Bangladesh Turns To Russia For Submarines

When it became known to India that Bangladesh is on the hunt for two submarines for its navy, there was some consternation. More so when it came to be known that Bangladesh is negotiating with China for the Ming-class submarines. Something that India can do without at the moment is a spurt in military ties between China and Bangladesh. The level of anxiety has come down somewhat in recent times after information was received that Bangladesh is planning to procure the submarines from Russia. 

"From reliable sources, we have come to know that Bangladesh is making efforts to move away from the China-centric approach where it comes to defence procurement. Nearly half of Bangladesh's military hardware is sourced from either China or Pakistan. This provided an excuse for Chinese and Pakistani military presence along India's east coast. Russia is different. India enjoys good relations with Russia and also uses military hardware built there. Better ties between Russia and Bangladesh are encouraging. We don't believe that Russia will not do anything to harm India's interests," a highly placed source in Delhi said. 

For years now, India has been attempting to keep the 'dragon's presence' away from Bangladesh and other neighbouring countries. In certain cases, India has even offered products and services at rates that would be convenient for these countries. By the end of this year, India hopes to deliver the 'Barracuda', a Naval Offshore Patrol Vessel for the Mauritian Navy. The 'Barracuda', being fitted-out at Kolkata's Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) will be India's first such export. 

"This is more of a diplomatic move rather than a financial deal. One can also call this a confidence building measure. Once Mauritius is satisfied with the NOPV, India may get more orders from this region. This is good diplomacy," the source added. 

According to sources in Dhaka, Bangladesh proposes to purchase two diesel-electric submarines from Russia. Plans are also afoot to procure aircraft for the navy. Bangladesh already uses Russian hardware in the form of Mig-29 fighters and military helicopters. In 2013, Russia allegedly offered a $1.5 billion loan to Bangladesh that would be used to purchase military hardware. The Bangladesh government wants the submarines to join its navy by 2019. 

Bangaldesh air force's fleet of eight MiG-29s is due for upgradation. So is its fleet of Russian made Mi-17 helicopters. HAL has maintenance facilities in India for both aircraft as they are used by the IAF as well. India has offered to upgrade and maintain the Mig-29s and helicopters at HAL facilities to bolster ties with Bangladesh.

India, Russia to export BrahMos to mutually agreeable countries

     The governments of India and Russia have agreed that BrahMos missile will be exported to a list of mutually agreeable countries for defensive purposes. There is also a negative list to which exports are barred.

The missile has been showcased in several countries to apprise the potential customers of its capabilities. “If any country approaches us we will look into it on a case by case basis. BrahMos Aerospace has the production capacity, game plan and skilled labour to supply. I would like to state that we are ready and waiting. It is for the government of India to decide”, Sudhir Mishra, CEO and MD of BrahMos Corporation said on Wednesday.

It has been learnt that three submarine manufacturers Amur (Russia), HDW (Germany) and Navantia (Spain) have approached BA for installing BrahMos on the new Project- 75I submarines should they bag the contract. The manufacturers have all assured that BrahMos can be installed on their submarines without affecting the quality of the missile or the submarine. Land attack capability is one of the requirements of the Project 75I submarines.

Asked about the deliverables for the next five to seven years, Mr. Mishra said, “We are concentrating all energies on the air launched variant to deliver it on schedule. Second is advanced land variants for the Army. We have recently demonstrated a steep dive capability at 65 degree to identify targets in a clutter. Next we are working on a near vertical and surround capability for use in the mountains.”

Mistral Decision Coming Next Month

      French President François Hollande will decide in November whether France will go ahead with a delivery of the Mistral-class helicopter carrier to Russia, Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Tuesday.

Sources have said previously that a decision was expected in either late October or early November.

“In early September, the president said that if the political conditions did not change, he could not imagine authorizing a delivery,” Le Drian told journalists at the Euronaval trade show.


“He would decide when it was time for delivery. It will be in November,” he said.

Asked about France’s reliability and the Mistral sale to Russia, Le Drian said, “I have never made any forecast on the president’s decision.”

Hollande has set the conditions as the ceasefire being observed in Ukraine and a political settlement between Kiev and Moscow.

In Le Drian’s speech to the foreign delegations at the official opening of the exhibition, the minister spoke of France as a “reliable partner,” citing the 34 years of support and maintenance for warships sold in 1980 to Saudi Arabia under the Sawari export program.

