A Russian Arctic naval base welcomes a new ballistic missile submarine

The Knyaz Vladimir, based in Gadzhievo, near Murmansk, is the fourth Borei class submarines and the first of the upgraded Borei-A class.

Three weeks after it was officially handed over to Russia’s Northern Fleet, the ballistic missile submarine Knyaz Vladimir has arrived in its home base of Gadzhievo on the Kola bay in Russia’s Murmansk region.

At the port to meet the ship were delegations headed by Northern Fleet Head Commander Aleksandr Moiseev and Murmansk Region Governor Andrey Chibis.

“The defense capacity of our country are under solid protection […] The super-modern underwater cruiser will undoubtedly strengthen global security and I very much hope that its weapons will never be applied,” Chibis said in the ceremony.

The vessel has unique equipment and the most modern weapons, Moiseev underlined. The crew will now in the shortest possible time start its combat duties, he explained.

A slideshow of photos is provided by the Murmansk government.

The delivery of the submarine has been significantly delayed. It was originally to be completed by shipyard Sevmash in 2019, but various technical challenges troubled the shipbuilders.

The Knyaz Vladimir is the fourth of Russia’s Borei class submarines and the first of the upgraded Borei-A class. The Northern Fleet already operates the Yuri Dolgoruky, the Borei class vessel that came into service in 2013.

The remaining two, the Aleksandr Nevsky and the Vladimir Monomakh are both based in the Pacific Fleet. Another six subs of the class are either under construction or in a planning phase.

The navy base Gadzhievo is located about 50 kilometers north of Murmansk. It is part of the closed military municipality of Aleksandrovsk. Over the last years, Gadzhievo has been developed to be able to house the lion’s share of Russia’s Borei class and Yasen class subs