The laying of two strategic nuclear submarines of Project 955 — the ships "Dmitry Donskoy" and "Prince Potemkin" - took place at once. They will become the ninth and tenth submarines of the Borey program.
A landmark event for the Russian shipbuilding industry took place: [...] two strategic submarines of the fourth generation "Borey-A" were laid at the Severodvinsk "Northern Machine-Building Enterprise". The event was part of the ceremony of laying warships for the Navy at leading shipyards.
"Dmitry Donskoy" and "Prince Potemkin" belong to the project 955A "Borey-A". Submarines of this type are the most advanced strategic nuclear submarines in the arsenal of the Russian Navy.
Bookmark Ceremony
Image source: Northern Machine-Building Enterprise
The agreement on the construction of two new serial strategic missile submarines of Project 955A was signed by the Ministry of Defense and the United Shipbuilding Corporation [...] last summer. The contract deadline for the delivery of the ships is 2026 and 2027.
"Dmitry Donskoy" and "Prince Potemkin" became the sixth and seventh nuclear submarines of the Borey-A project. If we talk about the Borei program as a whole, this is the ninth and tenth such ships.
Project 955A submarine
Image source: Pavel Lviv
Representatives of the project 955 "Borey" are the only strategic nuclear submarines of the fourth generation in the world (the American Ohio belongs to the third). In addition, this is one of the two types of fourth-generation boats that Russia has: the second type is the multi-purpose submarines of Project 885.
Project 955 has a long history. In fact, they started designing boats back in the USSR. The lead ship-K-535 "Yuri Dolgoruky" -was laid down in 1996 (the boat was transferred to the Navy in 2013). Two years later, they decided to abandon the Barka missiles in favor of the Bulava with other dimensions, for this they had to redesign the submarine.
In November 2017, the first ship built according to the modernized project 955A "Borey-A", "Prince Vladimir", was launched. The modernization affected such key parameters as noise, maneuvering, holding at depth and weapon control. At the same time, the composition of weapons, contrary to the previously mentioned data, has not changed: Like the first ships of Project 955, the newer submarines carry 16 Bulava ballistic missiles.
Americans want to get their own strategic boats of the fourth generation. Now the United States is actively developing a new Columbia-type ship: the contract for the creation of the first such submarines was signed last year. They want to start operating the lead boat in 2031.
