowers on the monument to members of the Russian naval infantry killed in conflicts.