Russia orders construction of new nuclear submarines, warships to boost Navy forces

As a part of bolstering the nation’s wide-reaching militarisation effort, Russia on Tuesday ordered the construction of new nuclear submarines and warships capable of carrying intercontinental ballistic missiles as tensions remained heightened with the West. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the building of the nuclear submarines with new combat capabilities delivering orders at the arms expo by publicly placing construction orders for six war vessels, and two ICBM-armed nuclear submarines via a video call.

Moscow ordered the building of two nuclear submarines Dmitry Donskoy and Prince Potemkin armed with intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), two large diesel submarines named after the cities of Mozhaisk and Yakutsk, and two corvettes named Grozny (Fearsome) and Buyny (Wild) to be constructed at the Amur Shipbuilding Plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. The Russian President also ordered a new hypersonic Kinzhal (dagger) nuclear-capable air-launched ballistic missile (ALBM) and the Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik (hunter), a heavy stealth unmanned aerial combat vehicle (UCAV).

In an effort to arm its underwater fleet with the deadly combat weaponry, Moscow has also scheduled tests for hypersonic missiles from a Russian nuclear submarine carrier for the end of this month. The Kremlin's push to overhaul the Russian naval forces comes as the ties between Moscow and the US and its allies worsened after Russia’s 2014 illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea and its recent military deployment notably in eastern Ukraine and Crimea. Putin had earlier warned that his navy is combat ready to carry out an "unpreventable strike" on enemy targets if it was in the country's "national interests," weeks after a British warship entered disputed waters close to Crimea.

"We will continue to show the Russian flag in strategically important ocean areas," said Putin as Moscow sought to assert their regular naval presence at par with the Soviet Union from the cold war era with vessels of various class and weaponry systems for its naval forces.   

Moscow’s Army 2021 International Military-Technical Forum, a war and arms expo attended by top-notch figures including Jordan's King Abdullah II, exhibited Russian military advanced hardware and weaponry to attract the overseas buyers. Putin placed the naval order with shipyards in Severodvinsk, St. Petersburg, and Komsomolsk-on-Amur. 

[US-NATO vessels in Black sea. Credit: Twitter/@dipamorg]

"A strong and sovereign Russia needs a powerful and well-balanced navy," said Putin. "We will continue to boost the potential of the Russian navy, develop its bases and infrastructure, arm it with state-of-the-art weapons," he added.

"I would like to stress that all the ships will be equipped with modern high-precision weapons, the latest navigation, and communications equipment. The majority of these technologies proved their effectiveness during combat operations in Syria," said the Russian President Putin, while  he addressing the shipyard workers.

Putin touted Moscow's new generation of missile systems

Russia's defence ministry had earlier launched the Admiral Gorshkov warship that launched a ballistic missile travelling with a range several times the speed of sound to hit its target more than 350 km (217 miles) away on the Barents Sea. Admiral Gorshkov was stationed in the White Sea, north of Russia. President Putin touted the Tsirkon missile as part of a new generation of missile systems which was manufactured by the rocket design bureau NPO Mashinostroyenia. 

Tsirkon was tested to be fitted in Russia’s Northern Fleet's Yasen-class Severodvinsk nuclear-powered submarine. Putin had claimed that the Tsirkon missile would be capable of flying a maximum of nine times the speed of sound and have a range of 1,000km (620 miles). Russia entered a new era of hypersonic missiles with speed, maneuverability, and altitude that made it tough for the enemy to track it and intercept.

[Russia's Admiral Gorshkov, a warship located in the White Sea, in the north of Russia. Credit: Russian Defence Ministry Press Service via AP]

Russian President Putin, while announcing the construction of at least two diesel-powered subs and two corvettes on Tuesday, said: “We will continue to boost the potential of the Russian navy, develop its bases and infrastructure, arm it with state-of-the-art weapons."

Currently, Russia is in possession of 64 air-independent propulsion submarines that boast other advanced undersea warfare technologies. Touting Russia's new generation of hypersonic weapons, President Putin had asserted that Russia was developing a range of hypersonic weapons and warships that it would station near American territorial waters should the US deploy intermediate-range nuclear weapons in Europe. Moscow had repeatedly warned the US about the NATO-led military exercises held in the Black Sea.  

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby had earlier told reporters that Russia's modernisation of weaponry were "potentially destabilising and pose significant risks.” Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C. had, meanwhile, repsonded in a statement that deployment of a US hypersonic missile in Europe “would be extremely destabilising."

(With AP inputs)