On arms exports for 2014, Le Drian said sales would be similar to the €6.87 billion (US $8.7 billion) reached in 2013, up almost 43 percent from the previous year.

“I think we will be close to that again this year,” he said. “That shows our companies’ performance, technological excellence, the French performance,” he said. “That does not happen without competition, without a contest. The figures show the results are there.”

France agreed in 2011 to the €1.2 billion sale of two Mistral class warships to Russia, with options for two more. The former two are named Vladivostok and Sevastopol. Following the crisis in the Ukraine and the deadly downing of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, Paris is under pressure from allies to cancel the Mistral handover.

But there is also domestic concern over jobs on the second vessel and potential damage to French reliability as a supplier in the world arms market.

Why India needs to rethink the Rafale deal

Russia India Report

Fighter planes fall into two categories – the hunters and the hunted. The French are pitching their Rafale as the dogfight duke that is the crème de la crème of jet fighters. But the Russian side disagrees. Alexander Kadakin, Russia's ambassador in India, says Chinese-made Sukhoi-27s would be able to swat the Rafales like “mosquitoes on an August night.”

At this point it’s pointless to deliver the verdict on which aircraft is superior. The Rafale is a largely unknown commodity in aviation circles. Like most French fighters, it is most likely an unassuming, unspectacular but honest aircraft.


But what Kadakin left unsaid is ominous. First up, he said the hundreds of Su-27 Flankers supplied by Moscow to Beijing are much less advanced than the Flankers in India’s inventory. Now forget the Su-27 for a while and let’s talk about the two squadrons of the latest Su-35 Super Flanker that Russia has cleared for sale to China. This new iteration is a huge advancement over the already potent Su-27. If the aircraft's stupendous performance at the 2014 Paris Air Show is any indication then the Rafale is likely to fare even worse against the Su-35.
Costing dogfight

To be sure, the most significant aspect of the Rafale deal is the cost. Originally pegged at $10 billion, the size of the deal has climbed to a stratospheric $30 billion. So instead of bolstering the country’s air power, the Rafale is threatening to blow a gaping hole in India’s overstretched defence budget.

India may the third largest economy on the planet but in the backdrop of numerous projects requiring bucket loads of cash, New Delhi can’t afford to splurge on weapons, especially when alternatives are available for far less.

The IAF’s requirement of 126 aircraft can be quickly met – at a fraction of the cost of the Rafale – by inducting more numbers of the technologically superior Su-30s, which the IAF described as its “air dominance fighter,” and which is being produced at Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).

Each Indian made Su-30 costs approximately $75 million per unit. So if the IAF goes for 126 of them, the total cost will come to under $10 billion, which coincidentally is the originally envisaged amount. Plus, the Sukhois will provide more bang for the buck. “These aircraft will be the high end of India’s air power, and can be expected to remain in the force past 2030, and are competitive with or superior to top-end European fighters and American F-15 variants,” says Defense Industry Daily.

Another option is to buy more of the – even more cheaper – MiG-29, which is the mainstay of India’s interceptor force, and which had shattered the morale of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) during the 1999 Kargil War.

With the $20 billion or so saved, India can import leading edge aviation technology – from France, Russia, Germany or even the US to beef up its military aviation. With manufacturing declining in the US and Europe and thousands of defence sector jobs facing the axe, western engineers would be more than happy to work in India.

There is a precedent in this area. After 1991 when elite Soviet weapons engineers and scientists found their jobs gone, many of them found work at Chinese and South Korean companies – both military and civilian. Russian scientists and engineers ended up transforming the defence sector in both these Asian countries.

India too needs to tread the same path. Hiring unemployed or underemployed European defence sector workers would cut the development time frame of Indian defence projects. In fact, even Pakistan has a tenuous Russian connection. An administrator of Pakistan’s Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission from 1967 to 1970 was Polish aeronautical engineer air commodore Wladyslaw Turowicz. Born in Siberia, the Pole made significant contributions to Pakistan’s missile programme as an aeronautical engineer.

That brings up the third option. India’s homemade Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA) is being fielded in limited numbers, and further development can easily make it a world class fighter. India can then produce hundreds of LCAs costing around $40 million – for the IAF. For decades, China has adopted this policy of having hundreds of obsolete aircraft because “quantity has a quality all its own”.

Sending hundreds of LCAs swarming into Pakistani air space would completely overwhelm that country’s defences. In 
effect, the Tejas fleet would kick the door in, allowing the Sukhois to pulverise targets with the supersonic BrahMos cruise missiles.

