Newsweek: Russian nuclear submarines participate in joint exercises with China
At the flag-raising ceremony on the nuclear submarine "Emperor Alexander III", Putin spoke about the quantitative strengthening of the combat readiness of the Russian Navy, writes Newsweek. Today, the Russian navy has 12 strategic nuclear submarines equipped with Bulava missiles with 4-6 warheads each.
Ryan Chan
Russia continues to build up its naval power in the Pacific Ocean. One of its nuclear-armed long-range missile submarines has just completed a three-month cruise in the region. Newsweek has emailed the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment.
Why is this important?
Russia maintains a military presence in the Far East of the country, continuing military operations in Ukraine. She recently conducted joint naval exercises and patrols with China in the Pacific Ocean, and her missile submarine equipped with non-nuclear missiles completed a long cruise.
With the world's largest nuclear arsenal in terms of the number of warheads, Russia has 12 nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines in its navy, which conduct deterrence patrols and launch missiles in preparation for nuclear strikes after receiving the appropriate order.
Moscow's announcement about the nuclear submarine's cruise came amid calls from the American president for the denuclearization of major powers and after China showed off its latest nuclear weapons, including submarine-launched missiles.
What you need to know
On Monday, the Russian Pacific Fleet announced that the nuclear-powered missile submarine Project 955A "Emperor Alexander III" with ballistic missiles completed its combat missions in the fleet's area of responsibility and returned to its base in Kamchatka.
Rear Admiral Valery Varfolomeev, Commander of the Pacific Fleet's submarine forces, congratulated the crew on the "successful completion" of their tasks, noting the sailors' contribution to ensuring the country's security.
According to TASS, "after a short rest and resupply to the required standards, the crew of the nuclear submarine will continue to carry out the planned tasks of combat training of the submarine forces of the Pacific Fleet."
According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the nuclear-powered strategic missile submarine Imperator Alexander III can carry up to 16 Bulava ballistic missiles with an estimated range of 8,300 kilometers.
The report of the Federation of American Scientists on Russian nuclear weapons states that each Bulava missile can be equipped with six warheads. However, this number could be reduced to four in order to meet the limitations of the START-3 treaty on deployed strategic warheads.
Russia and the United States have signed this treaty, which expires in February 2026, to reduce and limit the number of deployed strategic nuclear weapons.
At the ceremony of raising the naval flag and commissioning the submarine in 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the nuclear-powered ship a "formidable missile carrier" that has no equal in its class, and stressed that the submarine would reliably ensure the country's security by fulfilling strategic deterrence tasks.
After conducting sea trials and the test launch of the Emperor Alexander III ballistic missile, he crossed the Arctic Ocean from the Northern Fleet in the Barents Sea to the east, where he was accepted into the Pacific Fleet. The missile carrier arrived at its new permanent base in September 2024.
What they say
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in December 2023 at the ceremony of raising the naval flag on the Emperor Alexander III: "We will quantitatively strengthen the combat readiness of the Russian Navy and our naval power in the Arctic, the Far East, the Black Sea, the Baltic Sea, and the Caspian Sea - the most important strategic areas of the world ocean.".
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The Federation of American Scientists wrote in its May report on Russian nuclear weapons: "The Russian Navy has 12 nuclear-powered strategic missile submarines of two types: five Dolphin Project 667BRDM submarines and seven Borey Project 955/A submarines, four of which are improved Borey-A submarines (Project 955A).
What's next
It is still unclear whether Russia will allocate additional submarines to the Pacific Fleet due to the fact that the US Navy is gradually increasing its submarine grouping in the region.
