Russia to enhance nuclear naval forces - Gayo Lues

“We believe that our country should maintain its status of one of the leading naval powers,” Reuters quoted Putin as saying on Monday.

He made the comment at a meeting of Russia’s naval commanders and government officials at the Sevmash shipbuilding yard in the north of the country as Moscow is set to build the newest generation of Russian submarines named Prince Vladimir.

Reportedly, the vessels, subsumed under the fourth Borei class submarines, are designed to carry Russia’s newest and most powerful intercontinental nuclear missiles. Putin has said that Moscow will have eight such submarines by the end of the decade.

“…We are talking about the development of the naval part of our strategic nuclear forces, about the Navy’s role in maintaining the strategic nuclear parity,” the Russian president added.

He further noted that the Navy safeguards Russia’s “national economic interests, including in such regions as Arctic where some of the world’s richest biological resources, mineral resources are concentrated.”

The comments follow the Russian chief executive’s July 26 warning that Moscow will keep its nuclear weapons and aerospace defense ready for action.

“We are not going to engage in an arms race, but no one should doubt the efficiency and reliability of our nuclear potential and our aerospace defense,” RIA Novosti quoted Putin as saying at a meeting on the country’s defense program.

He highlighted that Russia has set up a USD-600-billion fund to upgrade 85 percent of its strategic nuclear weapons arsenal and up to 70 percent of its defensive aerospace weapons by 2020.

MR/HN