The LCA even become the military equivalent of India’s $2000 TATA Nano car, for which there was a waiting list in Sri Lanka. Similarly, the LCA could be the ideal export aircraft to small countries with limited budgets. Aircraft such as the Su-30, MiG-29 and F-18 are too expensive and too big for the use of such nations. India could be the first to market a no-frills fighter.


Why Rafale?
When the MMRCA tender was floated over a decade ago, it seemed like a good idea. One, it was aimed at lowering India’s overwhelming dependence on Russia for advanced weapons.

Secondly, India wanted to acquire a medium aircraft that would fill the gap between the low-end LCA and the premium Sukhois.

The third reason was to shore up the IAF's depleting fighter fleet. The IAF’s sanctioned strength is 39.5 squadrons (an IAF combat squadron consists of 18 aircraft in service with another 3-4 in maintenance) but its current fleet is down to 34 squadrons. The air force says it requires 44 squadrons to meet a full-scale war with Pakistan, while also maintaining "a dissuasive posture" against China.

Earlier this year, the IAF told a Parliamentary standing committee on defence that a "collusive threat" from China and Pakistan would be difficult for it to handle. This was played up by the media, which failed to see the fine print: the IAF admitted (in the same statement) China may not pose “a collusive threat” if hostilities were to break out between India and Pakistan.

Indeed, why would the Chinese team up with a rapidly balkanizing Pakistan and attack a fellow BRICS member? It is not only counterintuitive but also a ridiculous idea.

As for the threat from Pakistan, it is really a joke. The arrival of the MiG-29 and the Sukhoi-30 in the 1990s has given the IAF a fearsome qualitative advantage over the PAF. This edge was demonstrated during the 1999 Kargil War. While a number of IAF aircraft took part in that campaign, it was the cover provided by the MiG-29 that spooked – and demoralised – the PAF pilots.

Says Strategy Page in a report dated May 20, 2005: “While PAF fighters did fly Combat Air Patrols (CAP) during the conflict, they stayed well within Pakistani air space. On occasions, IAF MiG-29s armed with the deadly R-77 BVR air-to-air missiles were able to lock on to PAF F-16s, forcing the latter to disengage.”

So scared were the Pakistani pilots of the Indian MiGs that the “PAF simply refused to play any part” in the war.

In the report “Airpower at 18,000 feet: IAF in the Kargil War” published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in 2012, Benjamin Lambeth says the Pakistani F-16s “typically maintained a safe distance of 10 to 20 miles on the Pakistani side of the LoC”.

Qualitatively, the IAF is on an upward curve. In fact, in an interview to the media in 2012, former air force chief N.A.K. Browne gave the lie to the claim that the IAF was becoming weaker. According to Browne, the IAF is replacing older MiG-21s with Su-30s. He said once older aircraft are replaced with brand new Sukhois the IAF will have “far greater capability than even what we have today”.

If India and France sort out the numerous issues dogging the MMRCA deal and a contract is signed this year, then the first 18 Rafales will arrive from France in 2016. If all goes smoothly, the rest of the 102 aircraft could start rolling off HAL’s assembly lines by 2018.

But here’s the rub: around 2020 Sukhoi’s stealth fighter, the PAK-FA, in which India is a junior partner, will be ready to join the IAF. Why India is committing itself to a stopgap aircraft is mysterious.

China could nuke India from Tibet: Russia

    Want China Times

     After India declared plans to construct a road in the disputed region of Northern Arunachal Pradesh near the Chinese border, the Voice of Russia, a Moscow-based radio broadcasting service, said that Beijing is capable of launching a full scale nuclear strike against New Delhi from Tibet.

     India spent US$7 billion for the construction of a road in northern Arunachal Pradesh state. Due to its proximity to the Chinese border, check points will be established along the road using the most advanced equipment. Meanwhile, India also decided to increase the number of troops stationed in the border region next to China.


     There have been several confrontations between the PLA and the Indian Army in Northern Arunachal Pradesh since April of 2013.

     The Voice of Russia reported that India's new road is aimed at provoking China and Pakistan, its rivals in the border region. The announcement, it said, which took place after Xi Jinping's visit to New Delhi last month, indicated India's unwillingness to reduce hostilities with China. Despite the fact India welcomes more investment from China, the political relationship between Beijing and New Delhi remains the same.

