Russian Submarines Explained: Classes, Fleet Strength and Capabilities

Russia's submarine force stood at 53 boats in the latest count from the International Institute for Strategic Studies, 13 of them carrying nuclear ballistic missiles. That is behind the United States (64) and China (62) on raw numbers, according to the IISS Military Balance 2026 as reported by Russian media after its release.

The total hides a split. A core of new boats, the Borei-A missile carriers and the Yasen-M hunters, is built, delivered and kept busy. Much of the Soviet-era fleet is old, in repair, or both. An independent open-source audit published by The Naval Review in August counted 57 commissioned combat submarines and judged 36 deployable, 12 uncertain and 9 not available. Moscow publishes no readiness list, so every figure below is an outside estimate, and we say whose.

How Many Submarines Does Russia Have?

The IISS counts 53 submarines in service. Thirteen are strategic: five Project 667BDRM Delta IV boats and eight from the Borei family, three original Project 955 and five improved Project 955A Borei-A. The other 40 or so are nuclear attack and cruise-missile submarines plus diesel-electric boats.

The Naval Review audit uses a stricter yardstick. It counts 57 on-roll combat hulls, leaves out special-purpose boats, and rates each one on public evidence. Half of the force sits on the Kola Peninsula.

Source: The Naval Review, assessment dated 9 August 2026. "Deployable" does not mean at sea. It means public evidence supports availability and nothing suggests overhaul, damage or reserve status. The Norwegian Intelligence Service, cited in the same audit, says a maintenance backlog holds back fleet-wide combat power while the newest boats keep a high operational tempo.

Russian Submarine Classes at a Glance

Russia fields seven main classes today, from missile carriers the size of a small cruiser to compact diesel boats that cost a fraction of the price. The table gives the rough picture.

Counts for Borei and Delta IV come from the IISS. The rest are hull counts from the Naval Review audit, so treat them as estimates.

Ballistic Missile Submarines: Borei and Delta IV

These are the boats that matter most to the Kremlin. Each Borei carries 16 Bulava missiles and forms a mobile piece of the nuclear deterrent. Russia has built eight. The fifth Borei-A, Knyaz Pozharsky, was commissioned on 24 July 2025 at the Sevmash yard in Severodvinsk, with Vladimir Putin at the flag-raising. "Such submarines form the core of the naval strategic nuclear forces," he said, according to the Kremlin's transcript.

The newest hulls are split between two fleets. Five Borei-family boats now serve at Vilyuchinsk in Kamchatka. The other three belong to the Northern Fleet's 31st Division at Gadzhievo, which also houses the Delta IVs. Not every hull is available: the lead boat, Yuri Dolgorukiy, entered a multi-year overhaul, the Naval Review audit notes, citing the Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces blog.

The Delta IV boats, a Soviet design, carry 16 R-29RMU2 Sineva or Layner missiles each. A March 2026 assessment cited in the audit says all five survivors remain in service, though one of them, Karelia, was only reported coming back from overhaul.

What happened to the Typhoon? Project 941 Akula, which NATO called Typhoon, produced the largest submarines ever built. Six were launched. Dmitry Donskoy, the last one in service and a test platform for the Bulava missile, was decommissioned in February 2023, Russian media reported at the time. In March 2025 Moscow ordered planning work to turn her into a museum ship, so the class is retired for good.

Yasen-M: Russia's New Multirole Attack Submarine

For Western navies, the submarine to watch is the Yasen family, Project 885 and its improved 885M version. USNI News describes the Yasen-M as a 13,800-ton boat that can field Kalibr land-attack missiles with a range of about 1,000 miles, Oniks anti-ship missiles and Zircon hypersonic missiles. Five are in service: the lead boat Severodvinsk (2014), Kazan and Novosibirsk (both 2021), Krasnoyarsk (2023) and Arkhangelsk, accepted on 27 December 2024, as USNI News reported.

Production continues, slowly. Perm was launched on 27 March 2025, with official Russian reporting putting acceptance at the end of 2026. Ulyanovsk was rolled out at Sevmash on 28 July 2026. Voronezh, Vladivostok and Murmansk are under construction. At the Knyaz Pozharsky ceremony Putin said Sevmash alone would deliver six more nuclear submarines by 2030. Meanwhile, specialist reporting cited by the Naval Review puts the original Severodvinsk in a mid-life overhaul expected to take years.

