ST. PETERSBURG, June 26 (RIA Novosti) - The world's largest Typhoon-class submarines will remain in service with the Russian Navy, the Navy commander said on Friday.

The Typhoon-class submarine is a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine that entered service with the Soviet Navy in the 1980s. Three of the six vessels built remain commissioned.

"We will keep these submarines in service," Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky said.

The Dmitry Donskoy submarine has been modernized as a test platform for Russia's new Bulava missile.

Two other vessels, the Arkhangelsk and the Severstal, remain in reserve at a naval base in Severodvinsk in north Russia awaiting overhaul. They will most likely be modernized to carry new-generation sea-based cruise missiles to match the U.S. Ohio-class submarines.

The Typhoons will be replaced in the future with the new Borey-class nuclear-powered strategic submarines, which will be equipped with Bulava sea-based ballistic missiles.