While the United States Navy boasts a massive submarine fleet, it’s hardly the only one sailing beneath the waves. The Russian Federation also maintains an impressive fleet of nuclear and diesel-powered submarines, and like the U.S., Russia continues to put new boats into service to replace its aging hardware. The most recent addition to the Submarine Forces of the Russian Navy is the Murmansk, a 13,800-ton nuclear attack sub that’s designed to counter the U.S. Navy’s latest Virginia-class attack subs.

The Murmansk is a Yasen M-class submarine, and it’s the ninth one that Russia has constructed for its Submarine Forces. As of writing, Russia operates five Yasen M-class submarines while three more are under construction. They’re all designated for the Northern and Pacific Fleets. The Yasen M-class is an upgraded variant of the Yasen class, which first entered service in 2013. The Yasen M-class is an impressive vessel with the capability to carry and fire a variety of missiles alongside a host of systems.

The Murmansk is armed with Oniks and Kalibr cruise missiles, and will likely carry the Zircon hypersonic cruise missile, according to the Russian state news agency TASS. As with most of Russia’s weapon systems, the West doesn’t know everything about the Murmansk, since it’s not customary to reveal a new vessel’s strengths and weaknesses. Still, the Murmansk looks to be a powerful player in the future of Russia’s submarine warfare operations throughout the world, where its subs protect Russian maritime routes.

The Murmansk is the ninth vessel of its class. Unlike its predecessors, however, it has the potential to carry Zircon hypersonic missiles. If they’re added to its arsenal, that would make the Murmansk one of only a handful of submarines capable of carrying hypersonic cruise missiles, which is something the United States Navy cannot currently emulate. The boat includes raft-mounted machinery and improvements to its propulsion system and acoustic coating.

These modifications make it one of the most challenging nuclear submarines to acoustically detect. Additionally, at nearly 14,000 tons, the Murmansk is the largest attack submarine in the world. For comparison, the U.S. Navy’s Virginia-class attack submarines displace 7,800 tons of seawater. The sub measures 430 feet in length with a beam of 43 feet. It can reach a speed of 23 mph while surfaced and up to 40 while submerged, making the Yasen M-class boat speedy and quiet. It also boasts a crew complement of 64 submariners.

Most notable are the submarine’s weapons systems, which consist of eight cells in its Vertical Launch System. These can fire up to 32 missiles of various types with four missiles in each cell. Being an attack submarine, the Murmansk has ten torpedo tubes capable of firing Russia’s standard UGST-M or Futlyar heavyweight torpedoes, as well as naval mines. With its supply of various missiles and its unlimited range, the Murmansk’s attack capabilities enable it to strike deep into enemy territory, and should it field hypersonic missiles, the boat’s threat level will exponentially increase.