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The Yasen-M class submarine Perm sailed out to the White Sea from Severodvinsk on August 22.

Photo courtesy of Oleg Kuleshov @fotoflota

Nuclear-powered multi-purpose submarine Perm heads out for sea trials

The Perm is the first of the Yasen-M class that will be a regular carrier of Zirkon missiles, the hyper-sonic weapon designed to be armed either with a conventional warhead or a nuclear warhead.

Thomas Nilsen

Nuclear-powered multi-purpose submarine Perm heads out for sea trials

The Perm is the first of the Yasen-M class that will be a regular carrier of Zirkon missiles, the hyper-sonic weapon designed to be armed either with a conventional warhead or a nuclear warhead.

Thomas Nilsen

23 August 2025 - 06:52

While Russia’s wartime economy struggles on the edge of stagnation as the country’s war against Ukraine drags on, there is no slow-down in pushing out new super-expensive nuclear-powered submarines.

On Friday, August 22, the latest multi-purpose submarine sailed out from the Sevmash yard in Severodvinsk on her maiden voyage for the first set of factory sea trials. 

The Perm rolled out from the giant ship hall at Sevmash and put on water in March this year in a ceremony overseen by Vladimir Putin in video-link from Murmansk where he attended Russia's Arctic Forum conference. 

For Putin, the Arctic and nuclear submarines are closely connected.

Simultaneously as the Perm left for the White Sea, dictator Putin met with young employees of Rosatom in the nuclear corporation's research headquarters in Sarov, a closed town in the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast where key development of reactor- and plutonium weapons takes place. 

Putin said it is “no secret” that Russia’s defense capability is “largely connected with the research and use of northern latitudes.” … “Our strategic submarines sail under the ice of the Arctic Ocean and disappear from radars,” he said according to the transcript from the meeting posted by the Kremlin.  

“This is our military advantage. And research, including in this [Arctic] zone, is extremely important for us,” Putin said. 

While the Perm is not a ballistic missile submarine, it has a multirole function to both protect Russia's fleet of strategic submarines and to assure the Navy's cruise missile capabilities. For the latter, this particular submarine is a substantial upgrade compared with the previous Yasen-class vessels.

Although Perm is the fifth in the Yasen-M class, she is the Navy's first multi-purpose submarine that features design adjustments in its vertical missile tubes to carry the Tsirkon, a hypersonic cruise missile with a scramjet engine and nuclear capability. 

As before, the newest frigates are armed with the Tsirkon. The upgraded nuclear-powered battle cruiser Admiral Nakhimov, soon to reenter service with the Northern Fleet, is also said to be armed with the missile. 

The missile, though, has already been tested with the Yasen-class. The first such test took place in October 2021 from the Severodvinsk. The submarine was then in surface position in the White Sea and launched against a target in the Barents Sea. 

Unconfirmed Russian sources claim the Tsirkon missile has a range of up to 1,000 kilometers. 

The ongoing sea trials are aimed at measuring the vessel's performances, general seaworthiness and weapons systems. Given all goes well, the Perm is expected to be handed over to the Navy by the end of the year.

The submarine will most likely be based with the Pacific Fleet.