MOSCOW, March 20. /TASS/. The world’s largest Project 941 ‘Akula’ strategic nuclear-powered submarines can be rearmed to carry at least 200 Kalibr cruise missiles each, former First Deputy Chief of the Russian Navy’s Main Staff Vice-Admiral Oleg Burtsev told TASS on Wednesday.

Today two Akula-class submarines, the Arkhangelsk and the Severstal, both of which carried ballistic missiles, have been withdrawn from the Navy’s structure and are staying in the dock of the Zvyozdochka Ship Repair Center in Severodvinsk slated for their subsequent disposal.

However, instead of their disposal, the Akula-class subs can be re-equipped to carry Kalibr, Oniks and Tsirkon missiles, the vice-admiral said.

"The dimensions of these submarines allow arming each of them with at least 200 cruise missiles," he said.

As an example of such modernization, he pointed to four US Ohio-class strategic submarines that carry 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles (previously, they carried Trident-1 balletic missiles).

In general, modern Russian combat ships are no inferior to their foreign rivals by operational characteristics but employ an insufficient weapons suite, the vice-admiral noted.

Thus, a Chinese Project 055 destroyer is capable of carrying 112 cruise missiles "while our latest Project 22350 three frigates - the Admiral Gorshkov, the Admiral Kasatonov and the Admiral Golovko - have only 16 strike missiles each while the subsequent three frigates will get 24 missiles," the vice-admiral said.

"This is clearly insufficient," he stressed.