Russia delays commissioning of first Borei class submarine

Russia's strategic nuclear submarine Yury Dolgoruky will be put into service in 2013 instead of 2012 as it was scheduled, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said Monday after meeting with Russian lawmakers on defense issues. "We are planning to commission the first Borei class Yury Dolgoruky submarine next year," Serdyukov was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying. The Yury Dolgoruky submarine was expected to join the Russian Navy by the end of 2012, however, the minister did not clarify the reason why the date had been postponed. Meanwhile, Serdyukov announced that the second Borei class submarine, Alexander Nevsky would join the Russian Pacific Fleet in 2014. According to local reports, the Borei class submarines are expected to form the core of Russia's strategic submarine fleet, replacing the aging Project 941 and Project 667 class. A Borei class strategic submarine is 170 meters long, 13.5 meters wide, it can submerge at the maximum depth of 450 meters. The Borei class submarines will be armed with the newest Bulava intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM). Each of these submarines can carry 16 multiwarhead ICBMs with a range of 10,000 km. Yury Dolgoruky and Alexander Nevsky are the first out of eight strategic submarines of the same class Russia plans to build until 2020.