USC lands contracts for five Borei subs from Defense Minsitry
United Shipbuilding Corporation and Russian Defense Ministry have signed a contract for construction of five Borei-class nuclear-powered submarines (SSBN Borei), RIA Novosti reported.
Overall, there were three contracts signed. The first one was signed between the Ministry of Defense and the Rubin Marine Equipment Design Bureau for the drafting of SSBN Borei-A (Project 955), the second contract - with Sevmash Shipyard (the Northern Machinebuilding Enterprise) for construction of a lead ship Borei-A. And the third contract was signed with United Shipbuilding Corporation for building a series of four such submarines.
The Defense Ministry and USC have had some disagreements so far on prices for the SSBN Borei class. Previously, this issue had been discussed at a meeting with the then president Dmitry Medvedev. According to Ministry of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov the contract for the Borei class subs project will be fully implemented (the contract for five vessels and a contract for the project design).
Denis Manturov said that the compromise between the Ministry and USC on the project price gives an opportunity to sign a contract between the two parties for the period until 2020 and this will help create new jobs at the shipbuilding enterprise.
According to the Russian Navy, the nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines of Project 955 (SSBN Borei) should become the basis of naval strategic nuclear forces of Russia after 2018, after decommissioning of Projects 941 and 667 subs (Typhoon, Delta-III, Delta-IV).