RFS Yury Dolgoruky

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Yuriy Dolgorukiy is the first SSBN submarine of the Borei class that is being built for the Russian navy. It was laid down in November 1996 and was first planned to enter service in 2001. However, the missile that was supposed to accommodate the Borei class did not work as planned, and after several failed missile tests the submarine was redesigned to work with another missile system, the Bulava.

Bulava is based on the Russian ICBM Topol-M (SS-27). The Bulava missile is smaller then the original SS-N-28 system and because of this it was first reported that Yuriy Dolgorukiy would only carry 12 missiles, but in the 2007 START treaty data exchange it was reported that all borei-class submarines would carry 16 missiles including Yuriy Dolgorukiy.

The submarine was rolled out of its construction hall into a launch dock on April 15, 2007 in Severodvinsk, when it was about 82% complete. It is expected to be commissioned in 2008. The Russian Government has allocated nearly 5 billion rubles, or 40% of the Navy's 2007 weapons budget, for the completion of the submarine.

Some doubts about the conditions in which the boat was launched were expressed to the Russian press by workers and managers at the Sevmash plant, where the construction was taking place. Specifically, workers noted that welding of the submarine's outer hull was in some places unfinished.

There was some speculation that Yuriy Dolgorukiy would be rushed through the rest of its production and testing phases in order to be ready for the 2008 Russian presidential elections. Much of the ship's equipment remains as yet uninstalled and untested, a process that would normally take over a year to complete. [1]

On February 13 2008 Yuriy Dolgorukiy was finally launched from its floating dock in Severodvinsk where the final outfitting took place [2].

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