GADZHIYEVO, Murmansk Region, Russia. April 16 (Interfax-AVN) - The Yury Dolgoruky, the Project 955 lead vessel of the Borei class of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, will be able to enter service in 2014 after being armed with Bulava missiles, the head of the Northern Fleet's submarine arm said on Wednesday.
The Yury Dolgoruky passed all necessary trials last year, Rear Adm. Alexander Moiseyev said in Gadzhiyevo.
The admiral confirmed that the Ekaterinburg, a third-generation nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine that is under repairs in Severodvinsk, will "definitely" be returned to the Northern Fleet in 2014. "This year we will definitely get it back, and this will most likely happen toward the end of the year," he said.
"The service life of the [Ekaterinburg] will be extended by five years after the repairs, which involve its modernization. It will be returned to us with improved characteristics and an increased potential," Moiseyev said.