Russian submarine Yury Dolgorukiy (K-535)

K-535 Yuriy Dolgorukiy is the first Borei-class ballistic missile submarine of the Project 955 in service with the Russian Navy. Named after the founder of Moscow, Yuri Dolgoruki, it was laid down on November 2, 1996 and was first planned to enter service in 2001. However, the R-39M missile that the Borei class was supposed to carry was abandoned after several failed tests, and the submarine was redesigned for the Bulava missile. Bulava missile is smaller than the original R-39M, and in the 2007 START treaty data exchange it was reported that all Borei-class submarines would carry 16 missiles instead of 12, as originally intended. As of January 2013 the submarine is active with the Russian Navy.

Deployment
The submarine was rolled out of its construction hall into a launch dock on 15 April 2007 in Severodvinsk, when it was about 82% complete. The Russian government has allocated nearly 5 billion rubles, or 40% of the Navy's 2007 weapons budget, for the completion of the submarine. There was some speculation that Yuriy Dolgorukiy would be rushed through the rest of its production and testing phases in order to be ready for the 2008 Russian presidential elections. Much of the ship's equipment remained uninstalled and untested, a process that would normally take over a year to complete.

On 13 February 2008 Yuriy Dolgorukiy was finally launched from its floating dock in Severodvinsk where the final outfitting took place. The submarine's reactor was first activated on 21 November 2008. and the submarine began its sea trials on 19 June 2009.

Sea Trials


In July 2010 the ship passed the first of several company sea trials, in which navigation systems, buoyancy control system, and some other characteristics were tested at sea. All company tests were completed by the end of September 2010 and she was then preparing for state trials.

Initially was planned conduct the first torpedo launches during the ongoing state trials in December 2010 and then in same month conduct the first launch of the main weapon system, R-30 (RSM-56) Bulava missile. The plan was then postponed to mid-summer 2011 due to ice conditions in White Sea

It was expected to be commissioned to Russian Pacific Fleet in the first half of 2011, but in December 2010 it was announched that the submarine had technical defects and would be laid up for repairs. The work will take at least six months, and after this the submarine would continue the Bulava missile tests and could be ready for active duty by the later half of 2011.

On 7 June 2011 the submarine left the Sevmash shipyard to continue sea trials and on 28 June the first SLBM (RSM-56 Bulava) was successfully launched.

On 12 January 2012 it was reported the submarine had successfully finished state trials and that it would get ready for commissioning within the next couple of months. It was later reported that both the Yuri Dolgorukiy and the Alexander Nevsky would enter service in the summer of 2012. Dmitry Rogozin later confirmed that the submarine will be transferred to the Russian navy on July 29, 2012. The Yury Dolgoruky submarine was expected to join the Russian Navy by the end of this year, but tests carried out during the latest sea trials revealed a number of technical flaws. Software glitches in the automated launch control system prevented further tests of the Bulava ballistic missile, the submarine’s main weapon.“We are expecting the Yury Dolgoruky submarine to enter service in 2013,” Serdyukov told Russian lawmakers at a meeting on defense issues.

The second Borey class submarine, the Alexander Nevsky, could join Russia’s Pacific Fleet in 2014, the minister said. Sevmash shipyard claimed RUR 30 mln from Russian defense ministry for non-accepting Yury Dolgoruky because it has to maintain the submarine, since defense minister Anatoly Serdiukov decided to postpone commissioning of the sub and, therefore, defrayal of all maintenance expenditures. According to the source, non-accepting of the submarine is related to nonavailability of mooring quays, primarily at Kamchatka where first two Borei-class subs, Yury Dolgoruky and Alexander Nevsky will be stationed.

Finally the Yury Dolgoruky joined Russian Navy on 10 January 2013. The official ceremony of raising the Russian Navy colors on the submarine was led by Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu. The Defense Minister, speaking via video-link, informed the President (Vladimir Putin) that St. Andrews ensign has been raised on the submarine, symbolically marking its introduction into the Russian Navy. Commenting on the news on Twitter, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin,posted: “Tremble, bourgeoisie! You’re done with!”. It will go on full fledge combat duty in early 2014 after a series of exercises.