Coming at you from underwater

[snip]

Nuclear submarines have long been the love of the Russian military. Even with a shortage of floating forces, the Defense Ministry insistently favors submarines in budgeting. In the 2006 state defense order, about 8 billion rubles were allotted to the construction of nuclear submarines, while shipbuilding received 4 billion rubles. Minister Vladislav Putilin, deputy chairman of the Military Industrial Commission told Kommersant that the construction of five missile-bearing nuclear submarines in planned in the next nine years. They will be 995-Borei models and carry new Bulava 30 missiles.

There is some doubt about how realistic those plans are. The lead ship in the Borei project, the Yury Dolgoruky, was laid down on November 2, 1996, and was supposed to be launched in 2002. Other craft, submarines whose construction was frozen in the mid-1990s, were cannibalized to speed up the process. Nonetheless, the Yury Dolgoruky is still in the wharves at Sevmashpredpriyatie, were it is estimated to be about 60-percent complete.

[snip]

"Costs are rising needlessly," Putilin said. "The price of the third ship from the 955 is several times greater than that of the first. While the ships are being built, the enterprise lives of them, a long-playing order is profitable and turning out the ship is death. So the submarines may be under construction for eternity."

[snip]

There are about 50 large surface ships now in the Russian naval fleet. That is one aircraft carrier, four Project 1144 and 1164 missile cruisers (with two more Project 1144 cruisers laid up), ten Project 956 destroyers, 12 large antisubmarine ships and 25 large amphibious ships. Not all of them are combat-ready. Some of them are under repair or awaiting major overhauls.
No new vessels larger than frigates are expected to be added to the naval forces before 2010 or 2011. The lead frigate of Project 22350 was laid down at the Northern Wharf on February1, 2006. Its completion date was announced as 2009, but it already looks as though it will be finished in 2011. Only 100 million rubles was allotted in the 2006 state defense order for it.

There are 45 nuclear submarines and 20 diesel submarines in the Russian fleet. On paper, the fleet includes three Project 941 nuclear strategic missile carrying submarines. But the Dmitry Donskoi is a test pad for the Bulava missile and cannot carry out real military missions. The Severstal missile carrier is under renovation and the Arkhangelsk has no missiles. As a result, the main nuclear deterrent is six Project 667BDRM missile carrying submarines, one of which is under renovation, and six Project 667BDR vessels. The Russian Navy also has nine Project 959A submarines (two of which are under renovation) with anti-ship missiles and 21 Projects 971, 945 and 671RTMK nuclear torpedo submarines, of which at least six are under renovation.

Of the 20 Project 636, 877 and 641B diesel submarines, only 12 are actually combat-ready. In spite of Adm. Masorin's statements that "Russia will fully update its nuclear submarine fleet by 2010," the best-case scenario is most likely that there will be five or six Project 667BDRM ballistic missile carrying nuclear submarines and one or two new Project 955 submarines equipped. Taking the retirement of vessels into account and the guaranteed delays in the launch of new ones, the total number of submarines will be reduced to 35-40

(excerpted from 06 07 04 article of Kommorsant (Russia's Daily Online)

[sonar732]

Just waiting patiently for Kaptain's response.