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Number of Russian Navy drills in 2014-2015 increases by 20% — commander

The number of combat duty missions of strategic submarines increased by almost 50%

KUBINKA (Moscow region), June 17. /TASS/. The number of exercises involving surface ships and submarines of the Russian Navy increased by 20% in 2014-2015, and the number of combat duty missions of strategic submarines has increased by nearly 50%, Navy Commander-in-Chief Viktor Chirkov told reporters on Wednesday.

"During the period from January 2014 to March 2015, the time spent underway by submarines and surface ships increased by 30%, the number of manoeuvres - by 20%, and the number of combat duty missions of strategic submarines increased by almost 50%, compared to 2013," Chirkov said at the Army 2015 Forum that is underway in the Moscow region.

According to him, the higher intensity of the World Ocean combat duty missions of the country’s nuclear submarines "is caused by the need to guarantee the prevention of threats to Russia’s security." Citing the corresponding statistics, Chirkov said previously: "We do not indulge in sabre rattling, we are just regaining out foothold, which is necessary and natural for guaranteed security of the state."

The Navy Chief Command will in the near future give priority to the development of nuclear submarine groups of the Northern and Pacific Fleets, the admiral said. "This task will be accomplished by means of commissioning of the new Borei and Yasen class submarines within the Navy, as well as by the modernisation of existing projects," said Chirkov. "This will give us the opportunity to support the potential of the naval strategic forces at a level securing efficient fulfilment of the nuclear deterrence task."

A total of eight strategic nuclear-powered submarines of the Borei class and six multi-purpose Yasen submarines will be handed over to the Russian Navy by the Sevmash shipyard, Sevmash CEO Mikhail Budnichenko told TASS previously. "By the end of 2020 we are to hand over to the Navy eight subs of the Borei class and six subs of the Yasen project," he said on the sidelines of the Army-2015 military-technical forum on Tuesday. He added that the frames of a seventh Yasen submarine and an eighth Borei (the last ones in the series) will be laid next year. "It is expected that the frame of an eighth Borei will be laid in 2016. The construction of the next multipurpose Yasen submarine is scheduled to begin in 2016, too.".