Vladimir Putin has deployed two nuclear submarines under the Arctic polar icecap as part of Russia’s largest naval exercise since the Cold War. The Emperor Alexander III, a strategic ballistic submarine equipped with Kalibr hypersonic missiles, embarked on a “subglacial march,” accompanied by the Krasnoyarsk Yasen-M class nuclear attack submarine. Their route traversed six Arctic seas.
This mission was carried out to reinforce the Pacific Fleet under the Ocean-2024 strategic military exercise. Putin organized the Ocean-2024 war games across the Pacific, Arctic, Mediterranean, Caspian, and Baltic Seas, marking the largest naval drills since the Cold War. Some drills also involved the Chinese navy, signaling growing cooperation between Russia and China.
Ocean-2024 strategic military exercise
Earlier, Putin had sent two Tu-160 “White Swan” strategic bombers on a mission near the UK over the Norwegian Sea. Meanwhile, the Marshal Ustinov and Admiral Golovko warships from the Northern Fleet engaged in combat training against “hostile warships” in the Barents Sea.
The drills involved over 400 warships, submarines, and auxiliary vessels, along with more than 120 aircraft and helicopters from Russia’s naval and Aerospace Forces. Around 90,000 personnel participated, with 7,000 units of weapons, making it the largest exercise of its kind since 1985. The exercises aimed to test the Russian Navy’s leadership readiness in controlling diverse forces and simulated combat scenarios to destroy enemy vessels, aircraft, and forces.
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Russia modernizing nuclear-powered submarine fleet
The Russian Defense Ministry’s TV channel, Zvezda, was the first to report on the inter-fleet submerged transfer across the Arctic. Krasnoyarsk is the second Yasen-M class multi-purpose submarine to join the Pacific Fleet, following Novosibirsk’s transfer in 2021. The Severodvinsk and Kazan, part of the same class, are stationed with the Northern Fleet on the Kola Peninsula. Meanwhile, five additional Yasen-M submarines are in various construction phases at Sevmash, with three more expected to begin construction in the coming years.
Russia’s efforts to modernize its nuclear-powered submarine fleet are progressing rapidly, unaffected by the war in Ukraine. Alongside Krasnoyarsk, the Imperator Aleksandr III also made the inter-fleet transfer, marking the fifth Borei-class ballistic missile submarine for the Pacific Fleet.
The Pacific Fleet received most of the first post-Soviet generation strategic submarines due to the urgent need to replace the aging Delta-III class. The Northern Fleet, however, still operates the upgraded Delta-IV submarines, which have undergone life-extension upgrades in recent years. Currently, the Northern Fleet has only one Borei-class submarine, the Yury Dolgorukiy.
Two Delta-IV class submarines, Karelia and Bryansk, are at the Zvezdochka yard in Severodvinsk, where they are being upgraded and having their nuclear fuel elements replaced. The remaining active Delta-IV submarines in the Northern Fleet are Verkhoturye, Novomoskovsk, and Tula.
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