The Russian delegation will discuss the possible supply to the Indian
Navy of an SSN with missile/torpedo armament similar the Project 971
(Akula class) nuclear-powered attack submarine Nerpa (renamed
INS Chakra) handed over in 2012, said Victor Ozerov, chairman
of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security. |
|
"I won’t conceal that our visit to
India will be associated with talks on the supply of yet another submarine.
Of course, I will use all the capabilities I have today,"
he said.
In late 2014 the Indian media reported that the country’s navy
decided to lease a second Project 971 nuclear-powered submarine from
Russia. Subsequently, various sources confirmed to TASS that the talks
did take place. However, in autumn 2015 Sergey Chemezov, the head of
the Rostec state corporation /which incorporates Rosoboronexport/, declared
that Moscow had not received a request to lease out the second submarine.
The sources pointed out that India may get the nuclear-powered submarine
Kashalot deployed in 1988. Today it is under repair at the Amur Dockyard.
In addition, as per unclassified sources, the company has a similar
type nuclear-powered submarine whose construction started in 1994 but
was soon suspended.
The third-generation Project 971 submarine was developed by the Malakhit
Design Bureau in the 1970s-80s as an alternative to costly titanium-hull
Sierra class vessels.
A total of 15 submarines were built from 1984 to 2001 at the Amur shipyard
in Komsomolsk-on-Amur and at the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk. It
is not known how many of them are still in service, but one of the subs,
the Nerpa, has been leased to India for 10 years under the
name INS Chakra.
Akula class submarines feature very low acoustic signatures and can
carry up to 12 submarine-launched cruise missiles with nuclear warheads
and a range of 3,000 km (1,860 miles) in addition to anti-ship missiles
and torpedoes.
© Copyright 2015 TASS. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
|
