MOSCOW, July 15. /TASS/. Russia’s Project 971 ‘Shchuka-B’ (NATO reporting name: Akula) nuclear-powered submarine, the Tigr, will be armed with a Kalibr-PL cruise missile system when its modernization is completed in 2023, defense industry sources have told TASS.

"After modernization at the Nerpa plant, the Tigr nuclear sub will return to combat duty as part of the Northern Fleet, armed with the Kalibr system," the source said.

Another source said the repairs and modernization were to be completed by the end of 2023.

Russia’s Zvezdochka shipyard did not comment on the information to TASS.

According to earlier reports, the Tigr’s repairs were scheduled for completion this year. The submarine arrived to the Nerpa plant (a subsidiary of the Zvezdochka shipyard, part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation) in 2019.

Five Project 971 submarines are undergoing modernization and repairs at Zvezdocka and its production facilities.

Project 971 nuclear-powered submarines have been developed by the St. Petersburg-based Malakhit Marine Engineering Design Bureau. The Northern Fleet’s 24th division of submarine forces includes six nuclear-powered subs: the Leopard, the Vepr, the Tigr, the Pantera, the Gepard and the Volk.