Russia keeps improving its military capabilities, it has launched a second Yasen-class submarine at the Sevmash shipyards in Severodvinsk. The nuclear-powered vessel, Kazan, departed the port following a ceremony attended by important Russian officials and their industry partners. Admiral Vladimir Korolyov stated the launch of this submarine is important for Russia, its armed forces and its navy. 

He stated that they want a submarine group capable of coping with missions around the world and maintain the security of Russia. UPI reports that the launched submarine has been under construction since 2009. The goal of Russia is build seven Yasen-class submarines by 2023 which will improve the military forces of the country.

The company St. Petersberg Naval Bureau of Machine-Building was contracted by the Russian government to design the ship. Russian military expect to receive Kazan formally in 2018. All this happens in a moment of increasing tension between Russia and the West.

Russia is upgrading its military forces

The Kremlin has many undersea projects, the Yasen-class submarines are one of them. The Russian government stated a short time ago that two new diesel-electric submarines will be launched in 2017. All this happens in a moment when there are disagreements between Russia and NATO countries. There have been problems because of Ukraine, Syria, NATO expansion and other issues. The Soviet Union and United States had a cold War for many decades.

US has decided to increase its military budget and it is also forcing its NATO allies to increase their defense spending to at least 2 per cent of their economies. Just a few countries have a military budget of 2 per cent or more among NATO allies. Countries like Germany oppose to that increase. US has been of far the country that spends the most among NATO members. Donald Trump dislikes this and wants other countries to share the military expenditures.