     The broadcasting service went on to say that deploying ballistic missiles to Tibet can become an option for China to confront India in the future. Chinese ballistic missiles equipped with nuclear warheads, if launched from there, can strike targets within India. To defend its line of actual control in the border region, India has begun to deploy missile regiments to its frontlines.

Both nations are now competing against each other for the leadership of South Asia.

Mystery Deepens Over Reported Russian Sub in Sweden

STOCKHOLM — Mystery deepened Sunday over a Swedish military operation triggered by “foreign underwater activity” off the coast of Stockholm, amid an unconfirmed report of a hunt for a damaged Russian submarine.

Late Saturday, Swedish armed forces stepped up an operation — involving more than 200 men, stealth ships, minesweepers and helicopters — in an area about 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of the Swedish capital. The manuevers were initiated Friday after the armed forces said they had been informed of a “man made object” in the water.

Officials denied they were “submarine hunting,” calling the mobilization — one of the biggest, barring purely training exercises, since the Cold War — an “intelligence operation.”

Russia also denied on Sunday that any of its submarines were involved.


“There have been no irregular situations and, even less so, accidents involving Russian naval vessels,” the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.

But the respected Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet reported that a damaged Russian submarine was at the center of the mystery.

Russian Emergency Transmission
The report said that Swedish military intelligence had intercepted radio signals between an area off the coast of Stockholm and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad — home to much of Russia’s Baltic Sea naval fleet.

“It was transmitted on a special frequency, used by Russia in emergency situations,” the newspaper wrote, citing Swedish military sources involved in the search.

Sweden’s armed forces remained tight-lipped, but did say its focus was on “underwater activities.”

“The Swedish Armed Forces are not in a position to deny or verify media news or speculations recently published about a missing foreign submarine,” spokesman Erik Lagersten said.

“At the moment we are conducting an intelligence operation in the archipelago of Stockholm with optical reconnaissance as well as with naval vessels equipped with qualified underwater sensors... to establish if there are or has been foreign underwater activities in the area.”

Anonymous military sources told Svenska Dagbladet that the emergency signal in Russian was intercepted on Thursday evening, and that further encrypted signals were sent on Friday after Swedish armed forces began combing the area.

In August 2000 the Kursk, a Russian nuclear submarine, sank in the Barents Sea killing the entire crew of 118. Russian authorities were later criticized for refusing international assistance and for misleading the public about the pace of their failed rescue operation.

In recent months, Sweden has seen an uptick in Baltic Sea maneuvers by the Russian air force. In one incident in September, two SU-24 fighter-bombers allegedly entered Swedish airspace in what Foreign Minister Carl Bildt at the time called “the most serious aerial incursion by the Russians” in almost a decade.

During the 1980s and early ’90s, the then-neutral — and now non-aligned — Nordic country was regularly on alert following Russian submarine sightings, including one notable case in 1981 when a Soviet U-boat ran aground several miles from one of Sweden’s largest naval base.

New-generation nuclear-powered missile destroyer under development in Russia

MOSCOW, October 21. /TASS/. Russia’s Defense Ministry has approved the technical design specification for the Leader class destroyers, a high-ranking source in the ministry told TASS on Tuesday.

The destroyer’s nuclear-powered and gas turbine versions are planned. He said there was no clarity yet concerning the weapons, but the new ship will be most likely equipped with the Caliber high-precision cruise missile system and the S-500 antiaircraft defense system.

“The Leader technical design specification prepared by the Navy command has been signed by the Defense Ministry leadership that approved the engineering design for two versions of the destroyer — nuclear-powered and gas turbine,” the source said.

The Severnoye (Northern) Design Bureau has been given the engineering design preparation assignment; it plans to launch the work in 2015, he added.

According to the source, the Russian Navy is going to place orders for 12 Leader class destroyers — 6 for the Northern Fleet and 6 for the Pacific Fleet.

“In any case, given the complexity, novelty of the project and huge work amount, the first Leader — either its nuclear-powered or conventional version — is expected to be competed no earlier than 2023-2025,” he said. According to him, the Leader building project is not included in the state armaments program for the period until 2020, so "the construction will be carried out under the shipbuilding program until 2050."

Wait over: INS Vikramaditya set tojoin Indian Navy on Nov 16

Defence Minister, A.K. Antony, will induct the long-delayed aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya,
designed to boost India’s maritime capabilities, at a shipyard in Russia on Saturday. Antony will leave for Russia tomorrow with a high-level delegation, including Defence Secretary, R.K. Mathur, on a four-day visit during which, apart from commissioning the aircraft carrier, he will also co-chair the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC) with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Shoigu.

