Borei class submarine

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Class overview

Name:	Borei (Борей)
Builders:	Rubin Design Bureau
Operators:	Russian Navy
Preceded by:	Delta III class & Typhoon class
In service:	April 15, 2007
Planned:	12
General characteristics
Type:	ballistic missile submarine
Displacement:	Surfaced: 14,720 tonnes Submerged: 24,000 tonnes
Length:	170 metres
Beam:	13.5 metres
Draught:	10 metres
Propulsion:	1 × ОК-650В nuclear reactor 1 × AEU steam turbine 1 × shaft and propeller
Speed:	25 knots
Complement:	130 officers and men
Armament:	16 × Bulava SLBMs 6 × SS-N-15 (533mm torpedo tubes)
Notes:	Ships in class include: RFS Yury Dolgoruky RFS Alexander Nevsky RFS Vladimir Monomakh

The Borei class (or Borey; Russian: Борей, named after Boreas) is a type of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine produced and operated by Russia. It is intended to replace the Delta III and Typhoon class in the Russian Navy.

Work on the first unit of the Borei class (officially designated Project 935) started in 1996. A new submarine-launched ballistic missile was developed in parallel, called the SS-N-28. However, the work on the SS-N-28 was abandoned, and a new missile called the SS-NX-30 Bulava was designed. The submarine needed to be redesigned to accommodate the new missile, and the project name was changed to Project 955. The vessels are being built in Sevmash by Rubin Design Bureau.

The Borei is claimed to represent the state of the art in submarine design, incorporating characteristics that make it superior to any submarine currently in service, such as the ability to cruise silently and be less detectable to sonar. Advances include a compact and integrated hydrodynamically efficient hull for reduced broad band noise and the first ever use of pump-jet propulsion on a Russian nuclear submarine.^[1] Costing some $890 million USD,^[2] Borei is approximately 170 metres long, 10 metres in diameter, and has a maximum submerged speed of at least 46 kilometers per hour (25 knots). Smaller than the Typhoon class, the Borei was initially slated to carry the same number of missiles, 20, but has been forced to sacrifice 4 missiles due to the increase in mass of the 45 ton Bulava SLBM (a modified version of the Topol-M ICBM) over the proposed SS-N-28.

The launch of the first submarine of the class, the Yury Dolgoruky, was scheduled for 2002 but was delayed because of budget constraints. The vessel was eventually launched on April 15, 2007 in a ceremony attended by many senior military and industrial personnel.^[3] ^[4] The Yury Dolgoruky was the first strategic missile submarine to be launched in 17 years since the end of the Soviet era; in fact, it was the first Russian (rather than Soviet) vessel. Currently, there are two more Borei class submarines under construction, named Alexander Nevsky and Vladimir Monomakh. The planned contingent of 12 strategic submarines is expected to be commissioned within the next decade (5 "project 955" are planned for purchase to 2015^[5]).

A satellite view of a Borei class submarine, possibly Yury Dolgoruky, in Severodvinsk is located here.

[edit] Vessel list

*Borei* class — significant dates
Name	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned
Yury Dolgoruky	November 2, 1996	April 15, 2007	February 13, 2008*
Alexander Nevsky	March 19, 2004	N/A	Expected in 2009
Vladimir Monomakh	March 19, 2006	N/A	N/A