The ceremony for the boat, the Knyaz Vladimir, was
held at Sevmash, Russia’s largest shipyard and sole nuclear submarine
maker located in the port city of Severodvinsk on the White Sea.
The Borei class is expected to become the mainstay of the Russian Navy's
strategic nuclear deterrent, replacing the aging Project 941 (Typhoon
class) and Project 667 class (Delta-3 and Delta-4) boats.
Three other Borei class boats are at various stages of development at
Sevmash. The Yury Dolgoruky is currently undergoing sea trials, while
the Alexander Nevsky and the Vladimir Monomakh are under construction
The president also stressed the significance of modernizing Russia's
shipyards.
"Otherwise, they will be unable to implement the state armament
program in full or they would not provide the quality needed,"
Putin warned.
Russia's rearmament program, which was launched in 2008, has envisaged
the spending of 20 trillion rubles (about 680 billion dollars) until
2020.