Contracted for in 2004, during the NDA regime, the vessel has been delayed by over five years
and has seen several time and cost-overruns in the last nine years. “The commissioning ceremony will take place at Sevmash Shipyard, Severodvinsk, on Saturday and the IRIGC-MTC meeting will take place in Moscow on Monday,” a Defence Ministry release said.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin will be attending the commissioning along with
Defence Minister Shoigu. For the IRIGC—MTC, Antony’s delegation includes Secretary (Defence Production) GC Pati, DG (Acquisition) SB Agnihotri, and senior officers of the armed forces. At the meet, the two sides will discuss a broad spectrum of issues related to ongoing and proposed defence projects and defence cooperation between the two countries. The two sides will also exchange views on bilateral concerns related to regional and global issues, the release said.

Russia Close to Ink Air Defense Deal With Brazil – Minister

Operational 96K6 Pantsir S1 on parade

Russia and Brazil are at the final stages of talks on the delivery of Russian Pantsir-S1 air defense systems to the Latin American country, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said.

A Russian delegation, led by Shoigu, visited Brazil to discuss prospects of bilateral defense and space cooperation, including the sales of Pansir-S1 and Igla missile systems, during the Latin American tour on October 14-17.

“We are moving toward the agreement on Pantsir systems…but drafting the final document needs time,” Shoigu told reporters in Moscow on Saturday.


The Pantsir-S1, produced by Russia’s KBP, is a gun-missile system combining a wheeled vehicle mounting a fire-control radar and electro-optical sensor, two 30-mm cannons and up to 12 57E6 radio-command guided short-range missiles, and is designed to take on a variety of targets flying at low altitudes.

Brazilian military officials believe that the Pansir-S1 could become a key element of air defenses during the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup and Summer Olympics 2016 in Brazil.

The potential Brazilian deal, which includes the purchase of three Pantsir-S1 batteries (up to 18 units), is estimated at $1 billion, according to Russia’s Kommersant business daily.

Future Is Cloudy for Russian Carrier Aviation

The future of the Russian navy aircraft carrier component is in doubt after the Russian defense ministry decided to have its nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser, the Admiral Nakhimov, rather than its aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov repaired and refitted at Sevmash, the nation’s largest dockyard.

Sevmash had considered taking either the Nakhimov or the Kuznetsov for extended work after its facilities in the port city of Severodvinsk, including a large dry dock, became available following the conversion of the Kiev-class carrier Admiral Gorshkov into the INS Vikramaditya for the Indian Navy. Top Russian and Indian officials are expected to participate in a departure ceremony for the Vikramaditya in mid-November.


After some studies, Sevmash expressed a preference for repairing the Nakhimov, a decision supported by the defense ministry, which is expected to issue an order for the work after the Vikramaditya is formally handed over to the Indian navy. By volume and complexity, the work to be done on the modernization and refit of the Nakhimovwill be close to that done on the Gorshkov/Vikramaditya.

Meanwhile, the condition of the Admiral Kuznetsov has been gradually deteriorating following a major, four-year-long repair completed in 2004, due to a lack of high-quality repair facilities at Severomorsk, near Murmansk, where the ship is based. With Sevmash working at capacity on submarines and eventually the Nakhimov, only the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg is capable of building or refitting the largest capital ships. But the Baltic Sea region’s status as a nuclear weapon-free zone has complicated prospects for repairing the Kuznetsov.

The Kuznetsov carries Sukhoi Su-33 single-seat interceptors and Su-25UTG two-seat subsonic trainers with limited land-strike capability, as well as Kamov Ka-27/29 helicopters. The ship’s advertised capacity is 50 fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft, but the Russian navy does not make public the exact numbers of aircraft on board the ship. The number of Su-33s is estimated to fall between 15 and 20. Last year, the defense ministry placed an order for 24 MiG-29K/KUBs to supplement and eventually replace in-service Su-33s.

As it stands, the long-needed modernization and refit of the Kuznetsov will either be postponed again or may never happen. A next-generation carrier of similar displacement (55,000 to 60,000 tons) under development by the Nevskoye Design Bureau could take the ship’s place. However, the Kremlin has not decided whether such a ship will be constructed.

