Russia’s Black Sea Fleet will be strengthened with six Kilo class diesel-electric submarines in the next few years, Navy Commander Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky said on Friday.
“Six diesel-electric submarines of Project 636 [Kilo class] will be built for the Black Sea Fleet in the next few years,” Vysotsky said in an exclusive interview with RIA Novosti.
The Black Sea Fleet, based in Sevastopol, has only one submarine, the Project 877 Alrosa, which is undergoing scheduled repairs in Kaliningrad.
Vysotsky said a year ago that the construction of three Kilo class submarines for the Black Sea Fleet had already started and one more would be laid down every year starting in 2010.
The fleet would receive a total of 15 new frigates and diesel-electric submarines by 2020, he said in July 2010.
The admiral reiterated on Friday that the operational zone of the Black Sea Fleet includes the Mediterranean, and its combat ships must be capable of carrying out anti-piracy missions in the Gulf of Aden.
