Russia’s newest submarine tests new weapons off Norway

Russian media has announced that the exercises will involve the nuclear-powered submarines B-534 Nizhny Novgorod and B-336 Pskov.

According to the statement of Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, The Admiralty Shipyard in St. Petersburg in northwestern Russia will lay down nuclear-powered submarines B-534 Nizhny Novgorod and B-336 Pskov. It may be the final test before the submarine enters service with the Russian Navy.

These two submarines are Condor Class boats, known as Sierra-II by NATO. They are the most modern attack submarines to be built out of titanium instead of steel. Titanium is a lightweight metal which is very resilient to the stresses of diving deep. It is also more difficult to work with and only Russia has managed to build submarines out of it. 

The Project 636.3 (‘Varshavyanka’) is referred to the third generation of diesel-electric submarines. These subs are considered among the world’s most noiseless underwater cruisers. They can develop a speed of up to 20 knots, have their sea endurance of 45 days and a crew of 52 men. They can dive to a depth of about 300 meters. The submarines of this class displace over 2,000 tonnes in their surface position and about 4,000 tonnes under the water. Varshavyanka-class subs are armed with Kalibr cruise missiles.

Maritime Business World