India, Russia begin joint military exercise Indra 2013

India and Russia began their joint military exercise, Indra 2013, at the Mahajan Field Firing Ranges in South Western Command today

The opening ceremony saw the unfurling of the national flags of both countries to the strains of  ”Jana Gana Mana…” and “Russia Sviashennaia Nasha Derzhava… (Russia is our sacred state, Russia is our beloved land)”. 

Indian and Russian soldiers stood side by side, with their tanks and Infantry combat vehicles in the background and gave a ceremonial salute to the two senior most officers of both the Russian and Indian Army reviewing the line-up of combat forces.

Brigadier V M Chandran welcomed the Russian soldiers, and in his inaugural remarks highlighted the historic legacy of shared beliefs, related to democracy, freedom, equality and justice that were precious to both nations, as also the progressive defence cooperation and mutual understanding between both the Armed Forces.

A combat group strength of Russian Army personnel and an equal complement of Indian soldiers from South Western Command are taking part in the two-week long exercises.

The exercises will include integration of their tactical and technical skills in a UN peace enforcement scenario involving mechanized forces.

State-of-the-art equipment for surveillance and target acquisition specialist weapons for close quarter battle, explosive and IED detectors, as well as the latest communications equipment are being used in the exercises.

Both sides will jointly plan and execute a series of well integrated tactical drills for neutralization of visualized threats that may be encountered in UN peace operations, an official press release added.

Antony to take up issues related to FGFA project with Russia

Source: PTI

Not happy with its share of work in the multi-billion dollar Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) project with Russia, India is expected to flag the issue with that country during Defence Minister A K Antony’s visit there next month.

Though India is investing 50 per cent of the cost of the multi-billion dollar programme, its work share in the research and development and other aspects of the programme at the moment is only around 15 per cent, IAF officials said here.

The Defence Minister is expected to flag this issue during his Russia visit beginning November 15 as this will have an impact on India’s indigenous capabilities to develop such an advanced fighter aircraft, they said.

The IAF expressed its objection over the issue at a CII event on energising aerospace sector in India.

“We have a major opportunity in the FGFA programme. At the moment it is not very much in favour of Indian development. We are flagging it through the Government. It should be much more focused towards indigenous development capability,” IAF Deputy Chief Air Marshal S Sukumar said here.

The senior IAF officer was commenting on the programme and the opportunities that it could provide for the Indian defence sector.

The FGFA is a joint venture programme between India and Russia and its preliminary design phase was completed recently.

The programme is expected to cost over 1.5 lakh crore to the Government. The two sides are now in discussion over the main Research and Development part of the programme, which is expected to take another year to be concluded.

2nd Nuclear Submarine Lease likely to highlight in Indo-Russian Summit

At least half a dozen bilateral agreements, including a big ticket deal on the lease of a nuclear submarine are expected to be signed at the 14th Indo-Russian annual summit in Moscow on October 21, key officials involved in the negotiations (which are still going on) said.

India has been looking to take a second nuclear submarine on lease from Russia and talks are believed to have progressed well. The two sides are keeping budget-level secrecy on this subject. The issue is likely to dominate discussions between Singh and Putin during a restricted meeting where the two principals meet with select aides.


Normally, sensitive subjects like nuclear submarines are not announced formally. It is yet to be seen whether the subject will find a mention in the Joint Statement to be released after the visit but a broad framework on defence and scientific cooperation is likely to be unveiled after the talks.

The only nuclear submarine with the Indian Navy currently, INS Chakra, has also been taken on lease from Russia. The boat joined active service in the Indian Navy in April 2012. The ten-year lease has cost India almost a billion dollars.

The Indian Navy personnel are quite satisfied with the leased nuclear submarine as the 80-personnel capacity boat can remain under water as long as human endurance allows. Another operational advantage of the boat is that its noise level is virtually zero which enhances its stealth qualities.

The second nuclear submarine lease is likely to cost considerably more. Indian Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh is scheduled to hold a press conference on Manmohan Singh’s visit to Russia and China during which she would inevitably be asked questions about the second nuclear submarine lease plans.


Defence ties ::
Government-to-government route, comparable to the American Foreign Military Supplies (FMS) programme, is being actively considered to repair the strains in Indo-Russian defence relations from the Russian viewpoint.

Russia has been complaining to India for losing out on several defence deals over the past two years largely because of India’s radically changed Defence Procurement Policy (DPP) which puts greater emphasis on indigenization.

