Russia to disarm world's largest
nuclear ballistic missile submarine
In 2016
Russia is set to disarm the missile system of the Typhoon-class Arkhangelsk
submarine, the largest in the world. The disarmament will be carried out in
accordance with the New START agreement between Moscow and Washington.
Working in
accordance with the New START treaty between Russia and US, the country’s
leading Zvezdochka shipyard in the northern Russian city of Severodvinsk will
disarm the missile system of the Arkhangelsk submarine, the shipyard’s press
service told TASS news agency on Friday.
“We will
remove the covers of the submarine’s missile launchers and seal them, thus
making it impossible to use the vessel’s missile weapons,” the press service said. “We are not
talking yet about dismantling the submarine itself. The tender for this
procedure has not yet been announced.”
According to the data published by the Russian nuclear agency Rosatom,
the sub’s disarmament is estimated to cost some 28 million rubles (about US$
400,000).
The
nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine Arkhangelsk TK-17 was designed in
1987 under the Project 941 ‘Shark’ (or ‘Typhoon’ according to NATO
classification). The project was aimed to equip the Soviet Navy with
nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, and resulted in the creation of
the largest class of submarines ever built – large enough to accommodate decent
living facilities for the crew of 179 when submerged for months on end, and to
stock an arsenal of 20 intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Three of the
six Typhoon-class submarines built in the 1980s have already been dismantled at
the shipyards in Severodvinsk. Of the three that remain, Arkhangelsk and
Severstal are set to be dismantled. Dmitri Donskoi just recently underwent a
modernization procedure and is now equipped to test the latest sea-based
missile system Bulava.
The New
START treaty (on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic
Offensive Arms), which was designed to reduce American and Russian nuclear
stockpiles, came into force in 2011. It replaced the previous 1991 agreement,
introducing lower ceilings for the numbers of warheads and delivery systems
deployed.
Commenting
on the progress made on the treaty’s fifth anniversary in February, US
Secretary of State John Kerry complimented both sides on successful cooperation
in the field.
“[New START
treaty] continues to be an area of cooperation and continued dialogue between
the United States and Russia. I share President Obama's strong belief that our
two countries, which ushered in the era of nuclear arms, have a special
responsibility to lead the world beyond it,” he said in a statement.
However, the
latest moves by the US – such as plans to upgrade 180 B61s strategic bombs
stocked in European air bases to a modernized B61-12 version – have raised
doubts whether the US adheres to the nuclear arms non-proliferation treaty
(NPT).
Opponents of
the program have argued that instead of scaling down atomic weapons stockpiles
in accordance with the NPT, the overhaul is actually creating more states
hosting modern nuclear weapons – a provocation that theoretically weakens
Russia’s deterrent.
Moscow keeps
the presence of American nuclear weapons in Europe in mind when shaping its own
military policies. as reflected in Russia’s newest military doctrine published
in 2014, spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova told German
television last year.
“The
comprehensive analysis of the situation points to the threat posed by the
increasing military capability of NATO and its endowment with global functions,
which it performs in violation of the international law, as well as the
encroachment of the military infrastructure of NATO members on the borders of
the Russian Federation,” she said.
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