In a meeting with journalists, Mr. Vysotskii confirmed that 94 percent of the vessel today is completed and that it will head off at sea in October-November this year. In the same meeting, he also said that the development of the vessels missile system, the Bulava-M system, will be completed in the course of 2008. The Bulava system has the last year been undergoing a number of test operations, several of them unsuccessful. The “Yuri Dolgorukii” has been under construction at Sevmash since November 1996. The sub will be the first of the project 955 Borey class, the fourth generation of Russian nuclear-powered subs. The high-tech vessels will be smaller than the “Taifun”-class subs, - 170 meters of length and up to 17,000 tons of deadweight. According to experts, the new fourth class submarines will be the most silent-going subs in the world. They will also have a special rescue chamber, which can room all 130 crew members.
