MOSCOW - The third Project 955 Borey-class nuclear submarine has been commissioned into service with the Russian Navy.
The Vladimir Monomakh (K-551) was handed over on December 10 and commissioned on December 19.
According to the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk, the vessel will leave the shipyard soon and join Russia's 25th Submarine Division of the Pacific Fleet based in the Far East.
The first in the class, the Yuri Dolgoruky, was commissioned into service on January 10, 2013 followed by the second-in-class, the Alexander Nevsky, on December 23, 2013.
Plans call for a total of eight to be built, although the fourth through eight will be a modernized version, referred to as the Project 955A, or Borey-A class. The Borey subs will replace the Typhoon and Delta classes and become the naval mainstay of Russia's strategic nuclear deterrent.
Construction of the fourth ship, the Syvatitel Nikolay, began December 2009 and the keel of the fifth, the Knyaz Oleg, was laid in July 2014. Sevmash confirmed during the commissioning ceremony for the Vladimir Monomakh that construction of the sixth vessel in the class, the Knyaz Suvorov, will begin on December 26.