New subs for Russia
President Dmitrii Medvedev in his meeting with a nuclear submarine crew in Kamchatka today underlined that Russia will continue to modernize its Armed Forces and construct new nuclear-powered submarines.
-I now see two main tasks. The first is the very modernization of the Armed Forces, and the second is the lift of military people’s status, the president said. –I have in mind all components: sufficient salaries and the chance to get normal and good-quality housing, he added.
Medvedev has said the war in Georgia showed that Russia needed to equip its army with more up to date weapons. His predecessor, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, has said the military budget will grow by 28 percent next year, The Moscow Times reports.
He also promised that new subs will continue to be built.
Over the last years, the Russian Navy has decommissioned and dismantled a major part of its formerly powerful submarine fleet. The Northern Fleet remains the by far most powerful of Russia’s four fleets. About 20 nuclear-powered subs here remain in service.
Russia has also started the construction of its fourth generation “Borey”-class subs. The first of the new vessel, the “Yuri Dolgorukii” is currently under construction at the Sevmash yard in Severodvinsk (Arkhangelsk Oblast).
Read the press release on the issue from Kremlin.ru here
