The large diesel-electric submarine B-608 “Mozhaysk” (factory number 01618) from project 06363 reportedly set sail for factory sea trials in the Baltic Sea on August 23, 2023. The submarine was built for the Russian Navy at the Admiralty Shipyard, a subsidiary of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), in St. Petersburg. This is the fifth of six submarines being built for the Pacific Fleet as part of Project 06363.
A contract to build six large diesel-electric submarines of project 06363 for the Pacific Fleet of the Russian Navy was signed by the Russian Ministry of Defence and Admiralty Shipyard JSC on September 7, 2016. According to the contract’s provisions, the first submarine was scheduled to be delivered to the customer by November 25, 2019, and the entire series was scheduled to be completed by 2022.
Between 2014 and 2016, Admiralty Shipyard delivered to the Russian Navy six project 06363 submarines it had built for the Black Sea Fleet under contracts signed in 2010 and 2011. An improvement on Projects 877 and 636, Project 06363, was conceived by the Rubin Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering in St. Petersburg.
The keel-laying ceremony for the Pacific Fleet’s first two submarines, B-274 “Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky” and B-603 “Volhov” (factory numbers 01614 and 01615, respectively), took place on July 28, 2017, at Admiralty Shipyards. The prototype submarine, B-274 “Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky,” was launched on March 28, 2019, began factory sea trials on August 16, 2019, and was delivered to the Russian Navy on November 25, 2019, per the terms of the contract.
The B-603 “Volhov” submarine was launched on December 26, 2019, began factory sea trials on July 18, 2020, and was delivered to the fleet on October 31, 2020. Submarines B-274 “Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky” and B-603 “Volhov,” accompanied by the new corvette “Gremyashchiy” of project 20385, began an inter-fleet transition from the Baltic Sea through the Mediterranean Sea, Suez Canal, and Indian Ocean to their base in the Pacific Fleet in August 2021. They arrived on November 30, 2021, in Vladivostok.
The official keel-laying ceremonies for the third and fourth submarines under this contract, B-602 “Magadan” and B-588 “Ufa” (factory numbers 01616 and 01617, respectively), were held on November 1, 2019. The submarine “Magadan” was launched on March 26, 2021, began factory sea trials on June 25, 2021, and was commissioned on October 12, 2021. The submarine “Magadan” departed the Baltic Sea on August 6, 2022, en route to the Far East. The third submarine of Project 06363 to join the Pacific Fleet arrived at its base in Vladivostok, Russia, on October 9, 2022, after travelling through the Baltic Straits, the Northern and Norwegian Seas, and the Polar region.
The submarine “Ufa” launched on March 31, 2022. The submarine completed factory sea trials on June 25, 2022, and was officially commissioned into the Russian Navy on November 16, 2022.
Admiralty Shipyards hosted a ceremony for the keel-laying of the fifth and sixth submarines, B-608 “Mozhaysk” (factory number 01618) and “Yakutsk” (factory number 01619), on August 23, 2021. The submarine “Mozhaysk” has begun its trials since its launch on April 27, 2023.
The Russian Ministry of Defence inked a contract to build another large submarine of project 06363, preliminarily dubbed “Petrozavodsk”, on August 25, 2020. Then, on August 16, 2022, a contract was signed to construct three additional project 06363 submarines.
In 2023, it was rumoured that the Northern Fleet would receive a series of six large diesel-electric submarines from Project 06363. The construction decision was reportedly made, but the contract had not been signed, and implementation was not anticipated to begin before 2024. The anticipated designation of the lead submarine of this type for the Northern Fleet is “Mariupol.”
