KUBINKA /Moscow Region/, June 17 /TASS/. Russia’s fifth-generation submarines will differ from their predecessors by their all-purpose use and their armament with promising robotized systems, Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Viktor Chirkov said on Wednesday.

"In order to avoid pauses and standstill, we have started design work on developing submarines of the next, i.e. fifth generation," the Navy chief said at the Army 2015 international military and technical forum that opened outside Moscow.

Russia’s shipbuilding program until 2050 enables the Navy "to set topical requirements for the designing of new-generation submarines, making emphasis on the universal nature of their use and the efficiency of their control and armament systems," Chirkov said.

"In particular, the vessels’ combat capabilities will be raised through the development of unified modular platforms of different displacement and the integration of promising robotized systems into their armament," the Navy chief said.

Malakhit Design Bureau Head Vladimir Dorofeyev told TASS news agency earlier the enterprise was already developing fifth-generation nuclear submarines, which would be built after Russia completed the Yasen-class submarine series.

Fifth-generation submarines will feature the possibility of integrating ships into a single network-centric system and attention will also be paid to the submarine’s stealth coating while their size and speed will be of secondary importance, he said.