Sevmash confirms freeze of Borei-class construction

Instead of applauding a keel laying ceremony, Sevmash director Nikolai Kalistratov confirms a total freeze in the construction of the prestigious and very costly Borei-class submarines.

The keel laying ceremony of the fourth in a row of the new generation top modern Borei-class submarines was already in August announced to take place simultaneously as the construction yard’s 70 years anniversary on December 22nd as reported by BarentsObserver.

The first of the new generation strategic submarines was Yury Dolgoruky, since this summer undergoing sea- and diving tests in the White Sea area. Yury Dolgoruky was the first new Russian submarine with long-range intercontinental missiles to be put on sea since the last Delta-class submarine was taken into service by the Northern fleet in 1992. But, that is the problem; Yury Dolgoruky is a submarine without missiles.

The Borei-class submarines are designed to carry the Bulava missile. The high profiled prestigious intercontinental missile that became infamous all round the northern part of the Barents Region two weeks ago. A test launch failed and the missile – supposed to hit its target somewhere in the Siberian northeastern corner – instead twisted around in the horizon like a spiral visible from large areas of northern Norway. Then, the video shots and images went all round the world, including here at the BarentsObserver.

The Bulava failure was not the first. More than half of the tests so far have failed for one or another reason. And when the missile is unreliable, the submarine that is supposed to carry them is unreliable as a weapon. That does not fit with the image of what what the Borei-class submarines are supposed to become; one of the scariest weapons system ever built. Each of the Borei-class subs are supposed to carry 16 intercontinental Bulava missiles tipped with multiple nuclear warheads that Russian weapons experts claim could penetrate any anti-missile defence systems. If they work.

An interesting analysis of the reasons for the Bulava missile failures is posted by Jacob W. Kipp at Jamestown’s Eurasia Blog.

In addition to the first Borei-class sub, Yuri Dolgoruky, which was visited by Russian president Dmitri Medvedev this summer, two others are currently under construction at the Sevmash yard in Severodvinsk near Arkhangelsk. The two are Aleksandr Nevskiy and Vladimir Monomakh. It is 13 years since the keel of Yuri Dolgoruky was laid and the current Delta-IV class strategic submarines sailing for the Northern fleet are starting to get old and needs replacement one day. Therefore, the latest failure of the missile to be the main armament onboard made many high ranking officials in the Russian navy shaky.

To refit the Borei-class submarines with other missiles, like to existing Sineva missile deployed on the Delta-IV class subs, will not only be very costly, it will also delay the subs construction even more. Naval officials have earlier rejected the possibility to refit the Borei-class submarines to carry Sineva missiles. Mainly since the Sineva cannot possibly fit the missile silos of the Borei-class and some believes the submarines will have to be scrapped, as referred to by Russian military expert Pavel Felgenhauer in Eurasia Daily Monitor this weekend.

Last week, BarentsObserver reported that a Defence Ministry official said the Borei-class project was not being “frozen” but simply delayed for “organizational and technical reasons.”

The first official confirmation about the halt in the construction of the Borei-class submarines comes from Nikolai Kalistratov, general director of the Sevmash naval yard in Severodvinsk.

- The Russian navy has “frozen” the building of the Borei-class submarines, since without the Bulava they are worthless assets, Kalistratov told reporters according to the Moscow based Izvestia newspaper. Kalistratov has first hand information; he is the boss of Russia’s biggest submarine construction yard, currently with one Borei-class sub at testing in the White Sea, and two others inside the docks in Severodvinsk.

The Russian Ministry of Defence denied any freeze of the Borei-class construction program, as reported by BarentsObserver. However, today’s keel laying ceremony of Syvatitel Nikolay (St. Nicholas) will not take place. When the construction will start is so far unclear.

Saint Nicholas (270 - 6 December 346) is according to Wikipedia the patron saint of sailors. He is often portrayed on Eastern Orthodox icons shown standing in a boat or rescuing a drowning sailor. Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nicholas the Wonderworker. He had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, and thus became the model for Santa Claus.