Free Republic

The Russian Navy launched a new and improved Kilo-class diesel-electric submarine today in St. Petersburg. Named the Rostov-on-Don, the sub will join the Black Sea Fleet and further bolster Moscow's naval presence in the region. "We expect that the Rostov-on-Don, following sea trials in the Baltic and Barents seas under its own power, will come to Sevastopol at the end of the year," a Black Sea Fleet representative said at the ceremony. "In the next two years, six submarines of this type will be built for the Black Sea Fleet," he added. Russia has shown a renewed strategic interest in...