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Russian Navy to get 2nd Yasen class nuclear sub one year behind schedule — source

Originally, the Russian Navy was to receive the sub in 2017

MOSCOW, September 29. /TASS/. The Russian Navy will receive the Kazan multipurpose nuclear submarine, the first submarine of the upgraded Project 885M Yasen-M class one year behind the schedule - in 2018, a source in the military-industrial complex told TASS on Tuesday.

"Under the contract, the Kazan sub is to be delivered to the Navy in 2017, but now it is clear that this deadline will not be met. The Navy will receive this nuclear submarine only in 2018," the source said.

According to him, the reason for another delay is "the novelty of the project." "The head boat is always built much longer than a series one," said the source. "In addition, the industry capacity, including in terms of import substitution, are insufficient, as the Kazan sub should have exclusively Russian-made electronic equipment and other ‘stuff.’"

Meanwhile, the CEO of the Sevmash shipyard that is building the Kazan submarine, Mikhail Budnichenko, told reporters this summer that the submarine would be delivered to the customer in 2017.

The head boat of Project 855 - the Severodvinsk - was received by the Russian Navy in 2014. The second Yasen class submarine has been laid down under the modernised project, the same as the Novosibirsk and the Krasnoyarsk subs in 2013 and 2015.

The Yasen class fourth-generation multipurpose nuclear submarines have surface displacement of 8,600 tonnes and submerged displacement of 13,800 tonnes. They have the maximum diving depth of 600 metres with submerged speed of about 30 knots. The Yasen-class submarines may carry as many as 30 torpedoes. Unlike most Soviet submarine designs, the Yasen-class boats do not make use of a double-hull-instead it has hybrid design with a lighter structure over the vessel’s pressure hull. Another unique feature for a Russian vessel is that it incorporates a spherical bow sonar called the Irtysh-Amfora for the first time. As a result, Severodvinsk has its torpedo tubes located at about mid-ship like U.S. submarines. The vessel has eight torpedo tubes, four of which are 650mm tubes while the rest are 533mm tubes. The Yasen class submarines are armed with the Oniks and Kalibr cruise missiles as well as homing torpedoes.