The ultra-quiet stealth submarine Stary Oskol has successfully traveled through the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits to join Russia's Black Sea fleet, the RIA Novosti news outlet reported Wednesday.
The vessel passed state tests last summer and was transferred from Russia's Northern Fleet to its permanent Black Sea base, said spokesperson for the Black Sea Fleet Vyacheslav Trukhachyov.
The submarine caused an alert last month when it was intercepted by English naval forces heading from the North Sea to the Dover straits. English tabloid the Sun published pictures of the Russian supersub, accompanied by a tugboat, sailing above the surface.
The Stary Oskol was constructed as one of six new submarines boosting Russia's military presence in the Black Sea. The kilo-class, diesel-electric vessel features the latest range of missile-torpedoes, underwater acoustic and electronic systems and is believed in Russia to be much quieter than Western models.
