World’s Largest Ship-Based Nuclear Arsenal Under Arctic Waters: Why Putin Thinks Borei Class Submarines Provide a Key Advantage

Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed that the Russian Navy’s fleet of Borei Class nuclear powered ballistic missile submarines are able to provide a distinct advantage over the Western world in the event of a nuclear war, highlighting the ships’ unique capabilities. “Our strategic nuclear submarines dive beneath the Arctic ice, vanishing from radar. This is our military advantage,” the president stated at a meeting with nuclear sector workers in Sarov, east of Moscow. He stressed that Arctic research was also “extremely important” as shipping routes were becoming more accessible due to melting ice, observing: “It is our competitive advantage because many countries are interested in using the routes.” The Russian Navy’s nuclear submarines are all deployed under the Arctic and Pacific fleets, with the large majority being fielded by the former. The latitude of their operations allows them to launch strikes on targets in Europe and North American with relatively little warning time.

The extreme concentration of the Russian submarine fleet in the Arctic has resulted in Borei Class ships being particularly well optimised for operations in the region. Russia deploys the vessels with more nuclear warheads onboards than any other class of warship in the world. Ten Borei Class submarines have been laid down for the Russian Navy to replace its fleet of Soviet era vessels, with the eighth the Knyaz Pozharsky having been launched in 2024, while the remaining two are currently under construction.The possibility of increasing the size of the fleet from the originally planned eight ships was first publicly raised in 2021, with a decision subsequently confirmed to have been taken to increase the fleet to 14 ships.

The Knyaz Pozharskywas commissioned into service in the final week of July, and is the fifth of the improved Borei-A Class vessels. As the world’s largest operational submarine class, the massive 24,000 ton ships each carry 16 RSM-56 intercontinental range ballistic missiles (ICBM), each of which can delivery up to ten nuclear warheads against separate targets using multiple independent reentry vehicles.