Russia has laid the keel for its first heavily armed "combat icebreaker" designed to break Arctic ice and sink warship of NATO and the U.S. Navy.

The lead ship of this new class called Project 23550 -- the Ivan Papanin -- will be launched in 2019. Work on the second ship, Nikolay Zubov, is expected to begin in 2018.

Like Us on Facebook

Russian state controlled media claims the Papanin will have more features than its foreign icebreakers, none of which are as heavily armed as the new Russian icebreaker. It said the Papanin's weapons "will be able to inflict strikes on groups of ships and ground targets."

Project 23550 combat icebreakers will combine the capabilities of a warship with those of an icebreaker, cargo and rescue ship.

It will also guard and monitor the Arctic's water resources, and accompany and escort detained vessels.

The world's only combat icebreaker is the Norwegian Coast Guard Ship, NoCGV Svalbard (W303). Canada is also developing the Harry DeWolf-class offshore patrol vessel similar to the Norwegian ship.

Main gun armament of the Svalbard is a Bofors 57 mm dual purpose naval gun with a range of 17 km while that for the Harry DeWolfe-class is a BAE Mk 38 25 mm gun. Both ships carry no anti-ship missiles or surface-to-air missiles.

In contrast, the Papanin will be much more heavily armed. She will deploy at least eight 3M-54TE Club-N anti-ship cruise missiles with a range of 220 km.

Her gun armament will be the AK-176MA 76.2 mm automatic naval gun capable of firing up to 125 rounds per minute. This gun has an effective firing range of only 10 km and can be used against sea, coastal and aerial targets, including low flying anti-ship missiles.

The AK-176MA is housed in a stealth turret that helps to reduce its visibility to radar.

Papanin will be equipped with a helipad for a Kamov Ka-27 anti-submarine helicopter and a hangar for other helicopters and drones.

Its capability as an icebreaker is limited, however. Russian sources said Papanin might be able to break ice to a depth of 1.5 meters, which is far less than a traditional icebreaker that can break ice of up to 2.8 meters at the maximum.