But despite some recent setbacks, Russia still tops the list of foreign defence suppliers, having secured orders worth $16 billion in orders during the three-year period of April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2013. This amounts to almost 40 percent of the Indian defence imports in this period which totaled $38 billion. Currently Russian arms factories are working on cumulative Indian orders worth $20 billion, enough to keep them busy for years.


Energy, trade, investment issues ::
The October 21 summit will be dominated by energy, trade and investment issues.

On the energy front, Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant’s 3rd and 4th units and Indian concerns about ONGC’s loss-making investment in Imperial Energy which is engaged in mineral extraction in western Siberia would be the main talking points at the summit, officials said.

It is a work in progress on the tricky issue of KNPP 3 and 4 and no agreements are likely to be signed during the summit. The matter is currently at the technical talk’s stage.

The two sides’ prime focus will be on giving a much-needed impetus to the bilateral trade, currently at a below-par $11 billion with a target of taking it to $20 billion by 2015. The leaders will be tightening bolts and screws of a mechanism of deepening cooperation in multiple and diverse sectors such as information technology, fertilizers, infrastructure and aviation.

The two leaders are likely to discuss the idea of Russians producing passenger aircraft SSJ-100 and Irkut in India for India to keep the cost of production considerably lower. Again, an agreement is unlikely to be signed during the summit in this context because the matter is being discussed by technical experts from the two sides.

Fertilizer sector is another highly important area that promises rich returns as Russia is a leading producer and India a major importer of the commodity. The two sides are likely to agree to intensify their cooperation in this area which can give billions of dollars to Russia in the long run.

Source: INDRUS

Aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya finishes trials in Russia, delivery to India in mid-November

After a long running saga of hard-nosed negotiations since the late-1990s, cost escalations, refit delays and mishaps, aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya has finally completed its extensive sea trials in Russia. The 44,570-tonne warship, or the refurbished Admiral Gorshkov, is now all set to be handed over to India in mid-November. 


Defence ministry sources on Tuesday said INS Vikramaditya has "now successfully" finished its series of "sustained full-power and aviation trials" in the White and Barents Seas. "The carrier will now head back to the harbour at Severodvinsk. It will then be made ready for the commissioning on November 15. It will reach Indian shores, with an Indian crew commanded by Captain Suraj Berry, in early-2014," said a source. 

India has paid $2.33 billion for Vikramaditya's refit, instead of the original $974 million earmarked in the January 2004 contract under which the carrier was to be originally delivered by August 2008. India is also spending another $2 billion to induct 45 Russian MiG-29K naval fighters to operate from the decks of INS Vikramaditya and the under-construction INS Vikrant, which too has been delayed at the Cochin Shipyard till at least end- 2018. 

Given the huge delays in both the projects, the Navy will continue to flog its old warhorse, the 54-year-old INS Viraat, which is left with just 11 Sea Harrier jump-jets to operate from its deck, till 2018. The delays have also derailed the Navy's long-stated aim to operate two full-fledged carrier battle groups (CBGs) anytime soon, as was earlier reported by TOI. 

INS Vikramaditya was to be inducted into the Indian Navy by last December, as per the then re-revised time-frame  but serious engine and boiler malfunctions during the trials delayed the delivery by another year. 

With the Mumbai harbour not capable of handling INS Vikramaditya, the mammoth warship will be based at the Karwar naval base in coastal Karnataka, which has undergone its Phase-I development at a cost of Rs 2,629 crore. The government recently also approved the Phase-IIA expansion of Karwar, which gives India both strategic depth and operational flexibility, at a cost of Rs 13,000 crore.

Anthony to commission MIG-29 K fighter planes into Navy

 Union Defence Minister A K Anthony will commission MIG-29 K fighter planes into the Indian Navy on May 11 in Goa. The squadron, named INAS 303 Black Panthers, will be commissioned on May 11 by the Defence Minister at INS Hansa Naval base in the state, Indian Navy PRO said. 


         The MIG-29K (K stands for ‘Korabelny’ meaning “Carrier Borne” in Russian) is a potent carrier borne fighter, which, once integrated with ‘INS Vikramaditya’ will bolster the Navy’s punch with its multi-role capability, the PRO said. The aircraft, armed with its arsenal of weapons, including advanced anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles, precious bombs and sophisticated systems to support weapon delivery, will not only be able to dominate the air in all spectrum of conflict but simultaneously project power to meet the nation’s military objectives.        
     Source:TheHindu