Russian Navy to receive 10 Graney class attack subs by 2020

MOSCOW, March 19 (RIA Novosti)

The Russian Navy is planning to commission up to 10 Graney class nuclear-powered attack submarines by 2020, a high-ranking Navy official said. "We are expecting to receive about 10 new Yasen [Graney] class attack submarines in the next ten years," the source told RIA Novosti on Friday. The first Graney class sub, the Severodvinsk, will enter service with the Navy by the end of 2011. The second vessel, the Kazan, is being built at the Sevmash shipyard in the northern Russian city of Severodvinsk. The construction of the third Graney class submarine will begin in 2011. Graney class nuclear submarines are designed to launch a variety of long-range cruise missiles (up to 3,100 miles or 5,000 km), with conventional or nuclear warheads, and effectively engage submarines, surface warships and land-based targets. The submarine's armament includes 24 cruise missiles and eight torpedo launchers, as well as mines and anti-ship missiles.