Russian officials signed a letter of acceptance on Wednesday at the Sevmash shipyard for Vladimir Monomakh (K-551) SSBN, reported the TASS wire service.
The Russian Navy will hoist their naval ensign on Dec. 19 in a tradition similar to the U.S. Navy’s ship commissioning ceremony.
The 19,400-ton boat is armed with 16 Bulava nuclear submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) and is slated to replace the Project 941 Typhoon-class and Project 667BDRM Delta IV-class boomers.
The next SSBN in the class — Knyaz Vladimir — is designated as a Project 955A Borei II and could be capable of fielding up to 20 Bulavas and is currently under construction, according to Naval Institute’s Combat Fleets of the World.
The Russian Navy is also in the midst of modernizing its nuclear attacks boats.
In June the service accepted the first Project 855 Yasen-class class attack boat, Severodvinsk (K-560).
The 13,800-ton Severodvinsk had been under construction since 1993 at the Sevmash yard, the first in an expected eight boats.
