ST. PETERSBURG. Dec 5 (Interfax-AVN) - Efforts to design fifth-generation nuclear-powered submarines may take at least five years, Russian United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) head Alexei Rakhmanov aid.
"It is necessary to understand that construction will be preceded by the designing stage. It will take us at least five years to design them. Over this period, we will be able to avoid the past mistakes in research and development efforts it order to in conclusion give [the new submarines] the needed characteristics. The second question is how funding will be provided. I very much would like to avoid mistakes when we began construction without finalizing either research and development efforts or technical designs," Rakhmanov said.