"In line with the program on the introduction of new Borey class nuclear-powered strategic submarines into the Russian Navy, we have begun mooring trials of the first submarine in the series - the Yury Dolgoruky submarine," Anatoly Serdyukov told a meeting at the Defense Ministry attended by President Dmitry Medvedev.
The submarine, built at the Sevmash plant in northern Russia, was taken out of dry dock in April 2007.
The vessel is 170 meters (580 feet) long, has a hull diameter of 13 meters (42 feet), a crew of 107, including 55 officers, a maximum depth of 450 meters (about 1,500 feet) and a submerged speed of about 29 knots. It can carry up to 16 ballistic missiles and torpedoes.
Two other Borey-class nuclear submarines, the Alexander Nevsky and the Vladimir Monomakh, are currently under construction at the Sevmash shipyard and are expected to be completed in 2009 and 2011. Russia is planning to build a total of eight submarines of this class by 2015.
Russia also is planning to complete tests and put into service sea-based Bulava intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) in 2009 despite numerous test failures. The Russian military have said that production flaws could be to blame for the unsuccessful test launches and insisted that the tests would continue until the missile was ready for production.
The Bulava (SS-NX-30) ICBM carries up to 10 nuclear warheads and has a range of 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles).
