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 The
MOD or services in India are not forthcoming on what India
orders or acquires which all foreigners know about as our
Armed Forces are still 75% import dependant for weapons and
systems and that suits the Governments. The foreigners are
secretive in bidding but discuss challenges freely so we have
to lean on Foreign Media and foreign suppliers who are free
with their inputs after an order is placed. The winner is
happy to tell you the details of the order he or she has secured
and the loser is ready to tell you why they lost with juicy
inputs. India's sagas from Bofors to HDW to Coffingates and
cancelled 197 Utility helicopters and such shows CBI could
not unearth anything in any deal but all know how the cases
moved.CBI head Joginder Singh has bared all.
Soon we will see the end of the Lt Cdr Sankaran extradition
case No 1001294542 which will end sine die on 27th Jan 2012
in Justice Nicholas Evans 70 Horseferry Court Road in Westminister
London in camera as the charges have been whittled down to
Sir Creek and such by CBI as office of CBI lawyer QC John
Hardy seemed to suggest. In India there is no news of Abhishek
Verma son of an MP who was a rep and conduit of the French
Scorpene company that Outlook reported involved in Naval War
Room case and BJP's Sudheendra Kulkarni met Cdrs Jha and Rana
in Tihar Jail. They were removed from service under Art 311
of the Constiution. All defence deals are very complicated
in India and news is 3 more Scorpenes will be ordered at MDL
for $ 3 bill. It is rumored that if new bids are called for
the bids by better suppliers HDW and Russia could be less
than the $ 6 bill that the 6 Scorpenes by DCNS Navantia are
costing .Malaysia paid $ 700 mill per Scorpene with Blackshark
torpedoes.
So
it is ITAR-TASS that reports Nerpa renamed INS Chakra
is ready for delivery near Vladistock and additionally the
sea trials of the first of three Project 1135.6 ships frigate
INS Teg have been successfully finished in the Baltic
Sea.
The report from Russia is Nerpa is ready to lease nuclear-powered
submarine Nerpa to India by the end of 2011; the submarine
has passed all appropriate trials, reports RIA Novosti
referring to a top-ranking representative of Amur Shipyard
building the submarine.It can only be received when Vishakapatnam
is ready to receive the submarine and NHQ's Nuclear Safety
Vice Admiral certifies the training especially for reactor
control and emergencies.
According
to the contract, the lease term is ten years; the price is
$920 mln. "As of today, the sub has passed all acceptance
trials and is ready to complete assigned tasks at sea. We're
ready to hand her over to India by the end of 2011?, said
the interviewee.
He emphasized that the Russian party expects official affirmative
reply from Delhi and this is something IDU did not understand
but explains above and could refer to payments and clearance
that Indian Navy's facilities are ready at Vizag. There is
a fund crunch till the budget is passed by Ministry of Finance
and wonders if MOD is affected as orders were going out like
flowing water with MOD shining.
Russia had planned to lease SSN Nerpa to Indian Navy back
in 2009, but on Nov 2008 a fire occurred in the submarine
during sea trials in the Sea of Japan. As a result of unauthorized
actuation of firefighting system, toxic gas began to enter
compartments. Out of 208 people on board, 20 died and 21 were
hospitalized. After repairs, the sub was commissioned into
Russian Navy. Details of the deal are on TRISHUL Blogspot
linked to this site..
SSN
Nerpa (K-152, Project 971, Schuka-B class) is a third-generation
submarine; she was laid down at Amur Shipyard in 1991. Financing
of the sub was cut off in mid-90?s. Completion of the submarine
became possible only after India's investments, which are
not shown in the Navy's budget as such and could be via the
payments made through Kundalkulkulam projects for starters.
The submarine's displacement is 8,140/12,770 tons; max speed
is 30 knots; test depth is 600 meters; endurance is 100 days;
crew is 73 men; armament comprises four 533-mm torpedo tubes
and four 650-mm torpedo tubes. Now to INS TEG.
The Krivack was built for Indian Navy by Yantar Shipyard (Kaliningrad,
Russia),which is the home of Putin's mother in law. According
to the shipyard's press secretary Sergei Mikhailov, all shipboard
systems including BrahMos missile system whose launcher was
supplied by Larsen & Toubro with BEL Sonars and other
Indian CIC operated normally. To complete state trials, frigate
INS Teg has to perform only one sortie scheduled in Jan 2012.
Indian crew will start training onboard the ship late in Jan
2012 and the frigate will be handed over to Indian Navy in
Apr 2012.
INS Teg was laid down at Yantar in 2007 and became the first
of three built for Indian Navy. Other two frigates - INS Tarkash
and INS Trikand - are being currently completed. They are
planned to join Indian Navy in 2012 and 2013 respectively.
The contract signed in 2007 in New Delhi cost $1.6 bln.
According to ITAR-TASS, new Project 1135.6 frigates have almost
same technical characteristics as three ships of the same
project - INS Tabar, INS Trishul, and INS Talwar - delivered
to India under the contract of 1997. Mostly, differences are
about armament. For instance, new frigates are equipped with
BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles in contrast to the preceding
trio armed with antiship missiles Club-N.
Displacement of Project 1135.6 frigates is 4,000 tons; length
is 124.8 meters; max speed is 30 knots; operating range is
4,500 miles.
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