Russia will deliver a nuclear submarine to India by the end of the year, Russia's navy chief was quoted as saying on Friday by state news agency RIA. India sees Russia as a strategic counterweight to China but New Delhi has been upset by repeated delays to major weapons orders from Moscow, including the Admiral Gorshkov heavy aircraft carrier.
The date for delivering the Nerpa submarine to India, Russia's close economic and political partner since Soviet days, has repeatedly been put back. "We shall definitely supply this vessel to the customer by the end of this year," RIA quoted navy commander Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky as saying.
Vysotsky said an fully trained Indian navy crew were ready to receive the submarine, which some Russian media reported last year had already been handed over to India. The Nerpa, an attack submarine codenamed "Akula" - or "Shark" - by Nato, is usually armed with torpedoes and cruise missiles. It can go down to depths of 600 metres (2000 ft) for about 100 days. It can carry 73 people.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.