Russia Laid Keel for New Maloyaroslavets Submarine of Project 677 Lada

In Russia, the new diesel-electric submarine Maloyaroslavets was laid down at the Admiralty Shipyards in St. Petersburg.

This was reported by the United Shipbuilding Corporation.

The new submarine is being built under Project 677 Lada and will be the fifth vessel in this series, designed by the Rubin Design Bureau.

The submarine was named Maloyaroslavets in honor of the city in Russia’s Kaluga region, which is associated with the events of Napoleon’s invasion in 1812 and Hitler’s invasion in 1941.

In 1812, a large-scale battle took place near Maloyaroslavets between the Russian army and the forces of Napoleon I, forcing the French army to retreat along the Smolensk road.

In 1941, fierce battles raged around the city during the Mozhaysk-Maloyaroslavets Defensive Operation, when Soviet troops held back the Nazi advance on Moscow.

Project 677 Lada submarines are positioned as the most modern class of non-nuclear submarines in the Russian Navy, featuring a high level of automation and acoustic stealth.

According to the developers, the submarine’s hull is coated with a special anti-sonar layer to reduce its own acoustic signature.

Project 677 submarines are approximately 67 meters long, 7.1 meters wide, have a displacement of over 1,700 metric tons, and are capable of reaching speeds of up to 21 knots underwater.

The construction of this class of submarines has been plagued by prolonged delays. The lead submarine, the Saint Petersburg, was delivered to the fleet back in 2010; the first production submarine, the Kronstadt, was delivered in January 2024; and the Velikie Luki is scheduled for delivery in late 2025.

Construction of the third and fourth submarines in this series—the Vologda and Yaroslavl—began in June 2022.

As a reminder, on July 28, the Russian shipbuilding enterprise Sevmash launched the new Project 885M (codenamed Yasen-M) nuclear submarine Ulyanovsk.