Indian defense minister to discuss aircraft construction, shipbuilding in Moscow in November
MOSCOW. Oct 21 (Interfax) - Russia and India plan to discuss cooperation in submarine construction during an Indian military delegation's visit to Moscow in mid-November, said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin.
Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony is expected to arrive in Moscow on a visit on November 16. Two working groups will meet as part of the visit - one of them to discuss cooperation in the aviation sector, he said.
"The other will hold consultations on shipbuilding and submarine construction," Rogozin said.
Reports said earlier that India is to announce a tender for purchasing six non-nuclear submarines before the end of 2013. A source in the Russian shipbuilding industry told Interfax-AVN that the state arms trader Rosoboronexport wants to participate and offer the Amur-1650 (Project 677E) submarine, developed by the Rubin central naval design bureau.
"There are four bidders. The Russian proposal has its pluses and minuses. The minus is that Germany and France have an operational air-independent propulsion power plant, while ours is only under development. But there are many pluses: traditional naval cooperation, deep cooperation between the Russian and Indian shipbuilding industries, successful experience in implementing joint projects, and the Russian Navy's orders for such submarines," he said.
Admiralteiskiye Verfi Shipyard has built a fourth-generation, Project 677 submarine, St.Petersburg, for the Russian Navy. The second submarine of this type - the Kronshtadt - will be handed over to the customer in 2017. Project 677E submarines are an export version of submarines of this class. Submarines intended for export are to be equipped with Club-S missile systems.
In accordance with the rules of the Indian tender the first two submarines are to be built abroad and the other four in India.
In addition to this, Russia and India are implementing a series of major projects in aircraft construction, including the joint development of a fifth-generation fighter jet, of a multirole MTA transport plane and BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles. India has been making Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter jets under a license agreement for many years. Contracts to upgrade MiG-29 fighter jets are being implemented successfully and deck based MiG-29K/KUB fighter jets are being supplied to the Indian Navy.
