India gets its first Russian nuclear submarine

Representatives of the Russian Navy handed over on lease the naval forces of India, the nuclear-powered submarine Nerpa . Ceremony was held on the morning of January 23 in the port of Bolshoi Kamen in Primorye region (Russian Far East).

The event was attended by Indian Ambassador in Russia, the Commander of the Eastern Military District, Admiral Konstantin Sidenko as well as representatives of the command of the Indian Navy and the Ministry of Defense of Russia.

Agreement whereby the submarine Nerpa was transmitted to the leasing of India for 10 years, the parties had signed in December 2011. The right to use the submarine to India paid more than $ 900 million. The submarine was raised the Indian flag. In addition, he received a new name - the Chakra .

K-152 Nerpa attack submarine is a nuclear-powered classified by NATO as Shuka-B or Akula, can lead torpedoes into cruise missiles. It was launched on June 24, 2006. The crew of the submarine is 73 people and maximum diving depth - 600 meters, the maximum speed under water - 32 knots. The submarine can remain up to 100 days at sea without returning to port.

The tragedy in Nerpa occurred on November 8, 2008 in the Sea of Japan during testing of fire extinguishing system. Caused the death of three soldiers and 17 civilians. After this incident, the submarine has been repaired and only day December 28, 2009 was introduced to service the Russian navy.

This contract is held in January in the first place in the ranking Russian military of commercial operations in 2011, according to the Center for Analysis of Global Arms Trade (CACM), told RIA Novosti the member of the CACM, Igor Korotchenko. Next year, India remains the most important partner for Russia, because 60% of exports of Russian arms (7, 7 billion) in 2012 will be destined for this country.

According to the CACM biggest transfer the Indian Navy will be held in December 2012 with delivery of the aircraft carrier Vikramaditya (formerly the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorchkov class "Kiev"). The updated cost, changed several times, finally came to 2.34 billion dollars. The carrier should be completely renovated equipped with 20 MiG-29K.

Also planned is the provision of two frigates type 1135.6 Talwar class worth about $ 1 billion. The frigates will be equipped with this type of cruise missile BrahMos, developed by a bilateral Russian-Indian company. The missiles have a range of up to 300 km.

Thirdly Russia will sell India some 40 Mi-17V-5, 21 Su-30MKI fighters, 12 Su-30MKI (contract 2007), and fighters MiG-29K/KUB, variant for naval aircraft carrier to India modern electronic control systems, less visible to radar and able to carry more fuel. This version has folding wings, hook retention and reinforced landing gear. Other innovations are the integration of the navigation system Frances Sigma-95, a GPS module and a targeting system Topsight helmet. The MiG-29 KUB is aversion of the two-seater MiG-29K.

The MIG-29 is more maneuverable than any aircraft west, performing a maneuver called a "flip up" in the MIG-29 without changing its course, comes at an angle of attack high in the range of 80 °, with the possibility to shoot an enemy in the course crossed.

"Russia, according to 2011 data, ranks second worldwide in terms of military exports. Last year he sold weapons to 11.29 billion dollars, representing 16.1% of the global market. Forecast for 2012-is $ 11.3 billion, which represent 17.3% said Korotchenko. "U.S. ranks first, the volume of arms exports in 2011 of them was 28.76 billion dollars (41% of the overall market). In 2012, with the basis of existing contracts, the sale of American weapons will fall to $ 25.58 billion (39.3%), "he said.