Russian Kilo Class Sub is Back in Action

Photo courtesy of Russian Defense Ministry

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The Russian Navy will accept its advanced diesel submarine into service a month ahead of schedule after extensive overhauls, a Navy spokesman said Tuesday.

Dygalo said the Vladikavkaz, a Kilo-class diesel submarine first commissioned by the Russian Navy in 1990, will return to service on Wednesday having had its military and performance characteristics significantly improved.

He cited Navy Deputy Commander Rear Adm. Viktor Bursuk as saying the overhaul included hull, equipment and other system repairs, as well as upgrades to communications, navigation, traffic control, naval combat data, propulsion control and other systems.

Vladikavkaz passed all the speed, handling, noise and many other parameters designated by the Navy during tests in early August 2015, the Navy spokesman added.
The ceremony marking the signing of the submarine’s handover is slated to take place at the Zvezdochka shipyard in north Russia in the presence of the Main Command of the Navy.

Kilo-class submarines, sometimes dubbed "Black Holes" for their ability to "disappear," are thought to be one of the quietest diesel-electric submarine classes in the world.

Iran deploys Russian-made submarine in Gulf

Iranian Kilo Class Submarine

The AP is reporting that Iran has deployed one of its Russian Kilo submarine to a southern Iranian post near the Straits of Hormuz. This was originally reported by Iranian State Television.

The Taregh-1 joined the Iranian fleet in the southern port of Bandar Abbas after it was overhauled earlier this year, according to the TV report. It's one of three Russian Kilo class submarines that Iran obtained in the early 1990s.

Tuesday's announcement came two days after U.S.-led naval exercises got under way in the waters of the Persian Gulf. They are the largest such maneuvers aimed at countering sea mines ever to take place in the region.

American officials insist the exercises, which include a symposium followed by at-sea maneuvers launching later this week, are defensive in nature and not directed at any particular country.

But the U.S.-led drills are seen as a response to Iranian warnings earlier this year it could close the strategic oil route in the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for tighter Western sanctions. Tehran has since stepped back from such threats.