Russia Lends Nuclear-Powered Submarine to India

[seemslikeadream]

Created: 21.10.2004 14:30 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 15:36 MSK, 3 hours 12 minutes ago

The Indian navy is set to lease a nuclear-powered submarine from Russia, Russia’s Interfax-AVN news agency reported on Thursday. “Moscow and New Delhi have signed a contract according to which India’s navy will lease a Project 971 nuclear-powered submarine for 10 years,” a high-ranking official of the Russian military-industrial complex has told the agency.

The official said that the contract was signed at the beginning of 2004. The submarine to be leased is a Project 971 Nerpa nuclear submarine which is being constructed at the Amur shipbuilding facility, in the Far East city of Komsomolsk-na-Amure. “It is 85-percent ready right now,” the source said.

The submarine should be finished by 2007. An Indian crew will then arrive in Russia to train on the submarine. According to independent experts, profits from the use of the submarine could run into tens of millions of dollars a year.

Itar-Tass news agency said the submarine, which belongs to Russia’s most advanced Akula-II class and is comparable to the U.S. Sea Wolf and modernised Los Angeles-class submarines, costs $1.7 billion. Interfax quoted experts as saying the price of the lease could be “tens of millions of dollars”. Project 971 submarines can be equipped with nearly 30 cruise missiles capable of delivering nuclear or conventional warheads as far as 3,000 km (2,000 miles).
more
http://www.mosnews.com/money/2004/10/21/indiasub.shtml

[mr_hat]

1. Hope it's a month-to-month. Wonder if it comes with a missile option?

[daleo]

2. This seems significant

Pakistan is pretty closely tied to the U.S. right now, so India getting a nuclear sub from Russian would seem to imply some re-shuffling of deck among the big (esp nuclear) powers.

On edit - I imagine such a sub has missile launching capacity, as I believe that is the general purpose of nuclear powered subs (although they could also be hunter-killer, I suppose).

[mr_hat]

3. See the last paragraph -- it's a boomer.

[bemildred]

4. "Rent". "Lease". Not "lend". nt