Russian shipbuilder Admiralty Shipyards says it will launch the third Improved Kilo-class submarine Magadan for the Russian Navy’s Pacific Fleet by the end of the month.
While Magadan is the third boat in its class for the Pacific Fleet, it is the ninth diesel-electric submarine to be built for the Russian Navy.
Construction works on Magadan started on November 1, 2019, and the submarine is now at over 80 percent complete, according to the shipbuilder. Magadan and Ufa, another boat in the class, are scheduled for delivery by 2022.
The contract for the construction of the second batch of Improved Kilos, which even the US navy refers to as black holes due to their stealth qualities, was signed in September 2016. The first ship, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, was handed over to the Navy in November 2019, while the Volkhov, the second in the series, entered Pacific Fleet service in October 2020. The first six units in the class entered service with Russia’s Black Sea Fleet between 2014 and 2016.
Improved Kilo-class submarines displace between 3,000 and 4,000 tons while submerged and have a range of 7,500 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 7 knots. They feature six torpedo tubes and can carry 18 torpedoes and surface-to-air missiles.