The contest underwater is not only about missiles. Western officials told Reuters that Russian crews rehearsed deploying a technology meant to disable undersea cables near Svalbard this spring, a drill that British, Norwegian and U.S. forces tracked and interrupted, as Clash Report covered.

The old guard: Oscar II and Akula. Behind the new boats sits Soviet inheritance. The Oscar II was built to sink aircraft carriers with Granit missiles. Kursk, an Oscar II, sank in the Barents Sea in August 2000 and all 118 crew died. Six Oscars remain on the audit's roll, three of them judged deployable. The Akula-class hunters fare worse: of seven Project 971 boats plus one modernised 971M, the audit rated only three deployable. Several have spent years in repair yards, and Leopard only began sea trials after modernisation in June 2026.

Diesel-electric Submarines: Kilo and Lada

Diesel-electric boats are quiet on batteries and far cheaper than nuclear ones, which is why the Kilo became Russia's export and coastal workhorse. The Improved Kilo, Project 636.3, has six torpedo tubes and can fire Kalibr-PL cruise missiles. Twelve are on the roll, six with the Pacific Fleet and six with the Black Sea Fleet. The sixth Pacific boat, Yakutsk, was inducted on 11 June 2025, according to the Rubin design bureau.

The Black Sea group has been hit by the war. Ukraine's defence ministry treats Rostov-on-Don, struck in Sevastopol in 2023 and again in 2024, as destroyed. In December 2025 Ukraine said underwater drones had hit a submarine at Novorossiysk, and Moscow denied any damage, Reuters reported. The audit rates only three of seven Black Sea boats as deployable, and treats the December claim as unresolved. For the wider picture, see Clash Report's report on Ukraine's Black Sea drone campaign.

The Lada (Project 677) was supposed to be the Kilo's quieter successor and had a slow start. Kronshtadt entered service in January 2024 and Velikiye Luki on 16 December 2025, according to Rubin, which calls the latter the third Lada to join the navy.

Belgorod, Khabarovsk and Poseidon: The Special-purpose Boats

A handful of submarines sit outside every combat count. Belgorod, commissioned in 2022, is a converted Oscar II about 184 metres long, widely described as the longest submarine afloat. Analysts view her as a carrier for Poseidon nuclear-powered torpedoes and a mother ship for deep-diving vehicles. Khabarovsk, launched at Sevmash on 1 November 2025, is reportedly built around Poseidon from the start and is shorter, about 135 metres, according to Naval News.

Putin said on 29 October 2025 that Russia had successfully tested Poseidon, running it on nuclear power for the first time. Reuters noted there are few confirmed details about the weapon, so claims about its range and capabilities remain Russian statements rather than verified facts.

How Russia's Submarine Fleet Compares With the U.S. and China

By the IISS numbers, the United States has 64 submarines including 14 Ohio-class ballistic missile boats, China has 62 including six Type 094 strategic submarines, and Russia has 53 including 13 strategic. Raw totals flatter Russia less than they seem to. Its strength is concentrated in a few new classes and a shipyard that keeps delivering. Its weakness is the age of everything else and a limited capacity for repairs. China, meanwhile, is experimenting: Clash Report covered an unusual trimaran-hull submarine under test. France, another nuclear power, has just test-fired its new M51.3 submarine-launched missile.

FAQ: How Many Nuclear Submarines Does Russia Have?

The IISS counts 13 ballistic missile submarines. Adding the Yasen, Oscar II, Akula and older attack boats, the Naval Review audit lists 36 nuclear-powered combat hulls, though many are in repair.

What Is Russia's Most Advanced Submarine?

Among strategic boats, the Borei-A. Among attack boats, the Yasen-M, the only post-Soviet nuclear attack design in series production.

What Is the Largest Russian Submarine?

The retired Typhoon class was largest by displacement. The longest in service is Belgorod at about 184 metres. The Borei is about 170 metres long and displaces around 24,000 tonnes submerged.

Does Russia Keep Nuclear Submarines in the Black Sea?

No. The Black Sea Fleet's 4th Independent Submarine Brigade operates diesel-electric Kilo boats. Russia's nuclear submarines are based in the Northern and Pacific Fleets.

Is the Typhoon Still in Service?

No. Dmitry Donskoy, the last Typhoon, was decommissioned in February 2023 and is slated to become a museum ship.