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Russia’s 5th Varshavyanka class sub for Black Sea Fleet to be launched in St. Petersburg

The ceremony is timed to Submariner Day and the 110th anniversary of Russia's submarine fleet, which will be celebrated on March 19

ST. PETERSBURG, March 18. /TASS/. Russia’s fifth diesel-electric submarine of Project 636.3 - the Veliky Novgorod - will be launched in St. Petersburg on Friday. Russian Defense Ministry’s spokesman for the Navy Igor Dygalo said that the ceremony is timed to Submariner Day and the 110th anniversary of Russia's submarine fleet, which will be celebrated on March 19.

The Black Sea Fleet of Russia will receive a total of six submarines of Project 636.3 (Varshavyanka class). They are designed by the Rubin Central Design Bureau and are built at the Admiralty Shipyards in St. Petersburg.

The Kolpino submarine, which is the sixth in the series, is planned to be launched this May. The Veliky Novgorod and Kolpino submarines will be transferred to the Navy by the end of 2016.

The combat strength of the Russian Navy currently comprises four submarines of Project 636.3. The head submarine - the Novorossiysk, was transferred to the Navy in August 2014, the second boat of the series - the Rostov-on-Don - on December 30, 2014. The third submarine - the Stary Oskol - entered service with the Russian Navy in July 2015.

The Krasnodar submarine - the fourth in the series, was handed over to the Navy on November 5, 2015.

All submarines of the series undergo deep-water tests in the North before going to the Black Sea Fleet.

In December 2015, the Rostov-on-Don submarine for the first time in the Russian submarine fleet history fired missiles from a submerged position in the Mediterranean Sea on the facilities of the Islamic State terrorist organization in Syria. The advanced Rostov-on-Don (NATO reporting name: Improved Kilo-class) submarine destroyed two targets in IS’s "capital city", Raqqa, in Syria, with Kalibr cruise missiles.