AMN / WEB DESK
In Russia, President Vladimir Putin on Monday unveiled two new nuclear-powered submarines that he said would soon start patrolling the Pacific.
In a televised event in the northern city of Severodvinsk, Putin inaugurated the vessels, which are named the Krasnoyarsk and Emperor Alexander the Third at Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk in the country’s northwestern Archangelsk region. He oversaw the raising of navy’s flag on the newly built nuclear submarines. Speaking at the shipyard, Mr Putin pledged to carry out plans to modernise the Russian navy.
The Emperor Alexander III is the seventh Borei-class atomic-powered submarine to enter the service. Each of them is armed with 16 nuclear-tipped Bulava intercontinental ballistic missiles. Mr Putin announced that three more such submarines are under construction.
The Krasnoyarsk is a nuclear-powered submarine of the new Yasen type. It is armed with cruise missiles and torpedoes, and is designed to hunt for enemy submarines and is also capable of attacking ground targets. Mr Putin said that another five Yasen-class submarines are also being built.